Happy 2025! Are you ready to achieve your Spanish goals this year? Well, here at TruFluency Kids we want to help you! And we want to do it in a fun way! We have a Spanish challenge for you and your whole family!
Below you’ll find a Spanish activity for you to do every month of this year to incorporate Spanish into your daily routine as a family. So your children and you will acquire new vocabulary and improve your Spanish skills for daily life.
Are you ready for the TruFluency Kids’ challenge? ¿Lo tomas o lo dejas?
January / Enero: Music
What better way to start off the new year than with music, right? Both adults and children love music. Kids are often surrounded by it: Television shows, movies, toys and many other things for children have music. Even the way they learn the alphabet is with a catchy song.
Even newborns listen to lullabies and parents sing to them every now and then as well, even if they don’t understand words yet. It’s a way to calm them down and make them happy. But it’s also the way they start getting immersed in what is going to be their mother tongue. This applies for kids of any age.
So why not play songs in Spanish for your children?
Here’s a schedule for you to play songs:
- Morning: Play one song about waking up or getting ready for the day.
- Afternoon: Play a song about eating with the family or play one about doing the homework right before your kids actually do the homework.
- Night: Play one song about getting ready for bedtime or dreaming right before they go to sleep.
These are just some suggestions on songs. If you have other topics for songs related to your kids’ routine, go ahead and listen to those.
We know you’re busy, but it’s crucial not to miss playing songs in Spanish for your kids during these three times of the day. Of course, it’s even better if you can play more songs throughout the day. But if not, stick to morning, afternoon and night.
Play the same songs throughout one week. As the days of that week pass by, you’ll probably learn the lyrics, because songs for children are super catchy. So start singing along with the songs and encourage your kids to do the same.
You can also dance along. That way they’ll not only practice their listening, but their pronunciation and speaking skills as well. Most importantly, you’ll have tons of fun as a family.
Once you’ve repeated the same songs during one whole week, you can change the songs for the next week, and so on.
February / Febrero: Words of Affection
February is the month of love. Valentine’s Day is celebrated on February 14th, so why not keep love as a constant the whole month? Okay, sure, love is a constant throughout every single day of the year. But February can be the month to learn to express that love in Spanish. What better way to start doing that than by saying words of affection?
As a parent we’re sure you always say to your kids how much you love them. You probably use phrases like “I love you so much”, “you’re so adorable” or nicknames like “honey”, “baby”, “angel”… Now keep saying these things and others but in Spanish.
Express your love in Spanish by saying phrases like “te amo”, “te amo demasiado”, “eres adorable”, “ay qué bonito/bonita”… And pet names like “mi ángel”, “mi bebé”, “muñeca”, “tesoro”, among others.
Not only say phrases of love to your children, also to your partner, parents, siblings, and anyone that you truly love. This way your kids will see and hear how you express love in Spanish to other people as well, and they’ll start imitating you. Maybe later they’ll start saying “te amo” to you and to anyone that they love.
Say some of these words and phrases every single day throughout the whole day. There’s no need for a specific schedule, just say when you feel it.
These words and phrases of affection will come in handy any month, any day, no matter the age of your kids. So we thought the month of love is the perfect time to start learning them and using them in Spanish. You have the rest of the year – and life – to keep on using them.
March / Marzo: Las Palabras Mágicas
One of the basic words that children must learn in Spanish and in any language are “please” and “thanks”. They’re a sign of education, kindness, and respect; all values that we want our babies to grow up with. These are also known as “the magic words” or, as people say in Spanish, “Las palabras mágicas”.
Don’t make them memorize “por favor” (please) and “gracias” (thanks). Make them listen to you say these words when it’s the appropriate occasion. So they learn how and when to use them themselves.
So if they do you a favor, like passing you the salt during dinner, say “gracias”. Or when you ask them for something say “por favor”. Your kids must do the same, because practice is what will make them reinforce the vocabulary they’ve learned and truly acquire the words.
In fact, all the members of the family, especially the ones that live in the same house as your kids, should say “por favor” and “gracias”.
