COLORADO SPRINGS — If you are looking for something interactive to do with your kids at home on Thursday morning, and you have just 30 minutes to spare, how about pick up a second language together?
The Pikes Peak Library District is offering a free Spanish class for kids and parents, where you can learn basic words through song and dance.
That program is called Canta y Baila Conmigo, which means sing and dance with me. There's a class happening at 10:30 a.m. Thursday morning, and it's not your typical language course. It's designed to be fun, high-energy, and immersive.
The class uses puppets, cue cards and instruments to bring Spanish songs to life. Think of it as part language class, part music class where kids sing along to new words while developing their motor skills through dance. This is for kids and parents and you don't need to have a knowledge of Spanish to join the fun.
"Music is magical. It just makes things so accessible. It just brings something out of us that we can share that with other people, easily." said Elan Saitas, the instructor of the class, who is also a teacher and director of a group called Lazos Musicales (which means bonding through music). The group offers longer-term classes like the one PPLD is helping offer Thursday morning.
The class is open for kids ages 0-6 years old, and its done in an interactive Zoom setting. The instructor also tells me it can be a great bonding experience between kids and parents, especially during times like these where it's easy to feel a little isolated.
If you'd like to sign up for a spot, check out PPLD's website here: https://ppld.librarymarket.com/ppld-early-literacy-learn-spanish-canta-y-baila-conmigo
And if the class happens to be full, you can still connect with the program behind this class, Lazos Musicales, on their website here: http://lazosmusicales.com/
