Many schools and homeschools are out for the summer, and for many families, that means your kids’ interaction with Spanish is dropping, too. What can you do to keep the Spanish learning going this summer in ways that are fun and can actually promote children’s language skills? Read on for our expert advice!

Summer Spanish Tip 1: Find a Festival

Summer is an ideal time to explore local cultural events that celebrate Spanish and Latin American heritage. Attending festivals, markets, or cultural exhibitions can provide learners with immersive experiences that bring the language to life.

Encourage learners to interact with vendors, listen to live music, or participate in dance workshops. These real-world interactions can reinforce vocabulary and conversational skills. After the event, discuss the experience together, prompting learners to describe what they saw, heard, and felt using Spanish phrases they’ve learned.

Spanish Summer Tip 2: Explore the Library

Your local library likely has more than you expect when it comes to Spanish resources. Look for Spanish-language books and bilingual story-time books! Heads up that the Amazon Kindle Fire Kids’ edition is one of the best resources for kids’ material in Spanish as well!

For learners just starting out, focus on picture books or toddler titles. You can enhance the experience by finding a read-aloud version on YouTube, or pairing the book with a Calico Spanish comic from your subscription. Libraries can open the door to new vocabulary, stories, and traditions.

Can’t find what you’re looking for at the library or need recommendations? Check out our Calico Comic readers for learners! You can access the Calico Comics as part of your curriculum subscription or purchase print copies here.

Summer Spanish Tip 3: Dance Party!

What kid doesn’t love a dance party? Music naturally builds language skills. A living room dance party with Spanish-language songs is a great way for learners to absorb pronunciation, rhythm, and vocabulary while having fun. Try popular bilingual songs, explore new artists, or listen to Spanish versions of familiar tunes. You can also queue up Calico Spanish music on YouTube or streaming platforms. Moving and singing together makes learning memorable—and joyful.

We made some music recommendations on our recent post with advice on boosting your own Spanish skills. Some songs are super fun as they mix Spanish and English, like La llave de mi corazón by Juan Luis Guerra. We also love “Soy yo” by Bomba Estéreo, as well as “Niña bonita” and “Andas en mi cabeza,” both positive, fun tunes from Venezuelan pop duo Chino y Nacho.

Also, many songs you and/or your kids know may have Spanish-language versions. Just search the title of their favorites with “en español” on YouTube. Who knew ABBA actually performed “Chiquitita” in Spanish in Spain 40 years ago? Fast forward to more recent music, you might consider something like the Spanish-language version of everyone’s bizarre favorite, the Gummy Bear Song.

Summer Spanish Tip 4: Get Crafting

Summer can be a hard time to keep kids off the screens, especially on days when the heat is high or the rain is pouring. Crafts offer a hands-on way to tie language and culture together. Learners might make papel picado, design a piñata, or create rock art inspired by petroglyphs from Latin America. Talk about shapes, colors, or steps in Spanish as you go. You don’t need a perfect accent or fluency—just sprinkle in words your learner already knows. When culture and creativity mix, learners often develop a deeper emotional connection to the language.

Reaching back into the annals of Calico Spanish blogging history, take a look at our post on how to make hojalata. Here’s a video on how to make papel picado, designs cut into tissue paper for a colorful streamer display in many areas of Mexico.

How about crafting your own piñata for a summer party or just a fun afternoon treat? It could be as simple as a paper bag or as colorful as a strawberry, donut, or pull-string garland.

The possibilities are just about endless here! Check out these recommendations by superstar bilingual mom teacher/blogger Becky Morales in a guest post on Spanish Playground, one of our favorite resources. Here are a few more from the Growing Up Bilingual blog, including petroglyphs rock art and a queztal.

Summer Spanish Tip 5: Family Movie Night

Summer movie nights are already a tradition for many families—why not make Spanish part of the experience? Choose a film that highlights Spanish-speaking cultures, or rewatch a favorite movie with Spanish audio. You can’t go wrong with movies like Coco, The Book of Life, or Ferdinand. Spanish words appear here and there throughout the films, but in ways that are easily understandable in the context of the English script. Bonus: in many of these, you may see the craft you chose above, like papel picado or a fun piñata!

Disney+ also has many of the classics dubbed into Spanish as well! One of my favorites is Cars in Spanish!

Summer Spanish Tip 6: TicTacTó Challenge (WIN)

Gamifying Spanish practice is an easy way to keep things light and motivating. Print the Calico Spanish TicTacTó board and encourage learners to complete three activities in a row each week. Options include singing along with a song, labeling household items, reading a book, or trying a new food from a Hispanic grocery store. You can customize your own board too. The key is variety—mixing short, meaningful activities that build language naturally. Our sixth and final tip is to challenge learners to complete a set of 3 activities from our at-home TicTacTó board each week of the summer. The concept is easy: we’ve compiled a list of nine fun, easy activities to keep learners engaged with Spanish over the summer or other long breaks. Each week, learners choose three activities in a row to complete TicTacTó.

Of course, you can make your own TicTacTó board with any activities you choose. Here are our suggestions. They include some of the options above.

• Watch and sing along with a Calico Spanish song you know.
• Try a snack (& a conversation!) at a Hispanic/Latino store.
• Make a craft.
• Watch a movie in Spanish.
• Present a Calico Spanish Activity Sheet to someone.
• Check out a Spanish-language book at the library
• Play a game.
• Put sticky notes on 4 things in your house to label them in Spanish.

Here’s your Summer Spanish board

Ready to get your TicTacTó board for the challenge? Here’s your PDF (or click the image below). Keep the Spanish going, and tell us how it goes!