8 Ideas for Spanish Club

Last year I started cultural explorations of a specific country spread out over 6-8 club meetings. We learned about Spain in the fall and Mexico in the Spring. This year we'll study Peru in the fall and probably Panama in the Spring. The nice thing about this format is that I can keep it basically the same and just plug in specific country activities. Read on to see what kinds of activities I include in each semester.

1. Paint a flag - elementary kids love painting and yes it's messy but they're actually pretty good about cleaning up after. I just use butcher paper and tempura paint and if the flag has a seal then I print it out as big as I can get it on a piece of paper and we glue it on. You could also make this an individual activity with smaller flags but I like the teamwork aspect. Since it's the first thing we do it helps the club members get to know each other.

Don't forget to eat a flag snack! Toothpicks and fruit and marshmallows in the color of your flag!

2. Learn a dance - for Mexico we learned el jarabe tapatio or the Mexican hat dance. For Spain we did el flamenco. There are TONS of videos youtube showing the steps or easy enough dances to copy. I just googled "name of the dance + for kids."

For Peru we will learn an easy version of the La Marinera. I actually attended a session on La Marinera at ACTFL 2 years ago and I'm excited to finally try it out. Here is the video we will use.


We practice our dance at the end of each meeting when the kiddos are starting to get a little crazy. Sometimes we just have 5 minutes left and sometimes 15 but either way it's a good way to wrap up Spanish Club.
3. Make some art - For Mexico we made Frida Kahlo self portraits complete with construction paper cejas glued on. For Spain we made Pablo Picasso and Salvador Dali self portraits. For Peru we will make construction paper arpilleras - maybe one depicting our city and our school! We are also going to make our own Nazca Lines. 

This is where Pinterest will be your best friend. It's kind of funny but I now get a lot of art teacher pins in my feed but if you search for "country + crafts for kids" or "country + activities for kids" you should get tons of ideas. And I think even high schoolers would like some of them!
4. Go sightseeing - I didn't do this last year but I used to do "sightseeing" club meetings where I would project different landmarks on SMARTboards around the school and the kids would take their pictures in front of them. It was hilarious and fun. This year I plan on doing it using a green screen. We will learn about Machu Picchu and then have our picture taken as if we were there. Later I'll print the pictures and the kids will get a souvenir of their "trip." Here are some tips to get you started!
5. Learn a few words of another language - most kids no matter their age don't realize that there is more than just Spanish spoken in many Spanish speaking countries. This is another thing I'm adding this year after spending a week in Mexico this summer and learning a few words in Maya. This video is a cute way for my students to learn a few words in Quechua. 

6. Do some math - This one kind of falls under learn a few words of an indigenous language. I wish I would have done this when we studied Mexico but it would have been cool to play with numbers using the Maya writing system. For Peru I'm thinking we might make our own quipus. Learn more here. 

7. Make some food - This one is a no brainer. I used to actually do nothing but cooking. It was like a cooking club but with Spanish flair. Not surprisingly that got expensive and stressful so now I just do one a semester. For Mexico we made pico de gallo - super easy for elementary kiddos. For Spain we made gazpacho. Not sure about Peru yet. I need to check with my Peruvian friends to see what they suggest. (If you have ideas for something easy please comment below!) 

I had a Donors Choose project that was just for cooking supplies!

8. Invite a guest speaker - this is also something I haven't made happen yet but I really really want to. If you have someone that is from the country you are teaching about see if they can visit your Spanish Club for the afternoon or do a skype call. Have students brainstorm and practice questions they want to ask before the visit. And later you can have them make thank you cards! 

Other things to consider - what are your club rules? How and when can a student be asked to leave your club? Do you need a permission slip? What are your school's policies regarding after school clubs? How often and where will you meet? Will your school reimburse you for supplies? Will members be expected to pay dues? Will you have officers? A secret handshake? You get the idea. Make sure you have thought through all that and include it in your sign up form.

Of course it depends on what level you teach to. At the elementary level I limit mine to 3rd-5th graders and a max of 20 kids. Everyone must have a permission slip with parent contact information on it and all of our clubs have a three strike policy in regards to behavior and late pick ups. 

So that will be Spanish Club this year for me. What are your favorite Spanish Club activities? Share in the comments below!

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