Italian for Kids Archives - All Around Italia

Movies and TV Shows in Italian on Disney Plus

S P — Thu, 16 Mar 2023 19:18:43 +0000

Check out our list of movies and TV shows to watch on Disney Plus USA in Italian language.

For kids’ movies and TV shows in Italian, we highly recommend the Disney Plus streaming app. Although not everything on the app is available in Italian, there are dozens of great options – which we list out in this post. Because you can’t filter by language on Disney Plus (we’ve tried – it doesn’t work accurately), use our list of favorites to navigate directly to content with an Italian audio option.

Before we jump into the list, let us explain why we like Disney Plus so much.

In our family, most days, allowing our children a few minutes of screen time is inevitable. We have found that watching Disney Plus encourages our kids to develop language skills and practice their Italian. It’s made a bigger impact than we expected. Here’s why:

Most Disney movies have songs that kids love to sing.

Music is an effective, fun way to learn new words and practice a language. And, really, who doesn’t love Disney songs? At our daughter’s request, my family often sings and listens to Disney music throughout the day. Interest in this music is an awesome “side effect” of screen time with Disney Plus and keeps Italian present in our lives. For our favorite Disney songs, check out our Spotify playlist Disney Songs in Italian.

Parents are familiar with most Disney movies and can talk about them with their kids.

For language learning (and in general), it’s always best if you can watch TV with your children so you can discuss and interact together with the content. The reality with little kids is, though, that TV time is usually the only time mom and dad have for doing other things around the house. What’s great about Disney movies is that almost all of us adults have seen and remember them from our own childhood – Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast, The Little Mermaid, etc. Even when we can’t watch with our kids, my husband and I can still chat about what they watched afterwards and answer their questions about the stories. We’ve had surprisingly complex conversations with our 2-year old about Disney stories that never would have happened had we put on Peppa Pig or Cocomelon.

Disney movies inspire children to invent games.

For over a year, our daughter walked around with a Disney princess costume over whatever clothes she was wearing. Using the characters from Disney movies, she invented endless games, play scenarios, and performances. I love the memory of overhearing her while playing with her dolls the day after we watched Cinderella saying, “Principe, perche’ you steal my scarpa? Stop taking my scarpa.” Especially if you are able to get involved and guide your children in Italian, this type of play is not only fun but will help your kids use and remember vocabulary they heard in the movies.

Dubbing works well for animated movies.

As committed as I am to learning Italian, I often do not enjoy watching movies that are dubbed. Hearing an Italian voiceover for Patrick Dempsey and Amy Adams when we tried to watch Enchanted in Italian just made me cringe. When actors are on screen, as skilled as the dubbers in Italy are, it’s impossible for the voice tracks to perfectly match what we see. For animated movies, however, dubbing works! Not only are many Disney cartoon movies interesting for kids and adults alike, it also seems like Italian could have been their original language.

So, now that you know why we like Disney Plus, here are the movies and shows available on the app in Italian. These lists are for Disney Plus USA.

Animated Movies in Italian on Disney Plus USA

Listed in alphabetical order, these animated kids’ movies are available on Disney Plus USA with audio in Italian. This list is not exhaustive – it just includes our favorites.

For these movies, you can also turn on captions in Italian. We have noticed, however, that the captions frequently do not match what you hear in the audio.

A Bug’s Life
Aladdin
Alice in Wonderland
Bambi
Beauty and the Beast
CINDERELLA #3
Dumbo
Encanto
Ferdinand
GNOMEO & JULIET
Hercules
Ice Age
Lady and the Tramp
Lightyear
Lilo and Stitch
Luca
Mulan #1 and #2
Peter Pan
Pocahontas
Robin Hood
Sleeping Beauty
Snow White
The Aristocats
The Emperor’s New Groove
The Jungle Book #2 (not #1)
The Lion King #1 and #2
The Little Mermaid
The Sword and the Stone
TURNING RED
Winnie the Pooh

Non-Animated Movies in Italian on Disney Plus USA

For older children, here is our list of favorite non-animated movies available in Italian on Disney Plus USA. As mentioned before, I don’t love watching dubbed movies when they are not animated. Nevertheless, these are nice options for exposure to Italian during screen time.

