SPANISH GAME NIGHT
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"Success is no accident. It is hard work, perseverance, learning, studying, sacrifice, and most of all love of what you are doing or learning to do."
- Pele
- Pele
Here are tips to plan an event during which students will have a blast interacting with their classmates in Spanish. Students will learn and reinforce vocabulary, grammar, and cultural topics as well as improve their language skills. Any of these activities can be done at a game night or conversation hour, but they can also be done during Spanish classes of all levels.
Check out our complete list of the really popular interactive activities we have used for game nights and conversation hours in the past. Also, here are our Game Night 2015 pictures!
TOPICS AND ACTIVITIES:
*If you have enough teachers or native speakers to have various activity stations, break the students into smaller groups. Here are two example schedules we use with students attending 4 or 5 different activities during a two hour period. We decide the number and length of activities based on the number of students who attend.
Any of these activities can be done during normal classes also. Each one of the games and activities includes detailed instructions for how to play and all of them can be modified for all levels of Spanish classes.
*You may download example activity tickets that you can use to hand out to students so they will know which activity to attend first. For instance, the activity topics/stations may be Charadas, El Frenesí Familiar (Family Feud), La Corrida de Toros Culture and speaking game, Letras Locas music game, Caras Conocidas Famous Latinos guessing game with video, Pirámide de 100.000 dólares vocabulary game, El Peligro (Jeopardy), Pasapalabra vocabulary definitions game, Las Citas Rápidas (Speed Dating) and Spanish Movie Titles and Trailers game or any other game your students may enjoy.
*Students can spend 20 - 25 minutes at each station or the teacher can do any of these activities or games during class.
~ Game Night may begin with a whole group activity where the students play a game called Would You Rather?
The students propose a question to the group such as, “Would you rather have cats or dogs as pets?” or for upper level students, “Would you rather have lots of virtual friends on Facebook or a few really good actual friends?” Then, the students comment on why they chose their answers and this game continues for about 10-15 minutes, depending on how many other activities you want to play during game night.
~ Instead of starting with a game, you may prefer to start off by teaching everyone a song or a dance. We have made tons of music activities, playlists and organized pages on our site with popular songs from 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2015. There are lyrics videos and actual videos of all of the popular Spanish-speaking artists as well as many creative dances for songs by Chino y Nacho, Don Omar, Daddy Yankee, and more. Enjoy experimenting with various genres of music and different Latin artists! “No Tengo Dinero” by Maffio is one of our students’ favorites to sing as well as dance.
~ GAMES AND ACTIVITIES FOR SESSIONS - LOS JUEGOS
Charadas is an interactive game with two teams. Divide the students into two teams and give each team one minute to guess, draw, or act out as many vocabulary expressions as possible in that one minute. Click here for 35 different themes of Charadas vocabulary cards to play with your students.
El Frenesí Familiar is as loud and hilarious as the Family Feud and it enables students to work as a team to get all of the correct answers. Students love the realistic sound effects and teachers can use one of many already prepared games or they can modify one for their classes and curriculum.
La Corrida de Toros or Los Sanfermines teaches the students culture, vocabulary and speaking skills while the toros battle against the matadores. There are three types of questions from performing commands to answering vocabulary definitions to describing cute pictures as a team.
Letras Locas requires students to be familiar with songs in Spanish. At the beginning of this session, the students can practice singing Spanish songs they may already have heard or sung. After a few minutes of practice, take away the lyrics, divide the group into two teams, and play music videos that have the lyrics on the screen for all to see. The teacher pauses the lyrics video in key spots and whichever team knows the next line of the song raises their hand and then sings the next line in order to earn points. Visit our Music Resources page for tons of music videos and lyrics!
Caras Conocidas is a brand new interactive student-led activity that includes an 18 page lesson and a beautiful video. This cultural activity is an excellent way to introduce famous Hispanics/Latinos to your students! There is an original video that features 25 notable Spanish speakers such as César Chavez, Pablo Picasso, Enrique Iglesias, Rey Felipe and Reina Letizia, Lionel Messi, Papa Francisco, Sonia Sotomayor, Juanes, Jaime Escalante, Roberto Clemente, Rafa Nadal, Fernando Botero, Shakira, Don Omar, Che, Frida Kahlo, Diego Rivera, Alberto Pujols, Eva Peron, Selena Quintanilla, and more! After the students watch the video, they come up one by one to read descriptions of notable Latinos while the class guesses who they are. This activity is a favorite!!!
