Color with Benji and Pin Pon

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Color with Benji and Pin Pon

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About This Activity

Fun for all ages, this activity encourages kids to get creative while coloring their favorite bilingual buddies.

Ages: 3+
Level:
Easy
Materials: Printed activity sheets; pencils; crayons or colored pencils

Instructions

1. Print out activity sheet.
2. Get creative coloring in Benji and Pin Pon, see how many different colors you can use!
3. Try your superpower! Think of someone you know who would like to receive a letter from you and send them your drawing, try writing out your address on the letter.

How Your Kid Benefits

This activity engages hand eye coordination through imaginative coloring with your favorite bilingual buddies.

Bonus Benefit!

Bilingual children were found to have a higher aptitude for standardized tests and found in a study that followed children throughout their acquisition of a second language.

Note to Grown-Ups

Art time is a great opportunity to practice mindfulness. If your child is working on an art project independently, encourage them to do so mindfully by working in a quiet, calm, focused way. This activity works well as a supplement to the Art section of the Canticos app.

Activity Sheet

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Color with Benji and Pin Pon

1 file(s) 9.95 MB
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The Teeny Tiny Boat/El Barquito Chiquitito: Read, Sing, and Color!

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The Teeny Tiny Boat/El Barquito Chiquitito: Read, Sing, and Color!

The Teeny Tiny Boat/El Barquito Chiquitito: Read, Sing, and Color!

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About This Activity

Look on with the lyrics and sing along to this classic nursery rhyme in English and Spanish.

Ages: 2+
Level:
Easy
Materials: Printed activity sheets; pencils; crayons or colored pencils
Instructions

1. Print out activity sheet. If you don’t have a printer, you can look at the lyrics on your computer.
2. Read and sing along to “The Teeny Tiny Boat / El Barquito Chiquitito” in English and Spanish.
3. Try your superpower! Get creative and make paper boats, experiment with different kinds of materials to see which ones float and which sink.

How Your Kid Benefits

This activity stimulates right brain activity, helping to commit new words to memory through movement, singing and dance.

Bonus Benefit!

Research has found that bilingual people literally see the world differently. Those who regularly speak a second language perceive differences in color variations that are not recognized by monolinguals.

Note to Grown-Ups

Help your child out with the lyrics as you sing this song, for help with pronunciation, have them listen listen to song in Music section of the Canticos App.

Activity Sheet

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The Teeny Tiny Boat

1 file(s) 9.95 MB
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A is for Amor

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A is for Amor

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About This Activity

Let’s write the letter A! ¡Letra A! This activity helps kids practice letter writing in English and Spanish while making real world learning connections to further expand and interpret their knowledge.

Ages:2-5
Level:
Easy
Materials: Printed activity sheets; pencils; crayons or colored pencils
Instructions

1. Print activity sheet, if you don’t have a printer look at the activity on your computer and practice on a lined sheet of paper.
2. Follow the arrow with your pencil, then practice writing the letter A in upper case and lower case by tracing along the dotted line.
3. Try your superpower! Look around for words that start with the letter A while driving and say the letter in English and Spanish.

How Your Kid Benefits

This activity helps create a foundation in early bilingual literacy by introducing letters in creative and interactive settings.

Bonus Benefit!

It’s a common misconception that your child can only learn a new language in a formal classroom setting, the best results come when the child learns at their own pace and in a style that best suits them

Note to Grown-Ups

Kids learn a lot from their parents, which is why it’s important to engage their learning even in every day settings. Letters form the foundation for early bilingual literacy, which is also strengthened through the bubble game in the Canticos App.

Activity Sheet

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A is for Amor

1 file(s) 9.95 MB
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Little Chickies Memory Game

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Little Chickies Memory Game

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About This Activity

Test you memory with the Little Chickies! Fun for the whole family, this game helps kids learn essential household vocabulary in English and Spanish with beautifully illustrated memory cards.

Ages: 3+
Level: Medium
Materials: Printed activity sheets; pencils; crayons or colored pencils
Instructions

1. Print out activity sheet.
2. Play our memory game with household objects and learn vocabulary in English and Spanish.
3. Try your superpower! Play I Spy / Yo Veo around the house by describing what you see. Be sure to use color, number and shape words in Spanish to help you play.

How Your Kid Benefits

This activity helps kids utilize their short term memory to retain bilingual vocabulary, expanding their foundation in early bilingual literacy.

