8 No Hassle, No Prep, At Home Spanish Activities for Kids

Are you homeschooling, a Spanish teacher, or a parent struggling to find easy, at home Spanish activities? Tired of constantly printing worksheets? Keep reading below for a list of 8 no hassle, no prep, at home Spanish activities for kids. Little to no supplies needed! 

I’ve even gone as far as simplifying these at home Spanish activities with clear, concise lesson plans and instructions to allow for any parent or older sibling (including those with minimal Spanish) to be able to participate and help a young Spanish learner. For those of you with some Spanish under your belts, skip my basic instructions and tailor these activities to the difficulty level of your kids. 

First up on my list of at home Spanish activities are games we’ve all grown up playing like Simón dice (Simon Says), Veo, veo (I Spy), and El ahorcado (Hangman). The beauty of sticking to tried and true games? Your kids already know the rules. 

Simón Dice (Simon Says) 

Practice Body Parts

How to Play: One person is “Simón.” He or she tells the other players to touch different body parts. If Simon says the command without saying “Simón dice,” and the player does it, then that player is eliminated!

Vocabulary: los ojos (eyes), la nariz (nose), la boca, (mouth), las orejas (ears), la cabeza (head), los hombros (shoulders), las rodillas (knees), los pies (feet)

Sentence Stem: Simón dice toca _____. (Simon says touch your  _____.)

Examples: Simón dice toca los ojos. Simón dice toca la nariz. Simón dice toca la boca. Simón dice toca las orejas. You get the idea!

Remember to mix it up! If the parent or older sibling is always Simon, then your little Spanish learner doesn’t get a chance to practice speaking. Make sure your kid gets to be Simon for a few rounds. They’ll love bossing you around!

Veo, Veo (I Spy) 

Practice Colors

I used a version of Veo, Veo in my Spanish Gender Article post, but with animal vocabulary. In this variation, you can practice colors.

How to Play: The first player secretly chooses an object in the room that is one of the colors below. They then use the sentence stems, also below, while the second player finds the object. The purpose of this is to practice colors, so your little one (or yourself!) might not know the Spanish word for the chosen object. That’s OK. Just have your little one point or touch the object instead. 

Vocabulary: verde (green), rojo (red), azul (blue), morado (purple), anaranjado or naranja (orange), amarillo (yellow), blanco (white), negro (black), rosa (pink), gris (gray)

Sentence Structure: 

Player 1: Veo, Veo (I see, I see.)

Player 2: ¿Qué ves? (What do you see?)

Player 1: Algo [insert color here]. (Something ____.)

Player 2 : Un [object name]. (A ____.) 

Remember, if Player 2 doesn’t know the object’s name in Spanish, they can point to the object instead. 

Player 1: Sí (Yes!) or No (No!) 

El Ahorcado (Hangman) 

Practice Letters

How to Play: Choose a word from the list of colors or body parts. Make the game easier by having a word listed somewhere they can easily reference. 

Grab something to write on and write with. The first player creates a space where the hangman will be drawn, piece by piece, and mentally chooses a word from the list. Don’t forget to write a line for each letter in the word you’ve chosen. 

The second player guesses the word one letter at a time. Correct guesses mean player one writes that letter on the corresponding line. Incorrect guesses mean player one adds a body part to the hangman. Make sure guesses are made using the Spanish alphabet -no English letters!

Vocabulary: los ojos (eyes), la nariz (nose), la boca, (mouth), las orejas (ears), la cabeza (head), los hombros (shoulders), las rodillas (knees), los pies (feet), verde (green), rojo (red), azul (blue), morado (purple), anaranjado or naranja (orange), amarillo (yellow), blanco (white), negro (black), rosa (pink), gris (gray)

Spanish Alphabet: Not sure how to pronounce letters in Spanish? Check out this fantastic alphabet chart from Bilingual Balance. They have an awesome Spanish alphabet printable that phonetically spells out the correct pronunciation.

After that, play hangman! Just like the games above, remember to switch up players one and two. 

Act It Out

Practice Animal Vocabulary

Practice animal vocabulary and get your kids moving. Win win.

