A Spanish Adventure with Busy Things
With Spain being one of the most popular holiday destinations for Brits and holiday time fast approaching, we wanted to showcase some of the activities on Busy Things that relate to both Spain, the country, and the Spanish language. Great for cultural days or as an introduction to Europe, spotting the differences between our cultures, traditions and languages can be a lot of fun.
Whether you teach Spanish as a foreign language or not, you’ll find plenty in this blog to whet your appetite to explore more about our close neighbour in Europe.
Think France may be more appealing for your class? No problem! This blog post from our archives should help!
Within it, we look at:
- Where Spain is geographically
- The Spanish flag
- The Spanish national anthem
- Spain itself
- Spanish food and drink
Spain’s geography
We’ve already said that Spain is a close neighbour of ours in Europe, but do your pupils know which country on the map is Spain?
NOTE: The number of countries can be quite overwhelming on first viewing. You can simplify it quickly, however, in the settings and just focus on the larger, more recognisable, countries.
The Spanish flag
The national flag of Spain features three horizontal stripes; two red ones, flanking a yellow one which is double the width.
Can your pupils recognise it amongst the other European flags?
The football enthusiasts in your class will be able to quickly, but can your other pupils?
The Spanish national anthem
The Spanish national anthem is called ‘Marcha Real’ (Royal March) and is one of the few national anthems in the world that doesn’t have lyrics. See if your pupils have heard it before, and the feelings it inspires!
How do they think it compares to our own national anthem?
Spain itself
Our interactive map of Europe will help your pupils uncover all the basics about Spain.
From its currency and capital city to its climate and culture, this activity will pique your pupils’ interest and get them curious to find out more.
Spanish food and drink
No piece of writing about Spain is complete without a section on food and drink. From simple patatas bravas in an open-air café to a grander paella, food and drink are undisputedly part of the Spanish experience.
To help your students prepare for the delights of decoding a Spanish menu, we have two Spanish food activities.
There are recall flash cards, which are ideal for a whole-class, teacher-led exercise.
Once secure with the vocabulary involved, you can send the children away to complete our labelling activity, covering the same vocabulary, independently.
Summary
We hope this blog has given you a very small taste of Spain and allowed you to see a few of our Spanish and geography activities. For Spanish, we’ve included Food (Spanish); for geography, our European countries and Interactive Map of Europe activities.
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