Freaky Friday
Holes
Home Alone #1 and #2
Homeward Bound
Honey I Shrunk the Kids
The Lizzie McGuire Movie
The Princess Diaries #1 and #2

TV Shows in Italian on Disney Plus USA

You can find these shows with an Italian audio option on Disney Plus USA. Bluey and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse don’t offer captions while The Simpsons does have them.

Bluey (for little kids)
Mickey Mouse Clubhouse (for little kids)
The Simpsons (for older kids and adults)

Currently Unavailable in Italian on Disney Plus USA

There are, unfortunately, many popular Disney movies still NOT available on Disney Plus in Italian. These films do exist in Italian – just not currently on Disney Plus USA. Here they are listed in alphabetical order.

101 Dalmations
Brave
Cars
Cinderella
Coco
Finding Nemo
Frozen #1 and #2
Inside Out
Moana
Monsters Inc
Planes
Tangled
Tarzan
The Incredibles
The Princess and the Frog
Toy Story #1, #2, #3, #4
Up
Zootopia

The good news is that even if you watch these films in English, you can listen to the music in Italian afterwards (check out our Disney Songs in Italian Spotify playlist). Our daughter absolutely loves the Frozen and Moana soundtracks. We are always so impressed by her commentary on the Italian vs. English lyrics. A toddler talking about song translations? If that’s not promoting language skills, I don’t know what is.

Hope this information is helpful. If we’ve left out any of your favorites, comment below!

Do you want to meet other Italian/English bilingual families?

We are building a community! Leave us your name and location, and we will update you when next steps are possible.

The post Movies and TV Shows in Italian on Disney Plus appeared first on All Around Italia.

The Best Italian Songs for Kids

S P — Fri, 05 Nov 2021 14:46:06 +0000

Learn our favorite Italian songs for kids, and share language through music.

My family loves Italian children’s songs! Music is a wonderful way to learn a language, and there are so many fun Italian songs for kids. In this post, we share our favorites. These songs are perfect for singing and dancing together. If you’re looking for lullabies, you won’t find many options in this post (but you will here!).

All the songs featured are uniquely Italian. They don’t have English versions that you already know. To make it easy for you to follow along and learn the words, every song is linked to a Youtube video with lyrics or closed captions. You can also find all these songs – and many more! – on the All Around Italia Spotify playlists.

Papaveri e papere

Papaveri e papere seems to be one of those songs that every Italian knows. When my husband held our newborn daughter, he began singing “e tu sei piccolina, e tu sei piccolina”. And that’s how I discovered the song!

This lively tune is about a duck and a poppy flower who show an interest in each other and then get married. Soon after, the poppy blows away in the wind. Upon doing research, I learned this is symbolism: things don’t work out when a commoner (little duck) mixes with a powerful politician (tall poppy). When we sing with my daughter though, it’s really just about a duck and a poppy.

Papaveri e papere was composed by Mario Panzeri, Nino Rastelli, and Vittorio Mascheroni. It was originally sung by Nilla Pizzi, the artist who won Italy’s first Festival of San Remo in 1951.

If you want to put your Italian pronunciation to the test, sing this song! It is fast-paced and full of clever variations of words with a root of “pap”. The bouncy and measured rhythm make Papaveri e papere the perfect song for marching around with your little one (my daughter loved doing this!).

Chorus:

Lo sai che i papaveri son alti, alti, alti,

e tu sei piccolina, e tu sei piccolina.

Lo sai che i papaveri son alti, alti, alti,

sei nata paperina, che cosa ci vuoi far …

La zia di Forlì

A traditional Italian kids’ song, La zia di Forlì is about an auntie from Forlì (a town in Emilia-Romagna) who goes dancing! The auntie moves her feet … her knees … then her arms … then her head. She moves them in a specific way, “così, così”. With every addition of a body part, the music speeds up. It ultimately becomes a crazy fast dance!

When singing La zia di Forlì with your kids, add more body parts to the sequence. It’s a great way to teach your child the names of body parts in Italian.

In particular for younger kids, La zia di Forlì is bound to be a hit. I was introduced to this song during my time assistant teaching Italian at a public school in Boston. The first time I walked into the pre-K class with the teacher, one child stood up, started pumping his arms and chanting “così, così”. In no time, the whole class was demanding we sing the song … hilarious. Clearly, it’s a winner with the little ones!

