Games and Hands on Activities in Spanish Class

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I absolutely love utilizing games and hands on activities in EVERY LEVEL of Spanish class. Games aren’t just for middle school! In my high school classroom, they help me engage even the most reluctant students. Games bring fun and spontaneity into the learning process and they provide a great opportunity for me to formatively assess my students’ progress.

I used to think that games were only appropriate for review right before a quiz or a test, but over the past 9 years I have developed various games and activities that are helpful during all stages of the learning process. Yes, review games are appropriate before a quiz or other assessment, but they can also be used seamlessly as warmups or exit tickets, brain breaks, and more. Often, hands on activities feel like games for our students, and there doesn’t have to be a competition aspect for something to be FUN.

Something else that classroom games have taught me is that when I am enjoying myself in class with my students, I am a better teacher, too! I choose to bring activities that I LOVE into my classroom, because it makes me a happier, more effective teacher for my students.

Almost everything I do in my classroom can be tied back to my focus on positive teacher-student relationships. I believe that my relationship with my students has been the biggest game changer for me over the past few years. Developing strong relationships has made classroom management easier and I am seeing more language use and higher proficiency levels! I plan my lessons with my student relationships in mind. Utilizing games and hands on activities has helped me in these relationships, and has helped me strengthen student proficiency.

When I am able to incorporate these activities into my lessons, my students tend to have more fun and therefore so do I. If we are all happy, and we are all engaged, then my students are learning 🙂 Above all, I am improving relationships today which will in turn help me to reach them tomorrow!

You can read more about my games and how I use them here, or check out my favorite games and hands on activities below!

Click the icons below to see available options for each activity. Editable templates are available for most.

DIGITAL Games and ACTIVITIES

Great for remote, hybrid, and in person learning!

Taco Tuesday

A class favorite and very competitive in any level! Give a clue in English or Spanish, and students race to find the correct taco. Can be played on paper or digitally. Editable templates available in various game board sizes.

¿Mano o Manos?

This is my go-to to increase participation w/ my quietest classes. Students respond to each prompt by holding up 1 or 2 hands (or typing in the chat). Great for initiating class discussion! Editable templates available.

PANAL DE PREGUNTAS

Designed to provide multiple low-pressure writing opportunities. Students take turns responding to prompts to compete for spaces while blocking their opponent(s)! Editable templates available.

DIGITAL STICKERS

Make your students smile! Even my HS students LOVE stickers. These help me provide visual digital feedback and build student relationships. Editable sets available, w/ pre-made sets in Spanish English + French.

Openers and More

These templates are a must for any classroom. Build routine and prompt participation from the very start of class. Templates provide extensive supports and endless design options for your creativity.

MY FAVORITE GAMES

If I am having fun, my students are DEFINITELY having fun

La Silla Caliente

This is a whole-class competitive activity that can last any amount of time, including an entire block. Each student answers every question to try and earn varying points for their team. This gives you the opportunity to assess all students at once in a low pressure setting!

Guerra de Miel

Students take turns in pairs or small groups to conjugate a subject and verb based on the playing card chosen. They compete for spaces within the honeycomb. This can also be completed individually and is great for review days or a station activity. Editable template available.

Doble Donas

Similar to Guerra de Miel, but each game space has TWO options for students. This activity is a wonderful way to differentiate as well as offer student choice. Help students build confidence by allowing them choice at each turn! Editable template available.

Puzzles

I love using these for vocabulary and grammar concepts alike. They are perfect for a station activity or a class opener. Let students race their classmates! Cut once and save from year to year in plastic baggies. Editable templates available in triangle or square designs.

Speaking FUn

Yes, speaking can and should be fun! Low pressure leads to enhanced student participation and output.

Sonidos Secretos

Want to fill your class with laughter AND the target language? Students have cards with "secret" phrases that they have to mouth/mime to their partner who is wearing headphones. Hilarity ensues. Editable template available.

Citas Cortas

Speed-dating style speaking activity. Differentiate by setting different goals in each class. I like to give a 5/5 to everyone in a class if I hear NO english during this activity! Student reflection page included. Editable template available.

Llama Mía

A board game meets a speaking activity!? YUP! Students roll a die to move their llama game piece around the board to reach the exit. Differentiate by requiring single words or full sentences in order to keep each space! Editable template available.

