Opuestos (Opposites)

This has taken me forever to post, but for our last week of Spanish for Preschoolers, we focused on opposites.  I downloaded these opposite flash cards from Spanish Playground.

I started out with 10 pairs of words (I think there are 15 in set) and even that was too many for my class with limited vocabulary, so I only ended up going through 7.   I pasted the opposite pairs, one on black paper and one on white, to emphasis that the words were opposite and help in our games.



During class we used the cards in tons of different ways:

1. Presenting each pair one at a time and acting out the words (running in place for "rapido" and moving slow for "lento").  I had the kids act them out with me and repeat the words. 
2. Simplified memory game.  I put all the black cards out face up in front of the group and had the white cards in my hand.  Each child picked a white card and had to find it's opposite from the black cards.  The trick was to make sure they said the words as they did it to reinforce the vocabulary!
3. A version of "Duck, Duck, Goose".  I had the child who was "it" pick a pair of words, they would use whichever one they wanted as the main word and it's opposite to tag someone.  This was where things got a little chaotic!  I think of this game for little kids but it was still hard for our 2 and 3 year olds to understand when they were supposed to run or not.  Everyone had lots of fun though and we did manage to get through all 7 word pairs before it was complete pandemonium.

Between the 2nd and third set of flash card activities, we took a little break to read "Opuestos" by Sandra Boynton.  This was well translated (I've seen a few of her books that weren't well translated).  It was very simple, just opposite word pairs, but the illustrations were really funny.



I had an opposite craft planned, the kids were to trace and cut out their hands on white paper and the parents on black paper to show big and little.  Most everyone traced their hands, but all the running from the "Duck, duck, goose" game brought out the sillies and I don't think anyone finished it.

This was our last Spanish for Preschoolers class for the summer so the important part was that everyone left with happy smiling faces and a chorus of "Adios!"