Thanksgiving is a great chance to use family time to bring about curiosity . You can spend the long weekend creating fun activities that introduce your child to Spanish culture. This gentle seed will grow into interest in a future immersive summer camp.
Make Thanksgiving a mini cultural festival
A few small touches are enough to spark curiosity and introduce cultural awareness into your supper. By adding some of the following ideas your Thanksgiving dinner might become more dynamic and interactive:
- Add one Spanish side to the meal (simple: tomato toasts or roasted vegetables with olive oil).
- Play Spanish children’s songs during dessert and invite everyone to clap along.
- Put a large map of Spain on the table and let kids place a sticker where they’d like to visit. Show them pictures of the wonderful landscapes that those places have.
Turn stories into a discussion about differences
Stories open doors and create empathy. Try reading Spanish typical tales and ask questions to your children: “What surprised you the most? What would you like to try? Who would you like to meet?”
If any member of your family has travelled to Spain, invite them to share their experiences of that memorable trip. They can talk about food, curiosities or any funny anecdote they remember.
Small hands-on projects
Creating simple and tactile projects will make younger kids stay engaged. Here are some os the things that you can try and we are sure your children will love:
- “Taste test” of three mild Spanish flavors (olives, manchego-style cheese, plain yogurt) where kids rate each on a chart. You can play guessing the flavour, or making a scale of favourite products.
- Make a postcard together for an imaginary friend that lives in Spain describing how Thanksgiving is celebrated in your family. Remember that Thanksgiving is not a tradition in Spain, so that will also teach them some appreciation of cultural differences.
Use gratitude to encourage diversity
By connecting thankfulness with curiosity children will learn to appreciate not only their culture but also cultural diversity. This is an enriching exercise that will open up their minds. You can use prompts such as “This year I’m thankful for… someone I’d like to meet from another country.” You can try to add some Spanish sentences such as “Estoy agradecido” (I feel grateful), or “Gracias por estas oportunidades” (Thanks for these opportunities).
Beyond Thanksgiving
This Thanksgiving is an easy opportunity to plant seeds of interest without invloving pressure. However, you can use these tips for further family gatherings or as a funny routine to do each night during dinner. Eventually, curiosity will increase and exploring Spain with a language immersive summer camp will be the perfect option to discover what they have been learning during the school year. For now, you can discover a bit more about who we are and why we are the perfect option if you want your kid to have a Spanish immersion during the summer.