Chorus:

Io ho una zia, una zia che sta a Forlì

E quando va a ballare con “il piede” fa così

Così, così, con “il piede” fa così

Il coccodrillo come fa

Il coccodrillo come fa? What sound does a crocodile make? In this silly song by Oscar Avogadro and Pino Massara, the bambina singing is very perplexed by this question. She knows dogs bark, cats meow, cows moo, etc … but what does a crocodile do? No one seems to have the answer!

As the chorus goes – the crocodile eats too much, never wears his winter jacket, bites with his teeth, cries often, gets mad but doesn’t yell, drinks chamomile, and walks around half-asleep. A very busy (and interesting!) creature. But it remains a mystery what sound he makes!

A popular children’s song in Italy, Il coccodrillo come fa is catchy and upbeat. Sing, dance, and ponder the mystery of the crocodile’s noise together as a family.

Chorus:

ll coccodrillo come fa?

non c’è nessuno che lo sa.

Si dice mangi troppo,

non metta mai il cappotto,

che con i denti punga,

che molto spesso pianga,

Però quand’è tranquillo

Come fa ‘sto coccodrillo?

Il coccodrillo come fa?

Non c’è nessuno che lo sa

Si arrabbia ma non strilla

Sorseggia camomilla

E mezzo addormentato se ne va

Un cocomero tondo tondo

Since I learned this song, I can never look at a watermelon again without starting to sing …

Un cocomero tondo tondo is about a round, round watermelon that wants to be the best in the world.

Each time the song’s chorus repeats, the watermelon adds a new action to its repertoire: singing (la la), eating (gnam gnam), swimming (splash splash), skiing (Tomba Tomba – Tomba is an Italian skier as a FYI), sleeping (ronf ronf), drinking (drink drink).

As the watermelon does all these things, you must – of course – act out its actions as well! If you’re singing the song, get creative and have the watermelon do other things too. Un cocomero tondo tondo is a fun way to teach your child action verbs in Italian.

For dance parties, the best version of the song is the Piccole Ore version on YouTube or Spotify. To learn the lyrics (although they are simple), the Music for Happy Kids Youtube version with closed captions is good.

Chorus:

Un cocomero tondo, tondo

Che voleva essere il più forte del mondo

Che voleva tutti quanti superare

Un bel giorno si mise a …

La canzone della felicità

For when your child needs some cheering up, you’ll want to know the traditional Italian happy song – La canzone della felicità. Written especially for those moments when they’re feeling a little blue, the song has a soothing, easy melody.

La canzone della felicità redirects your child from their boo boo or trouble. It asks them to pretend to be a little animal or maybe a butterfly: beat your wings, move your antennas, give me your paws, and fly around.

A nice song to have in your repertoire for the moments you will need it!

Chorus:

Se sei triste

Ti manca l’allegria

Vuoi scacciare la malinconia

Vieni con me

Ti insegnerò

La canzone della felicità dù dù dà dà

Batti le ali

Muovi le antenne

Dammi le tue zampine

Vola di qua e vola di là

È la canzone della felicità dù dù dà dà

La casa (via dei Matti)

La casa by Sergio Endrigo (lyrics by Bardotti and de Moraes) is about an imaginary house – a beautiful one though! The address? Number Zero on Crazy Street. This house has no ceiling. It doesn’t have a kitchen. You can’t go in because there is no floor. There’s no roof, so you can’t sleep there. It doesn’t have a bathroom. But … it’s a beautiful house!

How could you not be charmed by this song?

Depending on how fast and enthusiastically you sing, La casa could be a dancing song or a lullaby. The Youtube version sung by Papà di Viola leans toward being a lullaby but is perfect for learning the song’s lyrics. The version we love by Franco Tuffano is more upbeat – find it here on Youtube and Spotify. Overall, a great song for any time of the day!

Chorus:

Era una casa molto carina

Senza soffitto, senza cucina

Non si poteva entrarci dentro

Perché non c’era il pavimento

Non si poteva andare a letto

In quella casa non c’era il tetto

Non si poteva fare pipì

Perché non c’era il vasino lì

Ma era bella, bella davvero

In Via dei Matti numero zero

Ma era bella, bella davvero

In Via dei Matti numero zero

Viva la pappa col pomodoro

Viva la pappa col pomodoro – long live Tuscan tomato soup! This catchy tune by Lina Wertmüller and Nino Rota was introduced to the world through a 1965 television mini-series – Il Giornalino di Gian Burrasca.

