The Kindle Fire is a great tool for helping children learn Spanish interactively.
Most apps for Android are compatible with the Kindle Fire and already there are a few bilingual and Spanish apps available and the best thing is that new ones are popping up every day. Here are our favorite ones so far. Please share with me your favorites.
InstaSpanish Kids – $0.99 (introductory price)
This is a fun and colorful app that really engages kids, making learning Spanish seem like child’s play. It packs more then 300 pages of audio-visual activities on topics or lessons that include colors, animals, family, weather, telling time and body parts. It also includes a Spanish Alphabet where children can click on each letter and hear the sound and an animated song: “La Cucaracha”.
This is one of the best early learning apps that I have found and I am just amazed at how much time my children 6 and 4 spend on it and how much they are learning. Children complete lessons in order to earn rewards (in this case pesos) that they can later spend on a fun game consisting of dressing up a donkey. My 4 year old is even learning how to spend his rewards wisely which is an added bonus.
Each lesson is introduced by an animation featuring a little boy who motivates children to learn and earn their pesos. Each word is pronounced in Spanish twice, each time by a different voice, which I think is a nice touch. If the child wants to hear the word in English he can press the button on the screen that says English and the written word and audio will come up. I really like the way this is set up so that the English and Spanish are both there but not at the same time which makes learning natural and a lot easier. After seeing, reading and hearing the word the child then has to arrange the letters in the correct order to make up the word and every time the child touches a letter they hear the correct letter sound in Spanish . When completed correctly the word is pronounced in Spanish and then the child is asked to pronounce too. This is accompanied by other activities in which the child uses the words that have just been learned among them a matching game, a memory game, hangman, word search
I like the fact that they included some elements that reflect the Latino culture in a natural way throughout the app like the background music. In the beginning the little boy who welcomes you is in his room and in the background you can see a piñata and a a “Dia de Los Muertos” painted skull, when dressing the burro (donkey) there are lots of cultural elements from Mexico and even Spain and I just love the “La Cucaracha” song not only because it’s always been one of my favorite children songs in Spanish but this version also include some little changes that make it more modern and more fun.
This app teaches letter and word recognition, pronunciation, vocabulary, spelling, phonics and sound pattern recognition.
My first Dictionary TUPI HD-$0.99
My First Dictionary TUPI is an interactive Spanish dictionary. There are 8 fun, colorful full page interactive illustrations. Each one followed by more than 10 words. Each of the words is hand written and in capital letters and includes a drawing, the correct pronunciation in Spanish and as well as an animation. The different topics include:
– El hogar (The home)
– La Navidad (Christmas)
– La Fiesta de Disfraces (The Disguise Party)
– La Comida (Food)
– La Primavera (Spring)
– Los Animales (Animals)
– Los Transportes (Transportation)
– El Verano (Summer)
This is a wonderful way for children to increase their Spanish vocabulary, work on word recognition and spelling. This is ideal for toddlers and children who are beginning to learn Spanish as everything is very visual and the child doesn’t need to be able to read. My children 4 and 6 really like this app and my 4 year old makes sure to touch each and every word and hear it, you can almost see him soaking up all the learning!
My First Spanish Words -$1.99
My First Spanish Words includes more than 50 words in three 3 different categories: animals, colors, and fruits. The aim of the game is to arrange the letters in the correct order to make up a word. Letters are pronounced in Spanish when touched. When completed correctly the word is pronounced in Spanish and an animation is displayed. You can try the Lite English version of this app free to see if you like it before buying.
My First Spanish HD: Sights and Sounds – $0.99
This set of interactive flash cards is ideal for toddlers and young children. When you tap on the flash card you can hear the correct pronunciation of each word in Spanish. I like the fact that these are pictures of real objects as opposed to illustrations.
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Paula studied architecture and now makes a living as a freelance writer,traveler and amateur photographer.She started her writing & publishing career as the editor of Bebé y Mamá, the first parenting magazine in Guatemala.She is the founder of www.GrowingUpBilingual.com and www.365thingsswfl.com and writes articles in Spanish and English for both magazines and the web on travel,food and bicultural and bilingual parenting .
When she is not on a plane or road trip she likes to create recipes inspired in the flavors of her native Guatemala.
- Guatemalan Dulce de Chilacayote Recipe (Crystalized Chilacayote Candy) - February 26, 2024
- Guatemalan Naranjas en Miel Recipe (Candied Oranges Recipe) - February 25, 2024
- Traditional Guatemalan Candy - February 25, 2024
Great idea! Thanks for the useful application!!! Next buy at amazon.. Or at least at the top of my wishlist!!!
For my little baby I frequently uses animal teacher App.And more interestingly it is totally free.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/all-in-one-animal-teacher/id573654636?mt=8
So what are you waiting for!!!!!!!
Unfortunately, I can’t get the first app to work on our Kindle Fire without Adobe Air…which is NOT made for Kindle Fire. 🙁