Your children – and the whole family – will absolutely learn these respectful words if you repeat them every day. And let’s be honest, every single day there’s a reason to say these two amazing words. So there’s no excuses.
April / Abril: Learn the Alphabet
It’s time to learn the alphabet. But don’t worry, we’re not going to sit down and memorize the letters just like that. That would be boring for kids. We’re going to do it more dynamically.
So far, you’ve learned important words to show love and basic words to show good manners. All part of the basic vocabulary Hispanic people use every day. Now your vocabulary will get a huge boost! You and your kids will acquire many different words about different topics but that are usually around you in everything you do.
Here’s the activity: Every day pick one letter of the alphabet, do it preferably in order. So the first day you should pick “A”. As you do the activities of a normal day, point out every object you can think of whose name starts with “A” in Spanish, and say the word out loud.
For example: If you’re about to eat rice, say “arroz”. You can even say a whole phrase in Spanish with that word, like “hoy vamos a comer arroz” (today we’re going to eat rice). All while pointing out the rice.
For the second day choose the next letter of the alphabet, so “b”. Then, when you’re going to the bathroom, say “baño” or “voy al baño”. When you’re helping your kids do the homework and they do something right, tell them “bien”. Keep doing this throughout the whole day.
Challenge your kids to do the same. And not just them, but everyone that lives with you.
Do the same with all the letters of the alphabet. Remember that Spanish also has the letter “ñ”. Once you’re done with all the letters, repeat the game for the rest of the days of the month, so you reinforce the knowledge. Try to find and say new words in Spanish when you play the game for a second time.
Do you want to motivate everyone even more? Great! Throughout the day, you can write down all the words that you said that day with the letter you picked. Oh, and whose name you got right in Spanish, of course. Your kids and everyone that’s participating must do the same.
At the end of the day count the words on everyone’s list. The person that got more words wins something. It could be a desert or to pick which movie you’ll watch together as a family.
May / Mayo: Read 3 Stories Per Day
We’ve arrived at one of the coolest ways to incorporate Spanish to your routine: Reading stories! Everyone loves stories, especially kids. They’re always consuming stories, on tv shows, cartoons, movies, and now on books. They build this fictional world for them, it can be magical or scary, but there’s always something to learn.
We recommend you read with them three times a day. It doesn’t have to be one long book. It can be three different short stories or tales. One in the morning. One in the afternoon, after school. And one at bedtime.
If you can read even more than one book at bedtime, please do it. Why? This step is a classic, there are many ways to add Spanish to your bedtime routine, and reading a book is one of the best! Kids love to go to bed with a good story in their minds. Sometimes they even ask for more: “please read me one more tale, dad, por favor, ¿sí?”
Children will have fun before going to sleep. They’ll be immersed in Spanish for a long time if you read more than just one tale. They’ll acquire vocabulary and since you’re reading out loud, they’ll improve their listening.
As for you, you’ll have a great time with your kids. It’s a moment of connection and you’ll build memories that’ll last forever. Plus, you’ll also have fun with the story.
June / Junio: Watch 2 Movies Per Week
This is yet another activity your kids will love! Many children love to watch tv and movies. Though some parents don’t like to let their kids in front of a screen, it can be useful if done right.
Make sure to create a space in your family agenda for movie time. It can be done as many times in the week as possible, make sure it’s at least twice a week.
Simply pick a movie the whole family will enjoy. The film can be dubbed to Spanish, but it’s even better if it’s originally in Spanish. Because this way it’s more likely they’ll show not only the language but the culture of the country the film is from. And it’s important that children also learn about Hispanic cultures; they go hand in hand with the language.
After the movie finishes, discuss it in Spanish. You can talk about your favorite characters, what you like about it, what you didn’t like, the message of the story… Don’t forget to ask questions to your kids about the movie.
Give Your Child the Gift of Spanish!
July / Julio: Narrate Your Routines
All the vocabulary you’ve learned in the past months will help you with this challenge. It’s time to narrate in Spanish all your routines. The morning, the afternoon and the night. Basically, what you do in a day.
