Three Kings Day, or the Feast of the Epiphany, is a holiday celebrated mainly in Latin American countries and Spain as a commemoration of the three wise men’s visit to baby Jesus. It is celebrated on January 6th and marks the end of the Christmas season. This day often sees people exchanging gifts, just as the magi did when they visited Jesus in Bethlehem. Eating the popular Rosca de Reyes or Roscón de Reyes is also a tradition in Mexico and Spain.
Three Kings Day Cultural Resources
Cultural Presentation & Activities – Introduce your students to el Día de Reyes. Use these ready-to-use Google Slides in Spanish for them to bring cultural traditions to your classes. This presentation deck includes:
- Brief background history in Spanish
- Video
- Práctica con frases
- Comprehension and discussion questions
- Extension activities
- Reflection questions
- La protesta de los Reyes by El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico: Spanish Song Activities – A full deck of activities around this popular song in Spanish. Use all the activities or pick the most suitable for your groups. Includes:
- Full song lyrics
- Cloze activity
- Vocabulary Worksheet: Students create a list of the words they know from the song. Using that list they write what they think the song is about.
- Understanding the Song Group Worksheet and Dictionary Skills Practice: Students work in groups and with the aid of the dictionary they translate a stanza of the song.
- Song Discussion Guide Questions: Teachers use these questions to guide the discussion about the song and explain the tradition of Three Kings Day.
- Other Activities Ideas: Three additional activity ideas for a debate, signwriting, and grammar.
Three Kings Day Spanish Vocabulary Resources
- Spanish-English Vocabulary List Handout – Introduce your students to the Día de Reyes vocabulary with this handout that features 18 vocabulary words.
- Spanish Vocabulary Presentation with Audio – Introduces 17 vocabulary words about Three Kings Day in Spanish using illustrations and pronunciation audio clips by a native speaker.
- Spanish Vocabulary Printable Poster – Printable PDF poster in 3 sizes that illustrate many of the most important vocabulary words for Three Kings Day or Día de Reyes. Sizes: 8.5″ x 14″, 11″ x 17″, and 18″ x 24″.
- Spanish Vocabulary Illustrated Handout – Printable PDF handout that illustrates 16 vocabulary words in 8.5” x 11” size.
- 15 Spanish Words and Phrases to Understand Three Kings Day – Since this is an important tradition in Spanish-speaking countries, here are some words that might help the students understand this holiday.
Three Kings Day Spanish Vocabulary Practice
- Vocabulary Crossword Puzzle – An English to Spanish translation crossword puzzle where your students translate the English word to fill in the crossword with the correct Spanish word.
- Vocabulary Word Search – A word search in two versions: with a Spanish word list and with an English word list to translate. Word search to practice 18 Three Kings Day vocabulary.
- Vocabulary Word Jumble – A word jumble activity where your students write the letters of the vocabulary words they have learned in the correct order.
- AB Oral Activity – Verbs LLEVAR and TRAER – Practice the verbs LLEVAR and TRAER with Three Kings Day Spanish vocabulary in pairs of students.
- Reading Comprehension Activity – Featuring our original story “El 6 de enero”. Students learn new vocabulary in the context highlighted in the reading and answer reading comprehension questions (in English or Spanish).
Check out our Spanish-speaking countries Cultural Calendar resources.
