Las Banderas Volteadas (Flag Game)

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This summer I will be hosting a Spanish camp where we will focus a bit more on geography and the flags of the Spanish-speaking countries. I have been coming up with activities (games and crafts) to focus on the flags. (You can see more ideas here.)  I recently came across a game called Flipping Flags in which you flip over cards with three flags on them. Those playing keep turning over cards on the table until they see a match. As soon as they do, they call out the name of the country. It is fast-paced and looked fun. The only problem was that it contained all the flags from around the world. I only wanted to focus on the 21 Spanish-speaking countries. 

I had recently bought a thematic unit on Spanish-speaking countries from The Enlightened Elephant (You can see it here.). I printed out the flags at a reduced size. They needed to be small enough to fit three of them on one 4 inch by 3 inch card.  I printed out about 10 copies of each flag so that I could make a ton of cards. I then put three different flags on each card and then laminated them. You don't have to worry about which three to put on a card just make sure that they are different. I ended up with about 60 cards give or take which will allow me to split up the cards and have two games going with two different small groups (2-5 players would work).

Here's how you play:

• Give each player an equal amount of cards.
• Players don't look at the cards. Instead, they place the stack face down in front of them.
• One player announces "Volteemos" and everyone flips over a card from their stack.
• If there is a match, then the first player to call out the country with matching flags gets those two cards.
• If there is no match then leave the flipped cards on the table and keep playing by calling out "Volteemos" and flipping over cards until a match is seen. It can then be called out, but remember, the player can only pick up the two cards that he/she calls and that match. All the rest of the cards are left on the table. 
• You can set a timer and the player with the most cards at the end wins.

This is a great way to get kids looking at the flags which in turn will help them recognize the flags later on.  Have fun!

Flag Relay Game

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This summer will be the third year I have done Spanish camps. I am so looking forward to it! My more advanced students will be working with a bit more geography and with the flags of Spanish-speaking countries. I was trying to come up with ideas on to get them more familiar with the flags. We will paint some of the flags on rocks (see the end of this post for more information). We will also be making the flags out of Legos (See Mundo de Pepita's post about this activity HERE.) But I also wanted a game we could do that would get them moving.

So I decided to make a relay game out of the flags...

I picked out ten of the 21 flags. I limit my camps to ten kids at a time so with this game they can either work by themselves or in pairs. Basically, they will line up at the start line, and I will give each student or pair a country. Out in the field in front of them will be all the flag pieces. They will have to race to collect the correct pieces of their flag and put it together at the start line. Because my students are not going to know the flags at the beginning I will be providing them a paper with all the flags on them for reference.

I started by cutting the appropriate color cardstock into pieces to make the ten flags I chose (see above). I then when and printed off any coats of arms or stars that were needed. All of the pieces are laminated for durability. While the game won't be completely fair (some flags will have a few more pieces than others), I think it will be a fun way to work with them.

See below for a few more activities related to flags!

Other ideas for flags?

Collect some rocks and get painting! We will be using acrylic paint (like this set) to paint several of the flags. You can seal the paint afterward with this sealer.

I bought a lot of sidewalk chalk (Here's a big pack of it.) in order for my students to draw flags. They really enjoyed this activity!

Any other ideas for flags? I would love to hear them!

Spanish Camp - Discoverers

Join me in June for four days to learn some Spanish through cultural crafts, games, stories, and fun! This camp is for kids who have had a year or less exposure to the language and who have NOT done a previous camp or ¡Explora Español! class with me. Each day will be spent learning some basics of Spanish through games and stories and focusing on one of the Spanish-speaking countries through a craft.

Below are three of the four crafts we will be doing...

{La Boca Neighborhood, Buenos Aires, Argentina}

{Molas from Panama}

{Personal Piñatas}

The Details...

K-3rd Graders     June 3-6 (Monday-Thursday)  2-4pm

4th-8th Graders   June 10-13  (Monday-Thursday)  2-4pm

The cost is $80 (non-refundable) and must be paid in advance to secure your child(ren)'s spot.

Contact Debbie through her Facebook page at Debbie's Spanish Learning for more information and sign-up instructions.

______________________________________________________________________________

Debbie has been teaching Spanish for over 25 years. She has a passion for teaching kids the language and sharing with them the cultures and places where it is spoken. It is her hope through teaching the language to instill a love in her students for exploring the world around them.

Spanish Camp - Explorers

Join me in June for four days to further extend your child(ren)'s knowledge of  Spanish through cultural crafts, games, stories, and fun! This camp is for kids who have some exposure to the language or who have done a previous camp or ¡Explora Español! class with me. This year we will explore the countries of Costa Rica, Peru, and Guatemala plus explore the geography and flags of all the Spanish-speaking countries.

Below are two of the four crafts we will be doing...

{The Nazca Lines of Peru}

{The Quetzal bird of Guatemala}

The Details...

K-3rd Graders    June 24-27 (Monday-Thursday)  2-4pm
4th-8th Graders  June 17-20 (Monday-Thursday)  2-4pm

The cost is $80 (non-refundable) and must be paid in advance to secure your child(ren)'s spot.

Contact Debbie through her Facebook page at Debbie's Spanish Learning for more information and sign-up instructions.

______________________________________________________________________________

Debbie has been teaching Spanish for over 25 years. She has a passion for teaching kids the language and sharing with them the cultures and places where it is spoken. It is her hope through teaching the language to instill a love in her students for exploring the world around them.