So what’s your usual morning routine? You wake up and wake your kids up. You make breakfast, while your kids shower. They put on their school uniform. Then you all go to have breakfast together at the table. After, you brush your teeth. Finally, you drive your kids to school.
In all those moments of your morning routine you can add some Spanish phrases, so your kids start picking up vocabulary.
When you wake them up you can say things like: “¡Buenos días! Y es hora de levantarse” (Good morning, it’s time to wake up).
When it’s time to shower, you can say: “Me voy a bañar. Voy a usar este champú y acondicionador” (I’m going to shower. I’m going to use this shampoo and conditioner).
And so on for each activity that you do and when your kids are around, so they listen to Spanish.
Are you helping your kids do all the activities, maybe because they’re very young yet to do it themselves? Great! You can still add phrases and, even better, point at the object for some specific Spanish words you’re using. So they associate the name in Spanish of the thing they’re seeing.
For example: If you’re brushing your children’s teeth, show them the toothbrush while you say “te voy a lavar los dientes con este cepillo de dientes”. (I’m going to brush your teeth with this toothbrush).
Now, let’s do the same for the afternoon and night.
Think about what you typically do in the afternoon. You get out of work, pick up your kids from school. You cook. Eat together. Take them to their extracurricular classes. Drive back home.
For the night, make dinner and eat. Clean the kitchen. Brush your teeth. Change to your pajamas. Read a bedtime story. Sleep.
Now add some Spanish phrases to all of those activities. Narrate them. It’s like instead of narrating stories this time, you’re narrating your life. Encourage your kids to do the same. They can tell you what they’re doing.
August / Agosto: Cook in Spanish
Cooking in Spanish with your kids will bring many benefits for them.
First, they’ll start learning a basic skill for survival: Cooking. This will be useful for their future lives. They’ll thank you later.
Second, they’ll have tons of fun! Cooking might seem boring for some, but it can be fun if you make it fun. Kids love exploring the world and things around them. This time they’ll experiment with the ingredients to make delicious recipes. Make sure you look excited so they get excited as well.
Third, they’ll learn Spanish vocabulary for the kitchen and Spanish words about food. They’ll also get to practice their listening, speaking, pronunciation, and conversation skills.
Make sure every time you go to cook something, your kids are there to help you. Give them safe tasks to do. And ask them questions in Spanish, like “¿qué es esto?” (“what is this?”), while you show them an ingredient. They must answer you in Spanish.
Or ask them to help you out with something: “¿Me ayudas a amasar la masa, por favor?” (“would you help me knead the dough, please?”)
We’re sure they’ll love it if you make them part of the cooking experience. They’ll also love to learn Spanish this way, because it won’t feel like a stressful class or study time for an exam. It’s a very natural way of learning.
September / Septiembre: Play
It’s play time! This is a common thing kids are always doing and that sometimes parents do with them as well. Plus, they love it! It’s all about having a fun time, nothing else. Okay, maybe this time it is also about learning Spanish, but it won’t feel that way.
Pick a game, preferably one that doesn’t involve screens and phones. What about “jugaremos en el bosque”? We highly recommend you play this. It is a popular game in Spanish children love to play and it involves as many people as possible. We teach you how to play it here.
Throughout the game, the person that represents the wolf will have to speak many different phrases in Spanish. They can be phrases he/she makes up at the moment, but that are truly used in Spanish. They’re phrases natives often say, like “estoy comiendo” (I’m eating).
There’s even a song involved in the game! How fun!
As you can see, “jugaremos en el bosque” will make children and everyone playing not only learn vocabulary, but also practice it. They’ll actually use words and phrases in Spanish!
But of course, this can’t be the only game you play as a family because you need to do this more than once a month. Play together at least three times a week; if you can do it more or even every day, please do it.
Play anything you want, football, barbies, hide and seek… Just make sure to always speak in Spanish while you play. If the game allows it, you can make the rule that the person that speaks in English or another language, loses points.
¡Diviértanse!
October / Octubre: Go to Spanish Speaking Events Every Week
Look for any Spanish speaking events that may be around your area. There might be a library hosting the book presentation of a Hispanic children’s author. That would be a great event to take your kids to.
