El Día del Amor y la Amistad en Colombia (Colombia's Day of Love and Friendship)

Every third Saturday in September,  Colombia celebrates ”El Día del Amor y la Amistad”. It’s a day to let family and friends know how much you love them and appreciate them. People usually give chocolate, cards, and flowers to friends and family members. In other cases, it’s also an excuse to party and get together  to celebrate (Colombians tend to be pretty good at finding reasons to enjoy each other's company!!). 
What a great moment to bring a cultural celebration to your classroom. This year, El Día del Amor y la Amistad en Colombia will be celebrated on September 17th. I have created a coloring page with a heart ready to use in your classroom this week. For this activity,  bring a map to your class, and invite your children to find the country where they live, and then to find Colombia. Introduce the colors of the Colombian flag and then color in the heart using those colors.

Click on picture to print coloring page

You can take this as an opportunity to introduce simple sentences to express gratitude and love:

Feliz Día del Amor y la Amistad

Amigos por siempre

Tu eres mi mejor amigo/a.

Te quiero 

Learn a song in Spanish!

For more music and fun ideas visit

www.FunforSpanishTeachers.com

La caja mágica

Magic boxes are always fun to have, and they are an amazing teaching tool and classroom ritual (college professors of education might even classify them as excellent to use as an "anticipatory set.") My students, from the youngest to the oldest grades, enjoy guessing and imagining what could be inside the box. Magic boxes are great for describing objects and brainstorming with the children using a wide range of vocabulary.

This year I decided to create a new magic box which I will customize little by little using some objects that I have collected in different countries, lending a bit of cultural spice. So far I have decorated my box with indigenous fabric from Guatemala and a small "Colombianito." I have also added glitter to let the magic flow.

I always sing this song when I use the magic box:


¡En la caja mágica encontrarás
Una sorpresa que te encantará! (3 times)
Click here to sample/buy song on CD Baby


After singing the song, we count to three and start making guesses. Here is a picture that shows how my caja mágica looks:

Have fun teaching!

Carolina