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2018 Holiday Gift Guide for Bilingual Preschoolers, Kindergartners, & Young Kids

Yesterday we posted our Holiday Gift Guide for Babies and today it’s the older kids’ turn! As we’ve mentioned, you can make pretty much any toy (think: legos, blocks, dolls, tiny kitchens, etc. etc. etc.) into a tool for teaching or complementing your family’s language. But sometimes it’s nice to have the toys do a little of the work for you. So take a look below and let us know what you think!
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2018 Gift Guide for Bilingual Babies

For those of you who still don’t have your holiday shopping done, we’ve put together  some of ideas for the bilingual babies in your life! (I should note that this post only includes toys and books that have official bilingual components because we know that’s something many parents want, but ALL toys have the potential for bilingualism if you play with them in Spanish or your target-language!)

If feel a connection to Latin America and the Caribbean (in particular, Puerto Rico) you’ll love ¿Dónde está el coquí? by VeoLeo  Your budding Spanish speaker will learn numbers, active verbs, and animals, while following the sweet coquí on its adventures.

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A Unicorn Gift for N

N loves puzzles. He also loves maps. I love toys that are easy to clean up and keep together. You may also know that I am addicted to all things Spanish and (try to) curate N and E’s book and toy selections to reflect that. So when I found this magnetic world map puzzle in SPANISH while looking for presents for N’s recent fifth birthday I was beyond thrilled (I’m not ashamed to admit these kinds of things bring me joy). It’s easy enough for N and his cousin (both 5) to do on their own, but challenging enough that it takes them awhile. I love that it gives me all the names of places in Spanish so I don’t have to surreptitiously Google them while pretending I know them all. (I don’t love that Puerto Rico isn’t named on the map and Slovakia is covered by the names/icons for other countries, but that is the consequence of being from where we’re from.) It’s a little pricey, so it’s not for everyone, but if you’re in the market for this kind of thing I highly recommend it!

Do you have any other suggestions for easy play, cleanup, and Spanish vocab building?

*All Amazon links are affiliate links.

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2017 Holiday Gift Guide for Bilingual Babies, Preschoolers & Kids

I know what you’re thinking: It’s September. Fall is just beginning. Why are you doing this to me???

The short answer is: I actually do my holiday shopping around this time of year, partially because we typically spend Christmas with my family in Puerto Rico and I need to make sure everything arrives in time, and partially because I just really enjoy the process of researching and thinking about what items the people in my life will most enjoy for the next year. I can’t be the only one out there! (But if I am, then just bookmark this until you’ve had a large glass of wine and you’re ready to think about the holidays.)

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Learning to Count in Spanish

Learning to count is one of the first skills toddlers work on, from counting as you go up and down (and up and down) the stairs, to spotting and categorizing and counting animals on the street, leaves in the yard, scooters at the park, etc. it can be easy to incorporate math into your everyday life.  So I thought I would put together some fun and perhaps new-to-you math and counting activities that can help cement and encourage an early interest in math (and maintain/continue your Spanish!).

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