Tiburones

¡Ay! Hay tiburones en el agua. Students take turns pulling strips out of an envelope. They complete the prompt (single word or full sentence, up to you) to keep it, but if they pull a Tiburón, they have to return ALL of their strips. Editable template available.

Café Charla

This activity is great for review before a quiz or for fast finishers. Each pack of cards is filled with speaking prompts. Students pass the ring of cards around their group, taking turns asking and answering in a low pressure setting. Editable template available.

Cacto Conversación

A speaking activity disguised as a card game! Students take turns pulling cards and asking the question aloud to their partner. Answer sheet included as an option for keeping track of questions and answers on paper as well.

MORE HANDS ON ACTIVITIES

We don’t always need competition to bring the FUN.

Maracas

An opportunity for whole-group practice of a concept. Students answer the prompt on the card in their hands, and then pass the card one student to the left at the sound of the Maraca. Repeat until they have had each card once.

La Lluvia

This is my favorite activity for providing student choice. A twist on a traditional review worksheet, but set a certain number of raindrops that students need to complete. Editable templates available in Spanish + French.

Dice Games

Great for review, these are a hands-on approach to a traditional worksheet/drill style activity. Students roll the die to determine the combination for each prompt. You decide whether they need full sentences or not!

Conversation Strips

This is my favorite reading comprehension activity, and is a GREAT confidence builder! Full yet comprehensible conversations in Spanish are given to students out of order. They work with their partner or small group to arrange correctly!

TEACHER TESTIMONIALS

I can’t praise Erin enough. Almost my entire curriculum is created from her activities. She creates the best activities that help kids learn and they don’t think they’re learning because they are having so much fun! At the beginning of a new tense I give them the puzzle 🧩 so they can try to find a pattern with the new tense. Then I use the quick conjugations as their notes and that is their reference sheet throughout the unit. Then we do Maracas a day or two after learning the tense to practice. Taco Tuesday 🌮 is their absolute favorite, they seriously go crazy because they are so excited to play! Throughout the unit we do practice sentences and play Doble Donas 🍩, Guerra de Miel 🍯, and Llama Mía 🦙 and they learn while having FUN! 🥳 After practicing for a while we do Café Charla and Citas Cortas to get them talking more once they are more comfortable with the tense. Then we play Sonidos Secretos, which is their second (some would argue it’s their first) favorite activity. Then we do La Lluvia ☔️ to practice recognizing the tense and forming sentences with the verbs. Then I use the quizzes and writing prompts for their assessments. I don’t use a textbook. I create vocab sheets (guided by a textbook) and use Erin’s activities for everything. My students love my class because of how I teach and the activities I use and that is ALL THANKS TO ERIN! ❤️❤️❤️

Erin has helped me SO MUCH in the past couple of years. I started using her fantastic games like “Taco Tuesday” & “Llama Mía” and these activities soon became class favorites. Through the last two years, I have purchased and used many of Erin’s products/activities and without a doubt, everything she creates is a success. When I poll my students at the end of the year about things they enjoyed, they always list Erin’s activities. Erin is incredibly generous with her time and she is always willing to create things we can use in our classrooms. Since she herself is a Spanish teacher, she knows exactly what we need. She also creates editable templates which are life savers; I have used those templates multiple times. I can go on and on about Erin, her creativity, her generosity and her helpfulness, but I’ll end by saying that I’m grateful for having someone like her who supports us teachers continuously.

Where do I even begin? Erin's resources are the trifecta of beautiful, purposeful, and communicative, period. They allow for modification as well as student *and* teacher process in that the steps are clear, they fit right into multiple curricula and settings (CI, proficiency, legacy, textbook-based, whatever!) for people to adapt as they need. Seriously - as a person with a military spouse who needed to move four times in five years, I wish I had these resources before just a few years ago. But, I have them now! Now, the smorgasboard of materials that I've accumulated and created over the years makes more sense in itself *and* with the materials that I buy and adapt. I have saved not only time but also mental energy and emotional exhaustion in figuring out, "What the heck are we doing tomorrow?" with Erin's resources --- truly, truly. She as a person is incredible and her materials are exactly what you'd expect. Love, love, love!