Did you know that Valentine’s Day goes by many dates and names in the Spanish-speaking world? One of my favorite ways to say it is El Día del Amor y la Amistad because this name highlights that Valentine’s day can also be about friendship. Another fun one is El Día del Cariño, which emphasizes a more general affection and care for others, such as families, communities, friends, and more. In celebration of these sometimes less-emphasized forms of love, meaning amistad and cariño, we’re releasing a much-expanded version of the free Spanish Valentine’s puzzles that we posted last year on our Teachers Pay Teachers account. It includes puzzles, worksheets, and more. Check out some of the things the pack includes in the example pictures below.
Learning Focus
- Spanish numbers 1-9
- Numerals 1-9
- Dice and five or six groupings
- Numbers-as-Spanish-words
- Letter formation
- Fine motor skills
- Heart-theme
What’s Included
These started out as freebies in our TPT and MBT stores, and when we went to create an English-language version, we just kept adding more and more pages. So exclusively on our blog, this freebie now includes numbers puzzles; boxes that can be used as flashcards or worksheets and more; heart dice; and worksheets.
Numbers Puzzles
Uno, dos, tres! These puzzles are as flexible as one-two-three. They can be used as as flashcards or two or three-part puzzles. Check out the picture as an example; plus, there are other ways to work with them, such as using just the numeral and dice portions while using the numbers-as-words (e.g., one, two, three) as word wall pieces.
Have you heard of “cycling” or “spiraling” in education? There terms are short-cut jargon for moving through the same concept or concepts many times to encourage learning mastery. We always try to add flexibility and “cycling” into our packs, and happily, these puzzles allow you to start at the beginning and then cycle through again. From learning numerals to numbers-as-words and then mingling the ideas, learners improve and then master the information.
Cards or Worksheets – You Choose!
This free Spanish Valentine’s puzzles pack is more than just puzzles. You’ll find lots of flexible pages that can be used as worksheets or cut up and used as learning “squares.” These work great in morning baskets, at math centers, as reinforcement pages, and more!
If you happen to be working with younger kids, you can print just the pages that don’t involve words. Or, if you have students at multiple levels, you can cut off parts of the pages and give the more advanced skills, like word formation, to older kids. In a language-focused Spanish classroom, just printing a few of the pages might work best for you.
Heart Dice
Can you tell we’re fans of dice? These heart dice can be used as normal dice or as a part of the lesson. For example, roll, count, and that’s the worksheet the learner tackles. Or, roll, and that’s how many puzzles the student has to complete to move to the next station. Wiggly learners? Roll again and ask them to identify how many movements they have to do at their chairs. Or, roll and that’s how many Spanish sentences they have to write. So many possibilities!
Need some additional ideas? These free game boards make great numbers games or any game of your choosing! You can even have students design their own Spanish-learning games with the game boards.
Other Ideas for Using the Spanish Valentine’s Puzzles Pack
Below you’ll find some ideas for this corazón-themed download. If you have a great idea to share, we’d love to hear from you or to read your comments at the bottom.
Use What You Have
Kids have an amazing collection of things in their backpacks or desks, so if you want to keep this low-prep, just use whatever you have. Paper clips, erasers, crayons, coins, stickers: it all works as long as it’s age appropriate (i.e., not a chocking hazard for any preschoolers).
If you don’t want to mess with finding manipulables, you can always use a pen or pencil to complete this pack. Or, you can read about ways to re-use the pages below.
Reuse or Low-Ink Print
Colorable much?! Absolutely. But, if you want to use the download over and over again, you can try lamination, clear shelf liner, or the clear sheet protectors that go in binders (our go-to). No matter how you cover them, this method will allow you to use dry-erase markers or manipulables and extend the life of the pages.
Or, if you only have one or a few learners, you may prefer to just print-and-go. As a relatively low-ink printable that can be colored, the Spanish Valentine’s puzzles download works great for one learner or as multi-copies for many learners.
Also available in English!
Got Thoughts on Valentine’s? Need More Printables?
We no-joke love hearing from you. Want to share thoughts about the best chocolate on the market? Complain about how noisy your learners are on Valentine’s? Or comment on how this printable worked in your learning environment? ¡A charlar!
Looking for more Spanish-learning freebies? Check out more more free stuff here. We add new English and Spanish-language printables regularly.
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