Halloween Treat: Language BOO-sting Spanish Words To Teach Your Child

With Halloween around the corner, the holiday is likely all your little ones can talk about as they await its arrival with excitement! Whether it’s discussing costume ideas or your neighborhood’s spooky house decorations, exciting Halloween conversations are definitely happening around this time! So, take advantage, and give your little one the ultimate Halloween treat: language boo-sting words in the target language that they’ll continue to use even once the holiday is over! This is the perfect opportunity to introduce new words that your children will be excited to use.

Here is a list of our favorite Halloween-themed and kid-friendly Spanish words that are easy to incorporate into conversations with your child leading up to the holiday and during celebrations as they trick-or-treat: 

Costume → disfraz (dis-fras)

This is an easy one to throw into conversations as you brainstorm creative costume ideas together, shop for costumes online and in-store or maybe even participate in a costume contest! Gerber Childrenswear’s selection of Halloween- themed onesies and pajamas are perfect for little pumpkins who are too young to dress up. 

Candy → dulces (dool-sehs)

It’s a win-win: your little one will have more ways to ask for candy and you’ll get something too from all the candy your child will likely rack up during this time. Practicing new vocabulary in the target language definitely makes the sugar rush well worth it! 

Pumpkin → calabaza (kah-lah-bah-sah)

Pumpkins are everywhere on Halloween! Use this to your advantage and point them out in the target language to your little one each time you see one! Activities like pumpkin carving or baking pumpkin pie are also great opportunities to practice this new word and reinforce it so that your little pumpkin truly understands its meaning. You can also find pumpkins on Gerber’s adorable Halloween-themed pieces that make them even easier to point it out and practice saying them whenever your child is excited about wearing

Ghost → fantasma (fahn-tahs-mah)

Ghosts are another common Halloween symbol we tend to see on decorations and prints when the holiday comes around. Having these words on hand to introduce when you come across them is a great way to make that moment even more interesting for your little one and help him or her make associations with the word in the target language.

Trick → truco  (troo-koh)

Trick-or-treating is about to get a whole lot more exciting! Use every opportunity in which your child says “trick-or-treat” to say the Spanish version of trick. Associating this phrase that is exciting for them with a new Spanish word will hopefully help it stick! 

Just as important as introducing new words is helping your child remember them by consistently practicing them and including them in day-to-day conversations and routines! Reading is one of the best ways you can practice a target language with your little one. Binibi’s bilingual sound books are an amazing way to continue practicing Spanish as their fun sounds and elaborate illustrations make it easy to start a dialogue with your little ones and introduce new words. Books make language learning exciting and engaging as you associate new words to the images in the book and make it a parent-child bonding moment; truly the perfect way to end a Halloween night! 

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