Oso en casa is a wonderful story for children learning Spanish. It has rhythm and rhyme, concrete language relevant to their lives, beautiful illustrations to support the text and plenty of language and content to expand on as children acquire more Spanish. Reading this Spanish story for kids is an absorbing experience for language learners and also is an effective way of introducing them to basic house vocabulary.
This lovely Spanish story was written by Stella Blackstone and illustrated by Debbie Harter. You can purchase Oso en casa from Amazon.
The sentences in this story follow a pattern, naming a room and an action that Oso does in that space: Y éste es el comedor donde Oso se sienta a comer. This is a structure that introduces verbs in a logical context and takes advantage of word families to associate related vocabulary.
The beautiful illustrations are focused to support the text; you always know where Oso is and what he is doing. They are also rich in charming detail that engages children and provides material for expanding on the vocabulary of the Spanish story.
On the last pages of the book there is a floor plan of Oso’s house. This is an excellent resource for talking about the story in Spanish, providing more of the repetition children need to acquire language. You can also reinforce and expand on the language in this Spanish story for kids. Here are a few suggestions.
Emphasize the association between the room name and related words.
The words in italics below are not used in the text, but are supported by the illustrations and related to the room name. Point to the illustrations to clarify what you are saying.
– En la cocina, Oso cocina la comida. Usa la estufa y la olla para cocinar. (Point to the pot on the stove.)
– En el comedor, Oso come. Come miel. Come fruta. Hay una manzana, un plátano, una naranja. (Point to the honey, the fruit and Oso eating).
– Oso juega en el cuarto de juegos. Tiene muchos juguetes.
– En el cuarto de baño, Oso se baña. Se baña en la bañera.
– En el dormitorio, Oso duerme.
Use the floor plan on the last pages of the book to reinforce language in the Spanish story.
Use simple sentences and point to the rooms.
– Aquí en la sala de estar, Oso descansa.
– ¿Qué hace aquí en la escalera? Sube, sube, sube. ¡Está arriba!
– ¿Qué hace aquí en la cocina? Limpia y barre.
– En la biblioteca hay libros. Oso lee los libros en la biblioteca.
Make a small paper Oso to play with on the floor plan.
You can base your bear on the picture on the front cover. Move Oso in the rooms on the floor plan and talk about what he is doing.
– Oso está en el cuarto de baño. Se baña.
– Oso está en el dormitorio. Se va a acostar. Oso duerme en la cama.
Refer to Oso and the Spanish story as you go about your daily routine.
– Limpiamos la cocina como Oso.
– Oso lee libros. Leemos libros como Oso.
– Oso come manzanas. Tú comes una manzana como Oso.
Make the floor plan of Oso’s house with blocks.
Read the story and move the paper bear you made from room to room as you read. Later, just play with your child, using the vocabulary from the book. You might want to make two bears.
Act out the book with your child.
Go from room to room and do the things that Oso does. This is extra fun if you really sweep and eat some honey. You can even make it a bedtime activity and really take a bath and go to bed.
Use phrases from the Spanish story with kids in other situations.
Certain phrases in the book have words that are commonly used together. These are words that children in immersion situations hear together all the time. Use these phrases whenever you have the opportunity and there is visual support to make the meaning clear.
– Una escalera para subir – Anytime you go upstairs, you can say una escalera para subir. You can also point to staircases in books and in TV shows and use the phrase.
– Hay que limpiar – This means I (We, You) have to clean. You can use it whenever you are cleaning or whenever you can point to something that has to be cleaned.
– Abre la puerta – Open the door. You can say this to your child or anyone else you would like to open a door for you.
– Libros para leer – Books to read. You can point to books anywhere and use this phrase.
– Vivos colores – Bright colors. Use this phrase to comment on clothes, pictures, or anything colorful you can point to.
– Peces del mar – Fish of the sea. This sounds perfectly normal in Spanish, although you would say it differently in English. If you have books with pictures of sea life, or see ocean fish on television, you can say Son peces del mar.
Introduce additional house vocabulary using the illustrations.
Images of these words appear in the illustrations. You can introduce them with the pictures and reinforce them in your home. These images appear several times in the Spanish story, are included in the design on the inside covers, or are repeated in the floor plan.
la ventana – window
la llave – key
la flor – flower
el gato – cat
la olla – pot
la escoba – broom
la fruta – fruit
la taza – cup
la mesa – table
el paraguas – umbrella
la lámpara – lamp
la bañera / la tina – bathtub
los bloques – blocks
Find the black and white. The illustrations include a fun motif of black and white designs. With your child look for the blanco y negro in the illustrations. Name the items you find.
You may also be interested in this post: Spanish Story for Kids – 7 Brown Bear Activities and Free Printable
Disclosure: Barefoot Books provided me with a copy of the book so that I could write this article. All of the ideas and opinions are my own.