Best Holiday Gifts for Bilingual Babies

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I vividly remember my bilingual baby’s first Christmas. She was almost a year old, and starting to make sounds in both English and Spanish. The holidays are such a great time to ask for toys that reinforce bilingualism and world cultures, and I wanted to request items that would reinforce our home languages and culture – but I didn’t know what to ask for. Now, after several holiday seasons and exposure to lots of great toys for bilingual babies, I can recommend these best gifts for bilingual babies for their first Holiday Season, all kid-tested and approved by us here at Casa Pura Vida.

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Best Holiday Gifts for Bilingual Babies

Baby Book Bundle from Books del sur

I discovered Books del sur on Twitter. I was looking for high quality, authentic Spanish literature for my kids. I knew that I needed books that weren’t translations, and that provided engaging and high-quality images that captured the daughter’s attention. As soon as I received the Baby Book Bundle in the mail, I knew that I had hit the jackpot (in fact, I cried because the books were so beautiful and brought back so many fond memories of learning to read in Spanish). All the books are imported from Latin America, and by purchasing from Books del sur, you are supporting an independent publisher and mom. For a full review of each book in the series you can check out this article on Pura Vida Moms. For the holiday season, Books del sur is offering free shipping on all orders with the coupon code #BilingualWe.

Spanish Alphabet Poster from Gus on the Go

Every nursery needs an alphabet poster. It’s never, ever too soon to introduce our kids to literacy. I spent a lot of time looking for a good alphabet poster in Spanish. I wanted something that was not a translation from English but rather, the words and sounds that are most common for each letter in Spanish. Alice from Gus on the Go at Etsy has us covered. Her beautiful and reasonably priced alphabet posters on Etsy make great gifts for bilingual babies (and she’s done a great job on the posters in lots of different languages!) She’s also an app developer, and has created apps for young children that we love like Gus on the Go: Spanish for Kids. You can read about them here. Another great way to support a smart, savvy entrepreneur.

B. Global Musical Glow Globe

B. Global is one of my favorite toy companies because they make high quality toys at a reasonable price, and they are the toys my girls go back to over and over again when they look through the toy box. My mom found the B. Global Glowball Musical Toy at Target a few years ago, and we love it. Each continent on the toy globe lights up and plays a mini-playlist of traditional instrumental music from that continent. I notice that when we have free playtime at home and I put the globe on, it has a soothing effect on my girls, and they seem to share better and play more quietly. The toy has also opened great conversations about global awareness of music and geography from a very young age. We love this globe so much I may even buy a second one to have in case the original one ever breaks.

Spanglish Apparel from Ellie Elote

Is there a better gift for a bilingual baby than a silly tshirt or bodysuit that represents their linguistic heritage? (The answer, by the way, is no). We LOVE Ellie Elote’s adorable Spanglish apparel but especially her bodysuits. Another company started by a mom (read the whole story, including how each purchase gives back to Mayan moms in Guatemala). The sayings include “Abuelito is my bestie” “Pío pío pío” and “I love my papi.” Check out their complete collection!

High Five Bilingüe from Highlights Magazine

Again, it’s never to early to introduce literacy to our kids, and Highlights High Five Bilingüe does a fantastic job with their bilingual monthly magazine. I love that the same content is presented in both English and Spanish, introducing the idea of bilingualism in print from a young age. The text is rich, and we love the Look and Find section. We started with this magazine during my daughter’s first year of life, and now we keep all the back issues on our bookshelf. We go back to them time after time. There are so many great activities that can be done with each issue to reinforce literacy and bilingualism. We also love that each issue includes a link to audio versions of the whole magazine in both languages.

Lil’ Libros Board Books

The Lil Libros board books came out just as my second daughter was born. These books make great gifts for bilingual babies, as they introduce both vocabulary and cultural concepts and are aimed at bilingual children of Latino descent growing up in the United States. With titles such as Loteria: First Words / Primeras Palabras, Counting With / Contando Con Frida, Guadalupe: First Words / Primeras Palabras, and Zapata: Colors / Colores, these beautiful books do an incredible job of colorfully introducing key literacy and global concepts to babies from day 1. They are available on Amazon, at Target, and Barnes and Noble.

Spanish CDs for Children

One of the best things that I did to reinforce Spanish in our home was to purchase Spanish children’s music CDs and keep them in the nursery. Each time we did a diaper change, we would listen to one of the CDs. Before my kids were even a year old, they were beginning to hum along with popular Spanish nursery rhymes from throughout Latin America and Spain. There are a lot of options available in Spanish music for kids, but our favorite two CDs are Songs In Spanish For Children (Canciones En Español Para Niños) and De Colores and Other Latin American Folk Songs.   Hop over to Pura Vida Moms to check out our playlist of 10 songs in Spanish for young children as well!

Related Post:Gifts for Spanish Learners

Do you have any favorite gifts for bilingual babies that we missed? Let us know by commenting below!

We are excited to be participating once again in the Gift Guide blog hop from Kid Blogger Network! Whether you have little ones or teens, and whether you are looking for STEM ideas or outdoor play, you will find something for everyone in this huge collection of holiday gift guides!

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Christa Jimenez

Founder at Pura Vida Moms

Hi, I'm Christa- writer, photographer, world traveler, foodie, voracious reader and bilingual mom. I love all things Costa Rica- including my soccer loving husband and two bicultural daughters. You can find me at www.puravidamoms.com

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