My elementary students LOVE animals, so sharing the great biodiversity of different regions in the Spanish-speaking countries is always a huge motivator and of high interest. The Galapagos Islands is a perfect choice, and there are some wonderful resources to bring them to life for students.
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Barefoot Books offers a rhyming book available in both English and Spanish, “We’re Sailing to Galapagos” (‘Navegamos a Galápagos.) This fun book takes kids on a journey through the islands, visiting the many beautiful animals that live there in a whimsical text that kids quickly join as you are reading. In my Spanish classes, I focus on the refrain in the Spanish text, as that is the easiest to acquire, but through the beautiful illustrations, they are able to pick up some of the animal names, too.
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To go along with the book, SafariToob has a collection of animals from the Galápagos, which are fun to play with, especially if you have a map of the islands. Students can arrange the animals on the islands or make up stories about them, describe them with simple adjectives of color and size, or what actions they do (nada, vuela, salta, etc.)
Don’t forget to head over to Youtube for great documentaries and short videos about the islands. Here is a short photo montage without commentary which is great for asking questions and soliciting responses in Spanish.
Did you know that the Galapagos Islands are known as the Enchanted Islands? Explore more about this beautiful place with the books below.
Lonely Planet Ecuador & the Galapagos Islands
Galapagos: Islands Born Of Fire
Tomas and the Galapagos Adventure
For more great books don’t miss our Pinterest board on Multicultural Children’s Books!
This post is part of our series Global Learning for Kids. Each month we will feature a country and host a link party to collect posts about teaching kids about that country–crafts, books, lessons, recipes, etc. It will create a one-stop place full of information about the country.
This month we are learning all about Ecuador, so link up below any old or new posts designed to teach kids about Ecuador – crafts, books, lessons, recipes, music and more!
This post is also part of our fifth annual Hispanic Heritage Month series and giveaway! Through the month (September 15 – October 15), you’ll find great resources on the series main page to share Hispanic Heritage with kids, plus you can enter to win in our great giveaway and link up your own posts on Hispanic Heritage!

Julie Hoffman

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