Teaching the Alphabet in Spanish

Teaching the alphabet can be a whole lot of fun!  There are so many activities out there to reinforce the names and sounds of the letters.  Here are some ideas that I have used when teaching the Spanish alphabet to preschoolers all the way to highschoolers...

If your child or student is young enough you will want to start with letter recognition and formation. After I have introduced the letters through Spanish Alphabet Flash Cards, I will call out letters and have the student create them with playdough or build them with felt or wooden shapes.  Here is a file to help you create the shapes for the felt or wooden letters.

Another idea is to use Paper Letters for various activities.  Here is a list of what can be done with them...

-Hide the letters and then call out a letter that they need to go find.

-Mix up the letters and have them put them in order.  Review their Spanish names once they are in order.

-Spell Spanish words with them and see if your students can create the word you spelled.

-If using different colored letters, call out a color and they collect all the letters that are that color.  The students then have to tell you in Spanish which letters they collected.

-Have them create their names with the letters and then tell you what letters they used.

-Hide the letters.  Give them instructions on where to find each letter.  For example:  La "a" esta debajo de la mesa."  To make this more challenging you might hide two or three different letters in the same spot.  They have to retrieve the correct letter.

Alphabet Shape Stickers can be used in a variety of ways.  I use picture pages like the one you see below from Basic Vocabulary Builder.  I tell my students in Spanish which letter sticker to put on which picture.  This way they are not only reviewing letters, but other vocabulary.

Spanish alphabet books can enhance your unit on letters also.  Here are a few...

Gathering the Sun: An Alphabet In Spanish And English (Spanish Edition)-for older students
Albertina Anda Arriba: El Abecedario / Albertina Goes Up: An Alphabet Book (Bilingual Books)
A is for Airplane/A es para avion
Calavera Abecedario: A Day of the Dead Alphabet Book
ABeCedario Nutritivo

Here are a few more activities:

-I also do a fly swatter or "slapping" game.  I make cards with a letter on each card.  I use the complete Spanish alphabet and a few duplicates (like I may have two or three cards each of several of the letters).  I then lay out all the cards on a table.  I call out a letter and the first student to slap the correct card either with his or her hand or a flyswatter gets the card.  The student with the most cards at the end wins.

-Make a set of cards to play "Go Fish"  (Pesca) with the letters. Have the students play in Spanish by asking "Tienes la "c"?"

-Have the students use a Spanish dictionary to find unique words.  They have to spell the words to you in Spanish.  See if they can stump you with a new word you don't know.  My high school students love this activity and I have increased my vocabulary by doing it!

What other ideas do you use to teach the alphabet in Spanish?