Based on the book Il Giornalino di Gian Burrasca by Florentine author Vamba, the series recounts the adventures of Gian Burrasca – a mischievous little boy who is played by the singer Rita Pavone. Gian Burrasca is sent to boarding school. There, in the cafeteria, they serve an inedible soup made with dirty water. Outraged, Gian Burrasca leads a revolution to replace the nasty soup with pappa col pomodoro.

Viva la pappa col pomodoro was an immediate success and is now a popular children’s song in Italy. When my toddler was learning to talk, she loved repeating the “pappappappa” part of the chorus.

If this song becomes a family favorite (which I bet it will), there are lovely opportunities to do activities around it when your kids are a little older – such as making pappa col pomodoro together or watching the mini-series.

Chorus:

Viva la pappappappa

col popopopopopopomodoro

Viva la pappappappa

che è un capopopopopopolavoro

Viva la pa papappappa

col popopomodor

Stendi i panni

Stendi i panni – a traditional Italian kid’s song that gives us an entertaining way to teach the vowels in Italian.

The chorus is simple: hang the laundry; the sun dries it; who wants some nice vegetables; the dog Fido barks.

The first time, you sing the chorus normally. Then, you sing the chorus again but substitute all the vowels for a single vowel. You do this until you’ve sung the chorus once with each vowel exclusively: A, E, I, O, U (in no particular order). It’s a bit hard to explain in writing, but if you listen to the song, you’ll catch on immediately!

For learning the song, the Happy Kids version with closed captions on Youtube is good. For listening and dancing with your kids, we much prefer Fabio Cobelli and Giada Monteleone’s version which you can find here on Youtube and on Spotify.

Chorus:

Stendi i panni, stendi i panni

Asciuga, il sole asciuga

Chi la vuole la bella verdura?

Bau bau bau bau bau bau Fido

Il caffè della Peppina

Only in Italy would a children’s song about coffee become a huge hit! Il caffè della Peppina, a song about Peppina’s peculiar coffee, is by Alberto Anelli, Tony Martucci, Nicola Pinnetti, and Walter Valdi.

The basis of Il caffè della Peppina is a lady named Peppina making coffee. Her coffee, however, is no normal coffee. It’s undrinkable coffee! Peppina makes her coffee with chocolate, jam, onions, candy, and butterfly wings. Her coffee has rosemary, cheese, a turkey foot, a feather, and flour. Finally, she adds salt, pepper, water, salad, oil and vinegar, and even an explosive … which makes her jump into the air with her crazy coffee. Che caffè! What a coffee!

Ma perché, perché, perché? Why does she do it? We will never know, but we will have lots of fun singing about it over and over.

Chorus:

Il caffè della Peppina

Non si beve alla mattina

Né col latte, né col tè

Ma perché, perché, perché?

Le tagliatelle di Nonna Pina

Le tagliatelle di Nonna Pina – what better subject could there be for an Italian children’s song? When I first heard it, I thought it must have been written by a Bolognese. In fact, it was – Gian Marco Gualandi.

A bit more complex than the other songs in this post, Le tagliatelle di Nonna Pina is sung from the perspective of a child who is overwhelmed by school and her extracurricular activities. Fortunately, though, she has a secret and infallible cure for her stress …

What is the cure? Nonna Pina’s tagliatelle, of course! Eaten with ragù, they are full of vitamins and better than any medicine. They give you energy for the entire week. What could be better?

When I listen to this song, I hear the voice of the middle-school girl that I used to tutor in Bologna. Oftentimes, she endearingly expressed feeling stressed by her commitments. The song also obviously makes me think of tagliatelle al ragù, a typical and delicious Bolognese plate, taking me back even more vividly to my time living in Bologna.

Even if you haven’t lived in Bologna, how could this song not bring a smile to your and your child’s face? Don’t we all wish we could have the magic tagliatelle di Nonna Pina?

Chorus:

Mi serve una ricarica per tirarmi su

Ma un sistema rapido, infallibile e geniale

Fortunatamente io ce l’ho

Se me lo chiedete per favore

Il segreto io vi svelerò

Ma sì, ma dai! E diccelo anche a noi

Sono le tagliatelle di nonna Pina

Un pieno di energia, effetto vitamina

Mangiate calde col ragù, col ragù!