To teach students circumlocution, the Spanish $100,000 Pyramid Game is the perfect interactive way to review and reinforce vocabulary expressions related to school, sports, foods, house, travel, clothing, body parts, fruits and vegetables, health, verbs, animals, colors, weather expressions, beach, professions, objects, countries and capitals of the Spanish-speaking world, and more. The teacher divides the students into two teams who have to guess the words or expressions for the images that appear behind them on the screen.
Jeopardy (El Peligro) can be used to review grammar concepts, holidays, vocabulary and cultural topics. Jeopardy can be student-led or teacher-led and our electronic version of this game makes it easy to change the questions based on the level of students and/or the topics that need to be reviewed.
Pasapalabra is a game show in Spain where the contestants listen to definitions of words and then guess the word as they go through the alphabet. If the contestants do not know the answer, they say, “Pasapalabra”. Show these videos of the game before playing it so students will understand how to play.
Speed Dating (Las Citas Rápidas) may be a great culminating activity for your game night because the students will have had a chance to interact in many different ways. There are several ways to set up this activity, either with the questions printed out on cards and taped to desks or with the questions typed out on paper. We have made both basic level questions and advanced questions in both formats, and when we play, we add the fun of silly piropos to share with partners before moving on to a new friend in the next round.
¡Adivina Qué! is a crazy, fast-paced vocabulary expression guessing game that students love! The 20 themes included in this Spanish version of the game are Familia, Casa y Muebles, Bebidas, Comidas, Profesiones, Frutas, Deportes, Lugares, Materiales, Naturaleza, Partes del Cuerpo, Rutina Diaria, Servicio de Mesa, Aeropuerto, Cumpleaños, Animales, Transporte, Ropa, Salud, and Materiales Escolares. There are 10 vocabulary expressions for each of the 20 categories. There are several ways to play this game. Teachers can play Adivina Qué as a whole class or the students can play it in small groups. Adivina Qué can be played with Chromebooks, on a screen with a Power Point, or with cards that students hold up to their heads.
***We have many other cultural events that we organize throughout the school year with additional interactive activities that involve music, movies, telenovelas, game shows, holidays, commercials, TV shows, and more. Click here to learn more:
Media/Pop Culture Event
Holidays Around the World
Immersion Day
Conversation Hour
Check out our complete list of the really popular interactive activities we have used for game nights and conversation hours in the past. Also, here are our Game Night 2015 pictures!
TOPICS AND ACTIVITIES:
*If you have enough teachers or native speakers to have various activity stations, break the students into smaller groups. Here are two example schedules we use with students attending 4 or 5 different activities during a two hour period. We decide the number and length of activities based on the number of students who attend.
Any of these activities can be done during normal classes also. Each one of the games and activities includes detailed instructions for how to play and all of them can be modified for all levels of Spanish classes.
*You may download example activity tickets that you can use to hand out to students so they will know which activity to attend first. For instance, the activity topics/stations may be Charadas, El Frenesí Familiar (Family Feud), La Corrida de Toros Culture and speaking game, Letras Locas music game, Caras Conocidas Famous Latinos guessing game with video, Pirámide de 100.000 dólares vocabulary game, El Peligro (Jeopardy), Pasapalabra vocabulary definitions game, Las Citas Rápidas (Speed Dating) and Spanish Movie Titles and Trailers game or any other game your students may enjoy.
*Students can spend 20 - 25 minutes at each station or the teacher can do any of these activities or games during class.
~ Game Night may begin with a whole group activity where the students play a game called Would You Rather?
The students propose a question to the group such as, “Would you rather have cats or dogs as pets?” or for upper level students, “Would you rather have lots of virtual friends on Facebook or a few really good actual friends?” Then, the students comment on why they chose their answers and this game continues for about 10-15 minutes, depending on how many other activities you want to play during game night.
~ Instead of starting with a game, you may prefer to start off by teaching everyone a song or a dance. We have made tons of music activities, playlists and organized pages on our site with popular songs from 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2015. There are lyrics videos and actual videos of all of the popular Spanish-speaking artists as well as many creative dances for songs by Chino y Nacho, Don Omar, Daddy Yankee, and more. Enjoy experimenting with various genres of music and different Latin artists! “No Tengo Dinero” by Maffio is one of our students’ favorites to sing as well as dance.
