At this time of year, we witness so many amazing (and sometimes abrupt!) changes around us in nature and our weather.

Off the back of following the amazing Monarch butterflies and their fall journey to Mexico, we have been talking about el otoño (the fall) and observing how the leaves (las hojas) change from green (verde) to red (rojo), yellow (amarillo), brown (café/marrón) or orange (anaranjado).

We have pretended to be trees and sung about how las hojas se caen del árbol (the leaves fall from the tree). Go outside and watch the leaves fall!

We have also discovered that, some days in fall, it doesn’t feel warm, it feels cold! ¡No hace calor….hace frío!

Enjoy these activities to explore the language and cultures!

• sing about the leaves falling (“las hojas se caen”) with our leaves song or video

• pretend to be trees as you read a fall poem from Spanish Playground

• go outside and play a traditional hispanic playground game, similar to “Mr Fox, Mr Fox”: “1,2,3 calabaza” (1,2,3 pumpkin)

• watch and sing a los colores song/video from Calico Spanish

• …then play your own seek & find color game, saying:

  “busca algo …[color]” [‘BOO-skah AL-go’]

• sing los colores, to the tune of ‘Frère Jacques’

  red es rojo, red es rojo; blue es azul, blue es azul

  yellow es amarillo, yellow es amarillo; verde, green; verde, green

  black es negro, black es negro; blanco es white, blanco es white

  purple es morado, purple es morado; brown, café; brown, café

  pink es rosa, pink es rosa; grey es gris, grey es gris

  anaranjado es orange, anaranjado es orange

  Shout HOORAY!, Shout HOORAY!

• watch some kids making some Mexican hot chocolate the traditional way, using José Luis-Orosco’s song, Chocolate (on my playlist).

• ….and make your own ! If you don’t own a traditional, Mexican molinillo, a whisk works just as well! You can mix up your own recipe or try the authentic ‘Abuelita’ chocolate tablets that melt into the milk. It’s a unique, aromatic flavor. ¡Qué rico! Yummy!

¡Diviértanse! Have fun!

Olivia prepara el chocolate caliente con un molinillo mexicano. ¡Bate, bate!

Olivia makes hot chocolate with a Mexican molinillo, a traditional wooden whisk. Stir, stir!