Bonus Benefit!

A study determined that bilingual people were more resistant than others to the onset of dementia and other symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease: the higher the degree of bilingualism, the later the age of onset.

Note to Grown-Ups

See if your children can apply their new household vocabulary during cleanup time! Watch and sing along with the Canticos video Choppity Chop / ¡Pícalo ya! in the Canticos App to help with household words.

Activity Sheet

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Little Chickies Memory Game

1 file(s) 9.95 MB
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Number 1 with Pin Pon

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Number 1 with Pin Pon

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About This Activity

Let’s write the number one! ¡Número uno! This activity helps kids practice numbers in English and Spanish while making real world learning connections to further expand and interpret their knowledge.

Ages: 2-5
Level:
Easy
Materials: Printed activity sheets; pencils; crayons or colored pencils
Instructions

1. Print activity sheet.
2. Follow the arrow with your pencil. Then practice writing the number by tracing along the dotted lines before trying the last few by yourself.
3. Finally, shade in only one Pin Pon and one bubble.
4. Try your superpower! Play board games like Candy Land or Sorry! and count the spaces you move on the across the board in Spanish

How Your Kid Benefits

By learning numbers your child forms a strong early math foundation in English and Spanish. Combine this activity with the Piñata game in the Learn section and the Beat music game in the Play section to deepen bilingual counting experiences.

Bonus Benefit!

Bilingualism forces the brain to resolve internal conflict, strengthening its cognitive muscles with a mental workout.

Note to Grown-Ups

Make counting a regular part of your interactions with your child, which is a great way to stimulate learning through play. Look for easy ways to sneak in counting whether cooking in the kitchen, outside, running errands, walking the dog; there are always fun things to count!

Activity Sheet

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Number 1 with Pin Pon

1 file(s) 9.95 MB
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Learn Body Parts with Pin Pon

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Learn Body Parts with Pin Pon

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About This Activity

How many parts of your body can you name? Pin Pon is here to help you name them all, name each part of his body as you color him in.

 

Ages: 3+
Level:
Medium
Materials: Printed activity sheets; pencils; crayons or colored pencils
Instructions

1. Print out activity sheet.
2. Color in each of Pin Pon’s body parts in the worksheet sheet.
3. Try your superpower! Play Simon Says / Simón dice and get silly naming body parts in English and Spanish.

How Your Kid Benefits

This activity introduces body part vocabulary and encourages oral language development.

Bonus Benefit!

It has been shown that bilingual children have better focus and attention span, strengthened by alternating from one language to another, skills otherwise known as “inhibition” and “task switching.”

Note to Grown-Ups

Writing and speaking in a new language can be challenging, especially for the littlest learners! Make sure to acknowledge and praise your child consistently for their hard work on practicing bilingual vocabulary. Continue practicing body part vocabulary with the Canticos video “Cabeza, hombros, rodillas, pies / Head, Shoulders, Knees & Toes”.

Activity Sheet

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Learn Body Parts with Pin Pon

1 file(s) 9.95 MB
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Make a Heart Stamp

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Make a Heart Stamp

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About This Activity

Show some love with this fun and easy craft that repurposes old cardboard into an adorable heart stamp.

Ages: 3-5
Level: Medium
Materials: Cardboard paper towel or toilet paper tubes; paint; ink.
Instructions

1. It’s not necessary to print out this activity sheet, you can follow the instructions your computer.
2. Create your heart stamp using a cardboard tube as directed on the activity sheet.
3. Try your superpower! Use your heart stamp to create artwork, decorations, let your imagination run wild!

How Your Kid Benefits

This activity teaches kids how to reuse old cardboard in a fun craft that encourages shape recognition and open-ended creative play.

Bonus Benefit!

Speaking a second language is known to improve your child’s problem-solving, multitasking and decision-making abilities.

Note to Grown-Ups

Art time is a great opportunity to practice mindfulness. If your child is working on an art project independently, encourage them to do so mindfully by working in a quiet, calm, focused way. This activity works well as a supplement to the Art section of the Canticos App.

Activity Sheet

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Make a Heart Stamp

1 file(s) 9.95 MB
Download

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Beyond Bubbles: 3 Fun Ways to Add Literacy Learning to Bath Time

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ENGLISH | SPANISH

Beyond Bubbles: 3 Fun Ways to Add Literacy Learning to Bath Time

By Nuria Santamaría Wolfe

Bath time can be more than a time to splash around, it can be an opportunity for your little one to soak up some learning. For multitasking moms everywhere, here are four fun ways to make bath time a great time to build literacy skills. 