Ti fanno il pieno per sei giorni ed anche più

Perché le tagliatelle di nonna Pina

Son molto più efficaci di ogni medicina

Sensazionali a pranzo, a cena e credi a me

Son buone anche al mattino al posto del caffè

These Italian kids' songs are sure to become family favorites.

All these songs and many more are included on our Italian Music for Kids Spotify Playlist. For Disney music in Italian, check out this playlist. Also, make sure to see our post about Italian lullabies.

Are we forgetting any of your favorite Italian songs for kids? Comment below!

Buon ascolto e buon divertimento!

Do you want to meet other Italian/English bilingual families?

We are building a community! Leave us your name and location, and we will update you when next steps are possible.

The post The Best Italian Songs for Kids appeared first on All Around Italia.

The Best Italian Lullabies and Ninne Nanne

S P — Wed, 15 Sep 2021 02:25:57 +0000

Learn our favorite ninne nanne to rock your baby to sleep in Italian.

During those precious minutes while you rock your baby to sleep, Italian lullabies – or ninne nanne – are a lovely way for you to share the Italian language. For most parents and children, the songs routinely sung at bedtime become extra special and memorable.

In this post, we share our favorite Italian lullabies. Every song is linked to a Youtube video with lyrics or closed captions – just click the song title. You’ll be able to easily follow along, learn the songs, and start sharing them with your baby!

For even more bedtime songs in Italian, check out our Italian Lullabies Spotify playlist or Italian Lullabies YouTube playlist.

Ninna Nanna Ninna Oh

Ninna Nanna Ninna Oh may be the most famous lullaby in Italy. In this traditional bedtime song, the singer asks, “questo bimbo a chi lo do / who should I give my baby to?” and then hypothesizes.

If I give my baby to the Befana or Christmas witch, she will keep him for a week. If I give my baby to the Bove Nero or Black Ox (or the Uomo Nero or Bogeyman in many versions), he will keep him for a year. If I give my baby to the Lupo Bianco or White Wolf, he will keep him for a long time.

The most common version of the song ends with the baby falling asleep – il mio bimbo addormentate. Presumably, the singer has decided to keep their baby (phew!).

Ninna Nanna Ninna Oh is slow, melodic, and soothing. A must-have in your lullaby repertoire.

Chorus:

Ninna nanna, ninna oh, questo bimbo a chi lo do?

Se lo do alla Befana, me lo tiene una settimana

Se lo do al al Bove Nero, me lo tiene un anno intero

Se lo do al Lupo Bianco, me lo tiene tanto, tanto

Ninna nanna, nanna fate, il mio bimbo addormentate

Brilla Brilla La Stellina

You may have guessed it. Brilla Brilla La Stellina is the Italian version of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. You already know the tune to this one.

As for the lyrics, they are not directly translatable with the English lyrics, but the idea is certainly the same. A little star is twinkling in the sky above us. The singer wonders who the star belongs to. Now, the star comes closer.

A nice, calming, simple song that your child will probably end up learning in both English and Italian. The stars really do unite us no matter where we are!

Chorus:

Brilla brilla la stellina

Su nel cielo piccolina.

Brilla brilla sopra noi,

Mi domando di chi sei.

Brilla brilla la stellina,

Ora tu sei più vicina.

Farfallina Bella e Bianca

Another traditional Italian lullaby, Farfallina Bella e Bianca is usually a favorite of both babies and parents. I learned about this song from my aunt, who remembered it from her childhood.

During the first six months of my daughter’s life, this is the only song that would make her fall asleep for naps in the baby carriage.

As the title suggests, the song is about a beautiful, white butterfly. The butterfly flies around without tiring. It finds a red, sweet-smelling flower. Then, it finds a sunflower. When the sun comes out, the butterfly falls asleep.

A simple and sweet song that will remain in your head long after your baby falls asleep.

Chorus:

Farfallina bella e bianca

vola vola mai si stanca

vola qua, vola là

Ninna Nanna degli Animaletti

In Ninna Nanna degli Animaletti by Mario Pagano and Luciano Simoncini, children have a wonderful dream about being with their animal friends. As the children are sleeping, the animals are also sleeping: the groundhogs, mice, and the little bear. In the lair, the hare sleeps. In the fountain, the fish sleeps. Soundly sleeping are also the elephant, monkey, frog, and spider.

