Teaching Toddlers Spanish: 23 First Words for Kids
Young children are amazing language learners. Whether your family speaks Spanish at home or you'd just love your child to pick up a second language, the toddler and preschool years are a wonderful time to start. And you don't need to be fluent yourself to help.
Easy ways to introduce Spanish to toddlers
- Start with everyday words. Words your child uses all day, like water, milk, ball and dog, are the easiest to remember.
- Say both words together. "Here's your milk, your leche!" Pairing English and Spanish helps kids connect them.
- Use songs and games. Kids remember words they sing and play with far better than words they're drilled on.
- Label things around the house. Sticky notes on the door (puerta), bed (cama) and book (libro) make practice automatic.
- Keep it short and fun. A few new words a week is plenty.
23 first Spanish words for kids
These are the English and Spanish word pairs kids learn in the Munchie Giraffe app:
| English | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Hello | Hola |
| Bye | Adiós |
| Ball | Pelota |
| Water | Agua |
| Milk | Leche |
| Dog | Perro |
| Bird | Pájaro |
| Fish | Pez |
| Frog | Rana |
| Apple | Manzana |
| House | Casa |
| Bed | Cama |
| Book | Libro |
| Car | Carro |
| Telephone | Teléfono |
| Tree | Árbol |
| Flower | Flor |
| Sun | Sol |
| Moon | Luna |
| Star | Estrella |
| Up | Arriba |
| Down | Abajo |
| Hot | Caliente |
Learning Spanish with the Munchie Giraffe app
In the app's language section, every word comes with a picture and is spoken out loud in both English and Spanish, so kids hear the right pronunciation even if you're still learning too. Kids practice with:
- A matching game: match each English word to its Spanish partner.
- Flip cards: a memory-style game with English and Spanish cards.
- A Spanish picture quiz: see the picture, pick the Spanish word.
- Spanish stickers to collect as they learn.
Try this: pick one word from the list each day and use it as many times as you can. By the end of the month, your child will know 23 Spanish words!
About the Munchie Giraffe app
The Munchie Giraffe learning app is made for kids ages 2–6 by the dad who created Munchie for his own son. It includes ABCs, letter tracing, English–Spanish words, memory match, puzzles, coloring and narrated read-along storybooks.
- No ads and no tracking.
- Free to download. Some activities are free to play, and a one-time in-app purchase unlocks everything.
Available for iPhone, iPad and Android:
Looking for screen-free fun too? Try our free activities for toddlers and preschoolers and the Munchie Giraffe picture books.