play games with baby in spanish
No matter what language you speak to your baby, there arrive moments when you pause and think, 'what do I even say to this wonderful child?' For example, if one lives in a state touched by the polar vortex, and one stays at home with one's child, and one cannot leave the confines of the apartment for days on end, one tends to run out of things to say. When you reach the point where you have labeled everything in the house, and have decided to hide her favorite singing toy teapot because you can't bear to hear "one little teapot ready for some tea, two little cups, one for you and me!" one more time, you need an arsenal of games to make your cherub grin and giggle.
If you happen to speak your native language with baby, it's easy to recall a nursery rhyme or game from your own childhood, or ones you used with siblings. There exists a cultural gap when you speak your second language with your child - you don't have any of that background on which you would normally rely for interacting with your little one.
Luckily, we live in an age where an internet connection and a little bit of research can help fill that cultural gap! Here are three games I spent some time researching en español:
This Little Piggy
éste dedito se compró un huevito this little piggy bought an egg
éste lo puso a hervir this one put it to boil
éste rompió la cáscara this one broke the shell
Éste le echó la sal this one put the salt on it
éste más chiquitito se lo comió this little one ate it
found at facemama.com
another version goes like this:
Este cerdito fue al mercado, this little piggy went to market
éste compró la carne, this one bought the meat
éste la llevó a casa, this one took it home
éste la cocinó this one cooked it
Y el más pequeñito, ¡todita and the littlest one ate the whole thing!
todita se la comió!
http://espanol.babycenter.com/a8200078/poemas-rimas-o-juegos#ixzz2uIMubN32
Peek-a-boo
I found a few versions of this in a Word Reference Forum. There are several variations based on what region you are from. Most of the time, I just use "¿Dónde está Mamá? ¡Picabu!" But other options include:
"Cucú....acá taaaa! (as in acá está)"
"¿Dónde está/ dónde ta? ¡Acá ta!"
"¡Cu cú...tras!"
I was relieved that parents use baby talk in Spanish, too, like using ta instead of está. Adorable!
Patty Cake
A popular version of our clapping game "patty cake" or "pat-a-cake" is Palmas, Palmitas:
"Palmas palmitas
que viene papá.
Palmas palmitas
que en casa ya está.
Tortitas al niño, tortitas traerá.
Palmas palmitas
que viene papá".
http://espanol.babycenter.com/p13000010/palmas-palmitas#ixzz2uIXn83f6
This Baby Center version was the best one i could find. Almost every other video I looked up on youtube was super creepy. There are definitely a few variations out there, such as tortillas.
Now I hope you will excuse me, as I have some memorizing to do!
If you happen to speak your native language with baby, it's easy to recall a nursery rhyme or game from your own childhood, or ones you used with siblings. There exists a cultural gap when you speak your second language with your child - you don't have any of that background on which you would normally rely for interacting with your little one.
Luckily, we live in an age where an internet connection and a little bit of research can help fill that cultural gap! Here are three games I spent some time researching en español:
This Little Piggy
éste dedito se compró un huevito this little piggy bought an egg
éste lo puso a hervir this one put it to boil
éste rompió la cáscara this one broke the shell
Éste le echó la sal this one put the salt on it
éste más chiquitito se lo comió this little one ate it
found at facemama.com
another version goes like this:
Este cerdito fue al mercado, this little piggy went to market
éste compró la carne, this one bought the meat
éste la llevó a casa, this one took it home
éste la cocinó this one cooked it
Y el más pequeñito, ¡todita and the littlest one ate the whole thing!
todita se la comió!
http://espanol.babycenter.com/a8200078/poemas-rimas-o-juegos#ixzz2uIMubN32
Peek-a-boo
I found a few versions of this in a Word Reference Forum. There are several variations based on what region you are from. Most of the time, I just use "¿Dónde está Mamá? ¡Picabu!" But other options include:
"Cucú....acá taaaa! (as in acá está)"
"¿Dónde está/ dónde ta? ¡Acá ta!"
"¡Cu cú...tras!"
I was relieved that parents use baby talk in Spanish, too, like using ta instead of está. Adorable!
Patty Cake
A popular version of our clapping game "patty cake" or "pat-a-cake" is Palmas, Palmitas:
"Palmas palmitas
que viene papá.
Palmas palmitas
que en casa ya está.
Tortitas al niño, tortitas traerá.
Palmas palmitas
que viene papá".
http://espanol.babycenter.com/p13000010/palmas-palmitas#ixzz2uIXn83f6
This Baby Center version was the best one i could find. Almost every other video I looked up on youtube was super creepy. There are definitely a few variations out there, such as tortillas.
Now I hope you will excuse me, as I have some memorizing to do!