In the stall, the donkey dreams of being a butterfly. Under the stars, the gazelle fell asleep. The ant, squirrel, and bunnies sleep. So do the whale, shrimp, ostriches, and codfish.

The moon shines on the snails. Under a head of lettuce, the turtle sleeps.

Although it may be a bit harder to learn than some of the other lullabies, Ninna Nanna degli Animaletti is really a cute song. As your child will probably love animals, this lullaby is also nice way to teach them the Italian words for many different types of animals.

Chorus:

Dorme ogni bimbo di questo mondo

Sogna di fare un bel girotondo

Insieme a tutti gli animaletti

Il più bel sogno farà

Ninna Nanna del Chicco di Caffè (Ninna Nanna Mamma)

I love the lullaby Ninna Nanna del Chicco di Caffè by Franca Evangelisti and Mario Pagano. It is written from the perspective of a child.

In the first verse, the child tells their mom that they will stay in bed with her and sing her a lullaby. In the second verse, all of the houses are sleeping, the city is sleeping, even the ants are resting. But mamma never rests. In the last verse (the sweetest one), the child tells mamma that they will buy her beautiful things when they are older. For now, mamma should close her eyes and dream about everything she would want.

What is the chorus about? Seven bowls on the king’s table. There isn’t salad. In the bowl for mamma, there is just a coffee bean. Confused? Remember this sung is from the perspective of a child – it doesn’t have to make perfect sense to us adults!

Fortunately for mamma, at the end of the song, the child says they will put whatever she wants in her bowl on the king’s table – ci mettiamo su tutto quello che vuoi tu.

For the standards of lullabies, this one has a bit of a faster pace. The silly lyrics and catchy tune make it fun to sing.

Chorus:

Ninna nanna mamma

Insalata non ce n’è;

Sette le scodelle sulla tavola del re.

Ninna nanna mamma

Ce n’è una anche per te

Dentro cosa c’è

Solo un chicco di caffè

Stella Stellina

Stella Stellina is a traditional lullaby and rhyme that is well-known all across Italy. It is about nightfall. There is a star, a little star. The flame of the candle is going out. In the stall, all of the baby and mother animals are getting ready for bed: the cows, the sheep, the hens. Everyone has their mamma, and everyone is going to sleep.

As most children tend to love animals, once they start really understanding the words of your lullabies, they will probably like this one in particular. If all of the animals are sleeping, maybe they’ll be convinced to drift off too …

Chorus:

Stella stellina

La notte s’avvicina

La fiamma traballa

La mucca è nella stalla

La mucca e il vitello

La pecora e l’agnello

La chioccia e il pulcino

Ognuno ha il suo bambino

Ognuno ha la sua mamma

E tutti fan la nanna

Ninna Nanna di Frà Simon

When you’re ready for a break from repeating the words “ninna nanna” or singing about animals, this is a nice option.

Ninna Nanna di Frà Simon is a simple tune about two friars who rang Brother Simon’s church bell. Din don, din don went the bell. The friars asked for bread and wine. At night, they rang the bell. The day was finished, and it was time to go to bed.

This traditional lullaby is easy to memorize and to rock to rhythmically – just like Brother Simon’s chiming church bell.

Chorus:

Din don, din don

La campana di Fra Simon

Eran due che la sonavan

Pane vin i’ domandavan

Din don, campanon

La campana di Fra Simon

La sonavan nott’e dì

Che il giorno l’è finì

Ed è ora di dormir

Din don, din don

Dormi Piccino

Dormi Piccino by Carlo Rossetto was written especially for mamma to sing. As the song’s repeating line goes, la mamma è con te – mamma is with you.

Mamma invites her baby to dream with her of a land made of toys. She wants her baby to have a sweet sleep and to enter into a dream world, a place where you can even fly. Mamma is watching over her baby, and she will stay with them until the morning.

As the song finishes, it turns into repetition of whispers of “dormi, dormi”. In particular, I feel like this song is meant for the littlest piccini – during those first very delicate months of baby’s life.

Chorus:

Dormi, dormi

La mamma è con te

These are just a few of the many wonderful Italian lullabies.

