Recently, I was approached by the new subscription box company, Hola Amigo, who asked me to review their Spanish language box for preschoolers and early elementary kids. They shipped us a sample and my kids were thrilled to open it:

What the Hola Amigo Box Includes:

While the specific contents of each box vary, each includes multiple hands-on activities and Spanish-language materials centered around a particular theme. In our farm-themed box, for example, we received:

• Farm animal figurines and suggestions of games to play with them

• A farm-themed board game created by Hola Amigo

• A craft kit to make farm animal puppets

• One bilingual board book and one Spanish-language non-fiction reader about farm life

• A vocabulary puzzle to reinforce new farm animal names

It was quite the collection! Not only was I impressed by the sheer quantity of activities included in the box, but I was struck with their quality as well. The puzzle, the board book, the puzzle, and the figurines were all tough enough to withstand heavy toddler use—which, as you can see below, Felix was eager to test for himself!

Why Should You Use Hola Amigo to Teach Spanish to Young Kids?

Not only do the number of activities and resources included in the Hola Amigo Box make it a great value, but there are plenty of other reasons to like this box. For example:

• Language learning really does require an immense amount of practice. Luckily, the number of activities included in the Hola Amigo boxes is a great help—they let you and your child fit in lots of vocabulary practice without getting bored. Even if you did one activity a day, there are enough to use for an entire month of Spanish learning.

• All of the activities in the Hola Amigo box were developmentally appropriate and—equally important—appealing to young kids. My kids were thrilled to try all of the different games in the box, which were designed at just the right level of difficulty for their ages (3 and 5). All of the hands-on activities got my kids using the language right away, without an unnecessary (and ineffective) emphasis on reading and writing. Since younger language learners learn best through natural exposure to a language, I was pleased to see that the Hola Amigo box used this approach.

Now, will your child be fluent in Spanish after playing with a few of these boxes? No—but I do think that they are a helpful tool for introducing Spanish to young kids and start building their vocabulary.

Hola Amigo can also be a helpful tool for getting mom (or dad!) to speak more Spanish—especially for bilingual parents working to use the language more at home. The emphasis on play really helps kids engage with the language, without the unnecessary formality of a language “curriculum.” All of the instructions for the box’s activities are included in English and Spanish, so they’re a helpful guide for parents who want to model more Spanish speaking to their kids.

Five Ways to Use the Hola Amigo Box in Your Homeschool:

One of the best advantages of the Hola Amigo box is its versatility—you use in it your homeschool in a way that works for you! Here are some ideas:

• Use your monthly box to start a “Spanish club” in your neighborhood, or with homeschool friends.

• Make your Hola Amigo Box part of your regular Morning Time line-up (it’s great for getting in that regular practice!).

• If you’re outsourcing your kids’ Spanish learning, you can use the Hola Amigo box as a fun way to reinforce new vocabulary outside of class time.

• For native-speaking families whose kids might be resisting speaking Spanish, use the activities in the box to encourage the use of Spanish at home.

• For older children, use the Hola Amigo box for some strategic “strewing”—leave it out on your coffee table overnight and see what they make of it in the morning (this will work best if they already have some exposure to Spanish and can read the materials themselves!).

If this has piqued your interest, I’ve got good news for you—I am hosting a giveaway of one Hola Amigo box to my readers, just in time for Christmas! (Feel free to wrap it up and place it under your tree).

Join our Language Learning At Home Facebook Community to enter for your chance to win (giveaway ends Dec. 13)!