Spanish-learning game(s) for a 5-y.o.
Dearest Hive-Mind,
My son, who's just turned five, has just (unexpectedly) enrolled in a Spanish-immersion preschool, having previously not studied Spanish at all. [The sitch at his old preschool curdled to the point we figured the big disruption would be less bad than the status quo.] The transition is as wretched as you'd expect, and we're having a hard time convincing him it's okay for him not to be up to speed. Do y'all know any good Spanish-learning online games? We've of course Googled, and looked at the App Store, but rather than trying out a dozen, maybe having him hate the process, we're hoping others have trod the path before. We're more interested in "fun and welcoming" than "pedagogically effective," to be honest. Basically, we want Spanish not to feel like this awful thing being foisted on him.
Thanks in advance,
David
Parent Replies
I'm sorry I don't have any game suggestions but something that's supported my kids Spanish at home is switching Netflix to Spanish. Almost all kids shows are dubbed (same for DVDs). This is specially fun if screen time is a treat and he'll put up with not understanding everything for the chance to watch Octonauts (or whatever the favorite show is). This of course is just receptive learning but is a place to start.
I have a few suggestions, all for iOS and iPadOS. (they may exist on other platforms but we only have an iPad.) Unfortunately there's not much out there for cheap! Pretty much everything is a monthly or annual subscription, and we've cycled through a few of these so we weren't paying rent on multiple games at once. Our kid, now 5, has been in a Spanish immersion preschool for the last year and a half, but since he's only there part time and we don't speak Spanish at home, I think the games help a lot.
Canticos: Bilingual Preschool looks great and plays great. That said, I've only seen my kid do the storybook part of the app -- I think the games are too easy for him. It's also possible to easily flip the app from Spanish to English, which is not necessarily a bad thing.
Skeletitos is a great little app (which I believe is free!) that's just a few different ways of watching an interactive animation of that Spanish kids song about times of day. This app gets as much play as any paid subscription app in our home.
Fun Spanish by StudyCat was popular with our kid for a while, but I took it off when he stopped playing and he hasn't asked about it since. It focuses on basic vocabulary and has a variety of interesting games. Not as polished as the other stuff on the market but my kid never complained.
Endless Spanish is a one-time payment, not a subscription, and the same company makes several other learning apps with the same monster characters. Vocabulary with lots of example sentences written and spoken.
First Words Spanish by Learning Touch is $3 one-time -- but I don't think I've ever seen my kid use it. Simple word spelling.
Spanish School Bus is free! Some of the games are too complicated for my kid but we keep it on the tablet.
Finally, my kid really enjoys doing my daily Duolingo lesson with me. I think the best way to get your kid invested in Spanish is to do it with them, so they associate it with spending time with you.
All my best! Hope this helps!
Please try taktaktak - it has a collection of Spanish (and English) based games for kids to learn!
they were created by NGO Inoma (https://inoma.mx/index.php/quienes-somos/#mision) and the purpose of these games is to enable education through games— so might be of interest to your kid. the games are free also!!
https://m.taktaktak.com/home