To listen to over 1.5 hours of lovely bedtime songs, check out our Italian Lullabies Spotify playlist or Italian Lullabies YouTube playlist.

If you prefer to listen to music on Youtube, I recommend this playlist of traditional regional Italian lullabies. As your baby falls asleep, these are nice to have on in the background. My favorites are: Fate le Ninne from Abruzzo, Fate la Nanna Coscine di Pollo from Tuscany, Scende la Notte from Molise, and Ninna Nanna Monelletto from Umbria. You can find most of these regional Italian lullabies on our Spotify playlist as well.

Are we forgetting any of your favorite Italian lullabies? Comment below to let us know.

For the daytime hours, see our post on Italian songs for kids that are perfect for singing and dancing.

Happy listening, happy singing, and buona notte!

Do you want to meet other Italian/English bilingual families?

We are building a community! Leave us your name and location, and we will update you when next steps are possible.

The post The Best Italian Lullabies and Ninne Nanne appeared first on All Around Italia.

Teach Your Baby Italian

S P — Tue, 27 Jul 2021 02:22:55 +0000

Start raising your baby bilingual from Day One.

If you want to teach your baby Italian (or raise them to be bilingual in any languages!), this post outlines how to support language development in the first months of their life.

We live in Brooklyn and are raising our daughter to speak Italian (dad’s native language) and English (mom’s native language). Here, exposure to English is easy. Exposure to Italian has to be generated by us.

Through our attempts to immerse our daughter in Italian, we’ve learned that planning is crucial! If you haven’t read Prepare to Raise a Bilingual Baby, check it out before continuing.

Ok – pronti? Let’s dive into strategies to teach your baby Italian. If you are teaching your baby a different language, read on, as these tips can be applied to any language.

Stick to your Language Plan

In the post Prepare to Raise a Bilingual Baby, we mention the importance of establishing who in the family will speak which language and when they will speak it.

In our family, we speak Italian at home. Outside the home, we use Italian whenever possible. With those who do not speak Italian, we speak English.

Once your baby arrives, be steadfast about sticking to your plan. To combat our tendency to drop English phrases when speaking to each other, my husband and I added a consequence – like having to wash the dishes – for whoever stops speaking Italian.

Sticking to the “rules” will get harder as your baby grows up and goes to school. So, right from the very beginning, establish habits and rhythms around language.

Chat with your Baby

Keep a Running Dialogue

Research shows that two-way speaking interactions are, by far, most important for language mastery. It’s absolutely possible to have two-way speaking interactions with your baby: their contribution will be smiles and gurgles!

What should you say to your baby?

Narrate everything you do. Tell your baby about the plans for the day. Comment on your surroundings. Explain what you’ve done after you’ve completed a task. Your baby will take in what you say and start building their vocabulary and comprehension.

Don’t forget to give your baby a chance to talk too! Ask questions, and solicit their opinion. Even if they can’t respond with words yet, they will understand you are bringing them into the conversation.

Video Chat

Oftentimes, the motivation for raising bilingual children is so they communicate with extended family members. To teach your baby Italian, what better way is there than learning directly from these family members?

If your Italian-speaking family is still in Italy, call often with Facetime and let your baby chat with them. (This is probably already happening because – of course – they’ll want to see the baby!)

We Facetime and video-chat frequently with our daughter’s nonni and zii in Italy. It is great for her to hear them speak Italian. It was also exciting that she recognized them when we brought her to Italy the first time when she was just six months old.

Meet Up

If you are fortunate to live near family and friends who speak Italian, meet up often!

If you don’t have an Italian-speaking network nearby, do your best to create one. You will likely be able to find Meetup or Facebook groups in your area to facilitate introductions.

Especially as your child gets older, it will be important for them to understand that Italian is a live language – not just isolated to your household or to a video screen. Build the relationships starting early.

Share Stories

Read, Read, Read in Italian

Hopefully, you’ve prepared by stocking your bookshelf with great books in Italian. If not, make sure to order some straight away!

Dive into the books, and read them over and over to your baby. Be enthusiastic, make funny voices and sounds. Point out what’s going on in the pictures. Pause on each page to explain more. Ask questions to your baby. These practices turn reading into a two-way interaction, which best supports language development.

