In this post: A round-up of the best TV shows and cartoons that help your kids learn Spanish.
Are you searching for kids’ TV shows in Spanish?
Watching cartoons and shows in Spanish can be a great tool to support learning a second language at home.
I’m a fan of leveraging screen time for increasing target language input and Spanish Apps are our typical go-to for this, because they require a greater level of interaction and response from your child.
However, recently my kids have been begging me to watch cartoons, so together, we spent a full week reviewing dozens of Spanish TV shows for kids.
My kids voted and I finally have a round-up of the best TV shows categorized by age that will guarantee that your child makes great progress learning Spanish!
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Before we dive in, I would like to just touch on the subject of screen time for learning languages a little further:
Table of Contents
Can Kids Really Learn Spanish by Watching TV?
Leveraging screen time for language learning is a great option if the screen is going to be on regardless at home.
That said, switching your child’s favorite TV show to Spanish won’t necessarily help them if it’s too difficult in the target language: choosing level appropriate shows is important, so that your child can access the content, stay engaged and make good progress.
There is far more to learning a language than the language input of a show: languages require interaction and real life context. In other words, we can’t rely on a screen to teach our children the richness of a language and its culture. Languages are meant to be spoken!
A great first step is to decide on a family language plan and then find a variety of resources and real-life immersive experiences to support that plan.
Where can I Watch Spanish TV Shows?
Lingopie
Lingopie Kids is our most recent Spanish TV discovery!
With access to hundreds of shows from Latin America and Spain, both for kids and adults, the whole family can learn Spanish in a more comprehensible way.
The tappable subtitles allow the viewer to check translations or pronunciation while reviewing the vocabulary. This reduces the overwhelm of just pressing play on a Spanish TV show and hoping you can follow along- I tried that with my monolingual husband and it did not work!
Lingopie makes watching TV in Spanish more engaging, interactive and comprehensible. It tracks your progress and sends you notifications according to your personal language goals.
I also love that the Lingopie Kids platform has 100% safe content.
You can try Lingopie FREE for 7 days.
Related Post: Best Spanish TV Shows for Adults on Netflix
PBS Kids
PBS Kids in Spanish is another network where all the content is safe and child-friendly, meaning I can let my guard down a little! They recently joined forces with Amazon Prime to allow subscribers to access all the PBS Kids channels for a $4.99 monthly add on. There are no commercials and the content is all child-friendly.
YouTube Kids
We also use YouTube Kids to watch many of our Spanish TV shows. You can set parental limits and controls so you don’t have to worry as much about what random content will show up, but it’s not as reliable as PBS Kids.
We love Aprende Peque on Youtube! Think Ms Rachel- but in Spanish!
Netflix, Disney+ and Hulu are other great channels that have the option to change language settings to Spanish for many shows, although they are not always as authentic.
Related Post: 10 Authentic Spanish Movies for Kids
Spanish Shows for Toddlers
The recommendations here are mostly all music focused, because music is sticky and captivating for our littlest learners.
CoComelon en Español
CoComelon has become the USA’s most viewed YouTube channel and even broke a record by remaining in Netflix’s top 10 most-watched shows for 62 consecutive days.
Children learn letters, numbers, colors, shapes and good values through the character of J.J and his community. It is a feel good, sing-along show full of popular nursery rhymes and bright and friendly animations.
My 3 year old daughter has been hooked on this show for a long time and I am so happy we get to play the episodes in Spanish!
Canticos
Founded by Susie Jaramillo, Canticos is leading the way in bilingual nursery rhymes. Canticos has an incredible (paid) learning app as well as FREE bilingual songs on YouTube.
The series of classic Spanish nursery rhymes, featuring characters like Ricky, Nicky and Kiki from Los Pollitos Dicen and Pin Pon etc, has a similar feel to CoComelon. You get to know and love each character in the show!
I love that every song is bilingual, sung first in Spanish followed by the English.
Cleo & Cuquin
Another music-based cartoon show with catchy, sing-along songs. Many are traditional and well known, while others are unique to the company and fun to learn.
It’s a great show for families with siblings as it focuses on the adventures of six brothers and sisters, including Cleo (the oldest sibling) and Cuquin (the baby). It promotes camaraderie and cooperation, as the siblings work through day to day issues that cause frustration or sadness.
Spanish Shows for Pre-K to Elementary
Oh, Noah!
This PBS Kids show is a great option for beginners. Noah is a native English speaker who is living in a Spanish speaking country. He goes about his day trying to communicate with the locals, and learning lots of new vocabulary along the way.
The show includes some fun, unique songs that are repetitive in nature, like ‘puedo nadar’.
I highly recommend this show for beginners!
Dora la Exploradora
Another very popular show in the USA. Dora la Exploradora is an excellent option for complete Spanish beginners! The show has created a genius framework for teaching the viewers Spanish: Dora goes on an adventure with her friends and throughout her journey shares new vocabulary using the following pattern:
In English we say ‘up’
In Spanish we say ‘arriba’
Can you say ‘arriba’?
This is highly effective and engaging! My children really enjoy this call and respond method and could watch this show for hours! It has the perfect balance of English and Spanish, to keep beginners engaged and able to access the content, while helping them make progress with new words.
Muzzy BBC
This is a paid service but one worth investing in. Muzzy was created by the BBC, which is a highly reputable source, and I’m not just saying that because I’m a Brit. I have used many BBC language programs in the past and enjoyed them greatly.
This series of immersive, animated movies with Muzzy and his friends uses the ‘natural immersion method’. Essentially using contextual language and gradually building each episode up to 1200 words in the target language through songs and themes.
The program also includes online games, sing-along songs, printables and more!
Pocoyo
Pocoyo is an animation produced in Spain, with vibrant characters against a white background. This is a more gentle approach to cartoons for younger kids, with plenty of age appropriate themes and cute characters.
Pocoyo is a typical preschooler that struggles with feelings of selfishness and frustration, but discovers how to overcome them, with help from his friends.
Daniel Tigre
Inspired by “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood”, this is another great PBS show starring Daniel Tigre as the main character. This show is great for teaching good morals and social and emotional skills for kids through catchy songs.
Your kids will learn about empathy, kindness and being responsible. I love that there is a really strong focus on music in this show because it helps new vocabulary stick!
Plaza Sésamo
Sesame Street has been around since 1969! It is a classic children’s show that spans generations.
I love that Plaza Sésamo is NOT dubbed, but is the original Latin American co-production version with new cultural characters like Abelardo, Lola, and Pancho.
I would recommend it for intermediate learners, as it may be a little too fast for complete beginners.
Related Posts:
Authentic Spanish Movies for Kids
Spanish Nursery Rhymes on YouTube
Best Spanish TV Shows for Adults on Netflix
Founder of the Llamitas Spanish® Curriculum and former Spanish teacher. Corrie holds a Masters in Spanish and Education and is raising bilingual children in San Diego, CA.