How to Play: Choose an animal (mentioning it by name in Spanish) and have your child act it out. Let them get their wiggles out by moving around the room and making noises that animal would make.

Need to calm them back down afterward? Ask them to create a yoga pose for each animal. When you name the animal, your child stays frozen in that pose for a certain period of time. 

Vocabulary: el oso (bear), la rana (frog), el gato (cat), el elefante (elephant), la tortuga (turtle), la vaca (cow)

Label the Room

Practice Bedroom Vocabulary

For this activity you’ll need paper, tape, and something to write with. I specifically chose the bedroom so that you won’t have labels all over your house, but whatever room you prefer works!

How to Play: Your little one gets to label as many objects as they can (in Spanish) that are located in their bedroom. Have them write the word on a piece of paper and tape it to the object.

Vocabulary: mi cuarto (my bedroom), la cama (bed), la puerta (door), la ventana (window), los juguetes (toys), la ropa (clothes), el estante (shelf), la lámpara (lamp), el armario (closet), el tocador (dresser), la mesita de noche (nightstand), los libros (books)

Extra points for writing the correct gender article (el or la)! 

Play Cards

Practice Numbers

How to Play: Pick any card game that you typically play at home -whether it’s Uno, War, Crazy Eights, or Go Fish. Play as normal, but say the numbers of the cards in Spanish instead.

Vocabulary: Uno (one), dos (two), tres (three), cuatro (four), cinco (five), seis (six), siete (seven), ocho (eight), nueve (nine), diez (ten)

If you’re using a standard deck of cards and want to include the suits and royal cards in Spanish, go for it! 

They are: corazones (hearts), espadas (spades), diamantes (diamonds), tréboles (clubs), jota (jack), cu (queen), ka (king), as (ace)

Make a “YouTube” Video

Practice House Vocabulary

I’m putting “YouTube” in quotes because you may not want to actually post it on YouTube, but you get the idea. Give a video tour of your house focusing on the names of each room. 

Sample Script: 

¡Hola! Bienvenidos a mi casa. (Hello! Welcome to my home.)

Tiene _ cuartos. (It has [x number of] rooms.)

Este cuarto es ____. (This room is the ____.)

Mi cuarto favorito es _______. (My favorite room is ____.) 

Espero que les haya gustado el vídeo. ¡Adios! (I hope you liked the video. Bye!)

Vocabulary: la cocina (the kitchen), mi cuarto (my room), el cuarto de _____ ([Insert Family Member]’s room), la sala (the living room), el comedor (the dining room), el baño (the bathroom), el garaje (the garage), el pasillo (the hallway), el cuarto de juegos (playroom), el lavadero (the laundry room)

If you don’t want your kids to touch a phone at all, they can give you a walking tour of the house instead. No filming required.

Build Cup Towers

Review Vocabulary 

My last at home Spanish activity is a fun one! I’ve played this game with kids from 4-12 years old – and it’s always a hit! I use plastic cups, but you can dig up whatever you have at home. Blocks or toilet paper rolls (if you have some to spare) work well -as long as it’s stackable. 

How to Play: For every vocabulary word your little one can tell you correctly, they get one cup. And as they collect their cups, they build a tower. The point of the game is to see how high their tower can get before it falls. 

You choose whether a wrong answer means they lose a cup. Or whether they can rebuild after the tower has fallen. 

Then be prepared to repeatedly build and knock over towers afterward. 

Don’t Forget

It goes without saying that this list of at home Spanish activities for kids is a starting off point for young learners. If they are more advanced, use the same activity but increase the level of difficulty by asking them to speak in complete sentences or by changing the topic (ex. clothing, sea animals). 

Need help with some vocabulary? Check out Little Explorers English-Spanish Picture Dictionary. It’s not necessarily the prettiest, but it is a great resource made for kids.

Finally (and most importantly), for anyone struggling with language learning at home. Or struggling with anything right now. It’s OK. Life’s a mess. Your house and your child’s learning can be too. This crisis is temporary, it will pass. For now, do what you can.