Or maybe there’s an art festival with Hispanic artists, so the whole family can learn about art and practice your language skills. Or maybe a Hispanic neighbor or friend invited you to a party.
In any of these scenarios, you might feel intimidated to go because you’re not an expert, but that’s why you should go. This way you’ll immerse in the Spanish language. You’ll also be forced to practice what you know and to train your ear with actual native Spanish speakers.
Yes, it’s very challenging, but we’re sure you all can make it. By this point, you’ve already acquired and practiced a lot of vocabulary in Spanish. You’re ready to try it with native speakers. Maybe you’ll even meet other Spanish learners. Oh, and don’t be afraid of making mistakes. It’s normal and it’s fine.
Hey, by the way, October is the month of Halloween! So you’ll probably find many events about Halloween, or as people call it in Spanish, “Día de Brujas”. Of course, preferably go to the ones that are in Spanish.
Even better, at the end of October the “Día de Muertos” commemorations start. So if you can find any events about this, go. It’s a special Mexican tradition, so your children will learn the language and culture. We even challenge you to create your own “ofrenda” in your house.
Try to do this more than once every week.
November / Noviembre: Arts & Crafts
We’re almost done with the year, why don’t we do something to chill out before the last month comes? But what is an activity that could help us sit down, have fun and relax a bit? Arts & crafts!
Think about it: Children love creating things, doing art, whether it’s painting, coloring, building or sculpting. It’s a form of self-expression for their little selves. That’s a great thing to do for our babies; to encourage them to express their feelings and ideas and build new things.
Yes, they can also learn Spanish through doing a craft.
Sit down as a family at least three times a week and do any art or craft you can think of. You can paint. Maybe do paper flowers to decorate the kids’ rooms. Make a pencil holder with recycled materials. Or create a collage with pictures of your whole year. There are thousands of things to do. We even have some DIY blogs if you want ideas.
While you do these things, talk as a family about the crafts that you’re doing, but speak in complete Spanish. It’s November now, so nobody can say a word in another language.
We know you’re still learning; you’re not a master yet, but you have more bases to hold a conversation. This will force you even more to practice your Spanish knowledge. It’s okay if you make mistakes or stutter.
Now, go relax before the holiday season truly starts.
December / Diciembre: Do All of the Challenges
What? December’s challenge is to do all of the challenges of the year? Yes! Let’s finish the year strong!
How is this possible? You don’t have to do all the challenges every single day. One day you can do January’s challenge, so listen to music in Spanish. The next day, you can do February, so say tons of words of affection. The next day, do March’s, and so on.
You can do the challenges in order or not; it’s your choice. Maybe there’s a fun Hispanic event on December 3rd. So don’t wait until it’s December 10th to do October’s challenge, do it on the third of December. But make sure you do all the challenges in December.
It might sound crazy, but December is already a month of doing many things. You often sing, cook, go to events, have parties, watch holiday movies, read Christmas’ stories, and more. Now you’ll just do that in Spanish.
You can even adapt the challenges to a holiday theme. For example: Listen to holiday songs in Spanish, cook a turkey in Spanish, narrate in Spanish your Christmas day…
It’s going to be so much fun and you’ll reinforce what you learned in the year.
¡Feliz Navidad!
TruFluency Kids Is Part of Your Year
Here’s one last challenge: Make TruFluency Kids part of your new year! Our classes are the best supplement to your 2025 Spanish challenge.
We have online Spanish immersion classes for children. This means that we barely speak English; your kids will be surrounded by Spanish.
We teach through all kinds of fun activities, like singing, dancing, reading, playing games, doing crafts, and even cooking. All in Spanish. We also ask kids questions in Spanish about what we’re seeing in class.
Most importantly, we encourage students to speak in Spanish in every single lesson. This is the best way they’ll achieve Spanish fluency.
Start your year the best way possible! Take a trial class now! It feels super personalized, because there are no more than six students per trial class. Then join a parent Q & A, so we can answer all your questions.
Once you see how much fun your kids will have in our classes and how much they’ll improve, enroll them in our next four-week session.
¡Feliz Año Nuevo!