  1. Sing: You sing in the shower so why not start them on the tradition with songs to help them grow their vocabulary? We love Little Sailor – a nautical theme song that you can use to ask your child to name objects around him or her.  Point to toys and other items in your bathroom to introduce your little one to new words. 

The easy verses and catchy tune will have both of you singing along.  Watch our video here and sing along with the lyrics below. Modify the lyrics to make it your own. 

Little sailor who went to the sea, sea, sea 

to find what he could see, see, see.

And the only thing that he could see, see, see

was the bottom of the sea, sea, sea.

And a diver! 

Little sailor who went to the sea, sea, sea 

to find what he could see, see, see.

And the only thing that he could see, see, see, was the bottom of the sea, sea, sea.

A mermaid!

And a diver!

Little sailor who went to the sea, sea, sea 

to find what he could see, see, see.

And the only thing that he could see, see, see

was the bottom of the sea, sea, sea.

A shark!

A mermaid!

And a diver!

…and on and on until you’re ready to set out and dry off. 

2. Read: Ah the joy of reading in the tub! As adults, we know how relaxing this can be. Introduce your little one to the. wonderful habit of reading in the tub.  You can do this in a few different ways:

  • Read to them: Bring a stack of books to read while you sit next to the tub.
  • Let them read: Use waterproof books to let them read on their own.
  • Listen to audiobooks: Turn up the volume and enjoy a good book together.  Check out Canticos digital audiobooks in English and Spanish via the Canticos Bilingual Preschool App.
  1. Write: Once your little one is ready to write, get them to practice in the water.  Here are a few fun tools to use:
  • Foam letters: Stick them to the side of the tub and combine them to make words.
  • Bath crayons & paint: Let them practice writing letters and words and then easily wash them off once it’s time to get out of the tub. 

So next time your kid is getting ready to splish and splash, don’t forget that it’s also a perfect song for them to sing, read, and write!

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Greetings & Giggles: How to Teach Manners While Having Fun

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ENGLISH | SPANISH

Greetings & Giggles:
How to Teach Manners While Having Fun

By Nuria Santamaría Wolfe

Manners matter. We all want our kids to be well-mannered citizens of the world and teaching them to be so shouldn’t have to be boring.

While manners include everything from saying “please” and “thank you” to offering compliments and exhibiting proper etiquette at the dinner table, the easiest place to start teaching manners is with greetings.

Proper greetings like “Hello” or “Good morning” are the first step for your little one to establish a relationship with a new friend or to make a great first impression with her teacher at the start of the school day.

Here are a few tips to help your little ones practice greeting phrases:

Use Songs:

  • There are so many songs to choose from but our favorite is the very simple but very fun “Hello, good morning”.  Watch our Little Chickies greet each other and greet the day in our catchy sing-along video here.

  • They can learn these phrases in English and in Spanish…so they can greet twice as many friends!

  • A simple “hello” in someone’s native language goes a long way to establish a connection with someone. Nothing makes a person smile more than knowing that a stranger is trying to speak to them in their own language.  Learning to say “hello” in multiple languages can be fun!

  • Sing in English. Sing in Spanish. Sing in both!

  • Sing every morning to salute the day with joy and to establish the behavior.

Role Play:

  • Use your child’s favorite stuffed animals and throw a pretend tea party or birthday party.  Ask your child to greet each animal as he/she arrives at the party with phrases like “Hello” and “Thanks for coming.”

  • You can respond with your most sweet bunny voice with “Hi. How are you?.” and with the most majestic wave of your elephant trunk with a “Nice to see you”.

  • Act out shaking hands, paws, trunks, etc. and giving snuggly hugs.  Switch roles to allow your child to role play as his/her favorite lovie.

  • Soon your little one will get the hang of it and start to realize how nice it feels to greet and be greeted with a warm welcome.

As you try these creative ways to help your little one learn the concept of greetings, don’t forget your own manners and express gratitude for their effort. “Thank you” and “Gracias” are among the sweetest words they can hear from you.

About the author

Nuria is an entrepreneur and mom raising two bilingual children. She joined forces with another mom, Susie Jaramillo, and founded Encantos – a family entertainment and education company for today’s multicultural families.

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