German game ideas

A local mom told me about her approach to Spanish with her children. Every few weeks she chooses a game (Chutes and Ladders, checkers, Hungry Caterpillar Game, or such) and teaches her children the vocabulary which go with the game. She taught them to count for Chutes and Ladders (Mancala would be good for this, too - Chutes and Ladders makes me nuts!) or taught food words for Hungry Caterpillar foods. Then, they play the game for a few weeks.

We have a game library here, but someone without one could trade games with friends and neighbors. This localizes the use of the language well to help prevent language mixing ("We've opened up a game, now we speak Japanese!") while linking the language to positive attention from the parents. This might also encourage the children to use the language because they are less likely to be forced into situations their vocabulary can't handle. We'll definitely do this tomorrow! Stayed tuned for how it goes!

*UPDATE*

A and I had a good time playing the Brown Bear game. She volunteered all the colors but had to be coaxed through the animals (which was a surprise to me) and the fairly simple sentence structure. I think if we do it a few times she'll be pretty comfortable with it. I guess that post will come next week.