Games to Teach Colors in Spanish

Students learning to speak Spanish must not only learn verbs and tenses, but they must also pick up simpler concepts, such as colors. One of the best ways for anyone to obtain these language skills is through play, much in the same way that they learned concepts in their first language. There are several games that you can create that will help your students more easily learn colors in Spanish.

For this game, all you need is a package of dry erase markers and a whiteboard. You must draw two very large, identical pictures covering the entire whiteboard. The pictures should show a simple scene of a single tree in an open field on a sunny day. You do not need excellent drawing skills, so long as the picture is recognizable. Next, label the various parts of the picture with Spanish color words. The trunk of the tree is brown, so it would be labeled "marron," the sky would be labeled "azul," the sun would be labeled "amarillo," and so on. Split your class into teams and have them compete to see which team can correctly fill in their picture with the correct corresponding colors.

The game tests the students' memories while teaching them Spanish color words. You will need a whiteboard, a black dry erase marker, 22 sheets of white paper and double stick tape. On one side of the board, write 11 colors (red, blue, green, orange, purple, brown, black, white, gray, pink, yellow) in two rows. On the other side, write the corresponding Spanish colors (roja, azul, verde, anaranjado, morado/purpureo, marron/pardo, negro, blanco, gris, rosado, amarillo). Cover up both sets of words with sheets of white paper. To play the game, have students come to the board one at a time and uncover an English word, then try to find the corresponding Spanish color.

The next game is a fairly simple scavenger hunt. This game is suited to either individuals or group play. You must hide at least 10 objects in various places around the classroom or outside if you need more space. The objects should all be different colors, such as a red pen, a blue bag and a brown shoe. Give your students a list of Spanish clues as to the locations of the objects. The clues should describe the object and its general location. For example, "bolsa azul detras del escritorio negro" meaning "blue bag behind the black desk." The student or team that finds the most objects wins.

This game is for slightly more advanced students. Split your class into two teams, then have the members of each team pair off. The pairs of team members will come to the front of the class, one pair at a time, alternating between teams. One member of the pair will give the other clues to a Spanish color, the other member must guess the color. For example, one member will say, "cielo (sky), oceano (ocean), ojos (eyes)." The other student would guess "azul (blue)" and would be correct. The team that guesses the most colors correctly wins.