~ GAMES AND ACTIVITIES FOR SESSIONS - LOS JUEGOS
Charadas is an interactive game with two teams. Divide the students into two teams and give each team one minute to guess, draw, or act out as many vocabulary expressions as possible in that one minute. Click here for 35 different themes of Charadas vocabulary cards to play with your students.
El Frenesí Familiar is as loud and hilarious as the Family Feud and it enables students to work as a team to get all of the correct answers. Students love the realistic sound effects and teachers can use one of many already prepared games or they can modify one for their classes and curriculum.
La Corrida de Toros or Los Sanfermines teaches the students culture, vocabulary and speaking skills while the toros battle against the matadores. There are three types of questions from performing commands to answering vocabulary definitions to describing cute pictures as a team.
Letras Locas requires students to be familiar with songs in Spanish. At the beginning of this session, the students can practice singing Spanish songs they may already have heard or sung. After a few minutes of practice, take away the lyrics, divide the group into two teams, and play music videos that have the lyrics on the screen for all to see. The teacher pauses the lyrics video in key spots and whichever team knows the next line of the song raises their hand and then sings the next line in order to earn points. Visit our Music Resources page for tons of music videos and lyrics!
Caras Conocidas is a brand new interactive student-led activity that includes an 18 page lesson and a beautiful video. This cultural activity is an excellent way to introduce famous Hispanics/Latinos to your students! There is an original video that features 25 notable Spanish speakers such as César Chavez, Pablo Picasso, Enrique Iglesias, Rey Felipe and Reina Letizia, Lionel Messi, Papa Francisco, Sonia Sotomayor, Juanes, Jaime Escalante, Roberto Clemente, Rafa Nadal, Fernando Botero, Shakira, Don Omar, Che, Frida Kahlo, Diego Rivera, Alberto Pujols, Eva Peron, Selena Quintanilla, and more! After the students watch the video, they come up one by one to read descriptions of notable Latinos while the class guesses who they are. This activity is a favorite!!!
To teach students circumlocution, the Spanish $100,000 Pyramid Game is the perfect interactive way to review and reinforce vocabulary expressions related to school, sports, foods, house, travel, clothing, body parts, fruits and vegetables, health, verbs, animals, colors, weather expressions, beach, professions, objects, countries and capitals of the Spanish-speaking world, and more. The teacher divides the students into two teams who have to guess the words or expressions for the images that appear behind them on the screen.
Jeopardy (El Peligro) can be used to review grammar concepts, holidays, vocabulary and cultural topics. Jeopardy can be student-led or teacher-led and our electronic version of this game makes it easy to change the questions based on the level of students and/or the topics that need to be reviewed.
Pasapalabra is a game show in Spain where the contestants listen to definitions of words and then guess the word as they go through the alphabet. If the contestants do not know the answer, they say, “Pasapalabra”. Show these videos of the game before playing it so students will understand how to play.
Speed Dating (Las Citas Rápidas) may be a great culminating activity for your game night because the students will have had a chance to interact in many different ways. There are several ways to set up this activity, either with the questions printed out on cards and taped to desks or with the questions typed out on paper. We have made both basic level questions and advanced questions in both formats, and when we play, we add the fun of silly piropos to share with partners before moving on to a new friend in the next round.
¡Adivina Qué! is a crazy, fast-paced vocabulary expression guessing game that students love! The 20 themes included in this Spanish version of the game are Familia, Casa y Muebles, Bebidas, Comidas, Profesiones, Frutas, Deportes, Lugares, Materiales, Naturaleza, Partes del Cuerpo, Rutina Diaria, Servicio de Mesa, Aeropuerto, Cumpleaños, Animales, Transporte, Ropa, Salud, and Materiales Escolares. There are 10 vocabulary expressions for each of the 20 categories. There are several ways to play this game. Teachers can play Adivina Qué as a whole class or the students can play it in small groups. Adivina Qué can be played with Chromebooks, on a screen with a Power Point, or with cards that students hold up to their heads.
***We have many other cultural events that we organize throughout the school year with additional interactive activities that involve music, movies, telenovelas, game shows, holidays, commercials, TV shows, and more. Click here to learn more:
Media/Pop Culture Event
Holidays Around the World
Immersion Day
Conversation Hour
