Spanish Learning Games

Spanish learning games are perhaps one of the best ways to learn the language. Psychologists and pedagogues will tell you that you always learn more when you're having fun! And if you're looking for ways of learning Spanish for your kids, they're the obvious choice. So, if it's your kids you're thinking of, Spanish learning games will be just what you need.

Free Games

To be perfectly honest, there isn't a great deal of free Spanish learning games available. As you would expect, they're limited basically to vocabulary and guessing games. The best sites I've found are the following:

• BBC Languages: Spanish - the BBC usually has a section on games and quizzes. The content changes, so I can't really give you the exact information. The last time I looked, there was a game based on guessing the content of Spanish newspaper articles about David Beckham - I got all except one right!
• Spanish Games in Spanish Unlimited - here you'll find wordsearch and hangman games, again to improve and perfect your vocabulary.
• English - Spanish Dictionary Translation Games, Activities and Quizzes - a mixture of different games.

Commercial Games

You have a wider range of Spanish learning games available to buy, most of them for kids. For adults, however, I would recommend the following:

• Spanish Scrabble - this is the Scrabble game designed especially for Spanish-speaking players. It includes the "ñ" (of course) and the values of the letters are different from the English version so as to correspond with Spanish language usage.
• Easy Spanish Crossword Puzzles - useful for practicing and sharpening your vocabulary and spelling.
• Easy Spanish Vocabulary Puzzles - also useful for improving or revising your vocabulary. It uses word searches, anagrams, labyrinths and more that focus on everyday topics such as clothing, sports, and jobs.

And, I've found these Spanish learning games great for kids:

• Road Scholar Spanish Learning Board Game - this interactive board game is supplemented by adventure stories and audiotapes. It creates a multi-sensory Spanish language learning experience for kids from 8 upwards. 300 game cards are divided into two levels of difficulty, each with Spanish and English words on either side.
• LeapPad Classic in Spanish - suitable for kids from 4 to 12. It has fun, interactive stories and activities that develop fundamental learning and reading skills. You can get different books for it, some of them in Spanish, some of them bilingual Spanish-English.
• Linguafun! Language Learning Card Games: Spanish - I've included this for the kids, but in fact you can play these games with your kids too - you'll both learn. You get a cassette and cards.