Popular Spanish Nursery Rhymes – Free Ways to Teach your Child Spanish at Home
In this post: Who doesn’t love easy and free ways to teach your child Spanish at home? These popular Spanish nursery rhymes are a great way to create engaging Spanish lessons for kids, right at home. See some of my favorite Spanish nursery rhymes books at the end!
I absolutely love raising bilingual kids, and I feel like I am always looking for new ways to boost my childrens’ Spanish language input at home. Not only do I want fun and engaging language lessons for my little ones, I also prefer them to be off a screen and cost almost nothing.
That’s where these fun Spanish nursery rhymes come in! Nursery rhymes are an amazing way to boost your child’s language development because rhyme and repetition are key elements to successful language learning. Bonus points if you can turn these nursery rhymes into art projects, movement games, or other engaging Spanish activities for your kids to extend their learning.
To help you all learn as much as possible, I am sharing my favorite Spanish nursery rhymes with you along with some hands-on activities that you can do at home with each one!
How do you use nursery rhymes to teach Spanish at home?
Using poetry and rhyme to learn Spanish at home with your kids may be easier than you think! I always try to find some that fit in with what we are already learning about, which is usually led by the seasons or their interests. If it is winter, I look for rhymes about snow or cold, or flowers and birds in spring. This isn’t a strict rule to go by, just a suggestion to help you get started.
Once you have your nursery rhyme picked out, it’s time to introduce it to your child! I always suggest doing this during a mealtime or snack because that is when even the busiest body is still and listening. Read it to them once, being as goofy and enthusiastic as you want, and then tell them you are going to learn it together.
Depending on the age of your child, you can start by learning just one new line every day. Slowly say one word at a time, and invite them to say it with you. Don’t force it! If your child doesn’t want to say it with you, that is okay! Just make sure you are still reading it every day for about a week, and try to make it as fun as you can.
How do you make Spanish rhymes fun for kids?
My best suggestion? Either get super goofy and act it out, or find a way to make it a game or project. If you have a nursery rhyme about snow, you can make fake snow with pantry ingredients or make paper snowmen while you say your rhyme. Finding hands-on activities to help you practice your Spanish at home will go a long way! You want your bilingual child to choose to speak the language because they love it, not do it because it is forced. Bringing play and games into their learning really helps.
5 Popular Spanish Nursery Rhymes for Kids
Los Pollitos Dicen
Los pollitos dicen
pío pío pío
cuando tienen hambre
cuando tienen frío.
La gallina busca
el maíz y el trigo
les da la comida
y les presta abrigo.
This is one of my absolute favorite nursery rhymes that I have learned with my own kids. I started singing it to them as babies and now, as 4 year olds, they know it well. Check out these super cute baby chick crafts to do while you learn this Spanish poem.
La Vaca Lola
La vaca Lola, la vaca Lola,
Tiene cabeza y tiene cola,
La vaca Lola, la vaca Lola,
Tiene cabeza y tiene cola,
y hace “muu.”
Another favorite for us! We love animals and nature at my house, so this little Spanish poem about a vaca named Lola was an instant hit. The repetition really helps your kids remember this one quickly too! This would be a great rhyme to start with. Bonus points if you make one of these sweet little cow crafts with your kids while you learn!
Incy Wincy Araña
Incy Wincy araña,
trepó la canaleta,
vino la lluvia,
y se la llevó.
Salió el sol,
y se secó la lluvia
y Incy Wincy araña,
otra vez trepó.
This is such a fun Spanish song and nursery rhyme to learn with your bilingual children! If you don’t feel like singing it, no worries! You can recite it just like a poem. Want a fun craft project to do with this? Check out these super cute spider crafts to help bring your Spanish learning to life!
Spanish Nursery Rhymes Books We Love
La Estrellita
Estrellita, ¿dónde estás?
Quiero verte titilar
En el cielo sobre el mar,
Un diamante de verdad.
Estrellita, ¿dónde estás?
Me pregunto qué serás.
Another classic song for kids! There are so many special projects you can make to turn this rhyme into a hands-on language lesson for your kids. I especially love this round up of star activities for kids.
Somos como las Flores
Somos como las flores
En el jardín de la vida
Somos como las flores
Necesitamos la lluvia y el sol.
Sol, caliénteme
Luna, arrúllame
Brisa, refréscame
Tierra, aliméntame
Are you noticing my nature theme here? I can’t help it! Nature based Spanish learning is my favorite after all. This is absolutely one of my favorite songs to sing with my students at forest school. This would also be a great Spanish song to bring movement into as you act out all the different parts in the chorus.
Alright my friends, I hope you love these fun Spanish songs and rhymes as much as I do! Whether you are learning Spanish at home with your children, or you are a Spanish teacher looking for new ways to teach your students, I hope this blog post helps.
