Spanish for Kids: Common Objects, Body Parts, and Actions in Spanish

¡Bienvenidos! Welcome to the second lesson in our Learn Spanish for Kids Starter Kit. I’m Elisabeth from Spanish Mama. In this “Teaching Kids Spanish” series, your family can learn beginning Spanish phrases together.

Here in Lesson 2, we’ll learn the names of common objects, body parts, and actions. Our key verb for lesson 2 is “tener,” which means “to have.”

yo tengo (I have)

tú tienes (you have)

él/ella/usted tiene (he/she/you formal/it has)

Lesson 2 Goals

• I can ask and answer about having or not having things.
• I can name some parts of the body
• I can understand and act out basic action words.

Remember that printables are included for every lesson! You can print the posters, practice sheets, and vocabulary/game cards HERE

See the whole Learn Spanish for Kids series to follow every lesson!

Essential Spanish Vocabulary for Lesson 2:  

If you need some help with pronunciation, you can look up any of these phrases at SpanishDict.

Teach Kids Spanish Lesson 2:

This Spanish lesson can be spread out over several weeks. There is a lot of vocabulary here! I will share activities and ideas for teaching each section of new words, and you can adjust the pacing as needed.

As you set up the lessons, remember that you can print vocabulary cards or posters from the eBook.

A. Basic Actions

Action verbs are easy to teach, because you can act them out. Attach a movement to each word, and practice by calling out the terms while your kids do the move.

Once the terms are familiar, you can play fun games. For future classes, these games are perfect brain breaks/wiggle breaks. Here are several ideas:

Simon Says:
Play as “Simón dice.” Anytime you begin a phrase with Simón dice…, they must do it. If you don’t put Simón dice first, and they do the motion, they are out. Last one in wins.

Eyes Closed:
The kids close their eyes and act out the words you say. If they get it wrong, tap them to sit down. Last one standing wins!

Charades:
Act out the words while other try to guess the correct term first.

Most of these action words double as commands. You can use them naturally during Spanish time to give instructions and stay in the target language! Just a few change when used as commands:

get up – levántate

sit down – siéntate

go (away) – ve(te)

B. Common Objects

Teach these words by gathering the actual items, if possible. Have your kids touch or pick up the items as you say them. You can also label the items in your house!

There are game cards in the eBook for learning common objects (and body parts, when ready). Add the cards to your Memory set and play together.

Once everyone is familiar with the words, play “What’s Missing?” Put several objects on a tray or table. Have the students close their eyes, and remove one object. They open their eyes and guess what’s missing. You can say. “¿Qué no está?” to say “What’s not here?”

Another fun activity is to use a shoebox to create a diorama of a classroom or house and label the parts.

C. Parts of the Body

Body parts are fun because they involve movement too! As you say the words, have your kids touch the part you are saying. I like the following song to help with pronunciation:

You can label the body in the eBook, or trace everyone’s outline on large pieces of paper and label the parts. Or go outside and do chalk outlines!

Spanish for Kids Review

1.Read the short stories that use all the phrases from this lesson. (Access them in the link above.)

2.Use the game cards to review the common objects and body parts. You can play Memory or Go Fish, but Go Fish is especially good because it use our main verb tener (to have). Teach your kids to play using these phrases:

¿Tienes…? (Do you have?…)
Sí, tengo./ No, no tengo. (Yes I have (it), No, I don’t have (it)).

¡Ve a pescar! (Go fish!)

3.Play the game “I Have, Who Has?” (included in the eBook). Cut out and distribute the cards randomly. Pick someone to start. They read the card, saying the name of the picture, and then the question at the bottom. It will start with, “¿Quién tiene…?”, which is “Who has…?

If it says “¿Quién tiene el papel?”, for example, the person with the picture of paper will go next. Keep going until all the cards have been called. It helps to lay the cards face down as they get used.

4.Play Simon Says, Eyes Closed, or Charades with all the words. You can use the phrase “toca…” for touching objects, and “tócate…” to say “touch your…”

Example: “Simón dice: tócate la nariz. Simón dice: toca la mesa. Simón dice: corre.”

5.Complete the matching and drawing activities in the eBook.

Looking for more Spanish Lessons for Kids? Check out the rest of the Spanish for Kids Series, follow Bilingual Kidspot on Facebook and join our Online Community Group.