Listen to Audio Stories in Italian

Although not as effective for language acquisition as reading, audio stories or audiobooks can be a great complement. They are especially nice for car rides and travel.

To listen to our favorite audio stories, check out our Spotify playlist – Italian Stories for Kids.

The Rai Play Radio and its app also has some programs on its Rai Radio Kids channel that you could put on the background for your baby to passively hear the language.

Rock Out

Listen to Italian Music

Music is a wonderful way to learn language and also culture. At pretty much any moment of the day, you can have music on in the background or make it the main event.

Not only do melodies make it easier to remember words, having fun singing and dancing together will lead your baby to make positive associations with the songs.

We love Spotify playlists. You can use ours:

You could also listen to the radio in Italian! With apps such as Radio Garden, you can easily stream any radio station in Italy (or worldwide) for free.

Sing in Italian

Even without music on, it’s great to get into the habit of regularly singing with your baby. Music is a great way to teach your baby Italian.

We recommend learning a few children’s songs from our Spotify playlists if you don’t know any songs in Italian already.

During moments of our daily routine, we sang very simple made-up songs to describe what was going on: changing a diaper, eating breakfast, getting dressed to go on a walk, going in the car, brushing teeth, preparing for bedtime.

These routine songs not only help your baby understand what moment of the day it is, but also help them build their vocabulary.

Play like Crazy

Do Stuffed Animal Theatre

Give Italian names to your baby’s stuffed animals, and start using these names from Day One! Put on shows with the stuffed animals so your baby can hear you use different nouns, verbs, and adjectives. It’s impossible to be too ridiculous with this – get into it!

Make your baby’s stuffed animals friends walk, run, jump, sleep, eat, shake hands, hug, give kisses, wave, dance, etc … Have adventures around the house all together.

Invent Games

For little babies, anything can become a game – and a great opportunity to use different words and expand their vocabulary and comprehension.

We loved to play Nascondino or “Coperto/Scoperto” – as we called it – where we would hide an object (or hide a person!) and then reveal it.

Additionally, we enjoyed playing “Che tempo fa?” where mamma would act out all the different types of weather with hand motions and noises.

“Le Emozioni” was another favorite – where we would ask “Come ti senti?”, and mamma would act out all different emotions with her face, body and words.

Make the Daily Routine Playful

Build simple games into daily life activities that focus on repetition of object names, numbers, colors, etc.

For instance, whenever we went on a walk, we played an i-Spy type of game that we call “Alla ricerca di …” where we looked for different things like trees, flowers, dogs, other babies.

Whenever we folded the laundry, we looked for one type of article of clothing at a time and yelled out its color. Alternatively, we looked for all the clothes belonging to one family member at a time and yelled out the clothing type.

While mamma tried to do some exercise, we counted the repetitions together and made silly noises every time we reached ten.

When your baby becomes a toddler, these games will be familiar. Many will still be interesting to them, and they will be able to play and respond with words. As an added bonus, they may also be interested in doing things like help you fold laundry!

Make Screen Time in Italian

Typically, parents tend to want to limit screen time for babies; and, frankly, most babies tend to have no interest in screens. They will start to be interested once they are older and more able to sit still.

From a language perspective, keep in mind that watching a screen is considered one-way exposure and has proven to be a less effective method of language learning compared to reading, singing or conversation.

If you want (or need!) to try screen time for your baby, we recommend animated music videos – such as the Hey Kids Youtube channel – so the focus is still largely on the music instead of the screen.

For older children, see our post about our favorite movies in Italian on Disney Plus.

Consider Italian in Childcare

If you need childcare during working hours, explore options like an Italian-speaking daycare (these exist in NY at least) or an Italian-speaking babysitter.

As there are only so many hours in a week, it would be ideal to be able to expose your baby to Italian even when you’re not with them.

In summary, do as much as you can to immerse your baby in Italian language.

Some of these things will be easy for your family; others will be more difficult. Our advice is to do what you can, and don’t forget to have fun! Your efforts will pay off, and your baby will start learning Italian.

Please comment below if you have other tips or ideas for teaching your baby Italian!

Do you want to meet other Italian/English bilingual families?

We are building a community! Leave us your name and location, and we will update you when next steps are possible.

The post Teach Your Baby Italian appeared first on All Around Italia.

Prepare to Raise a Bilingual Baby

allarounditalia — Mon, 19 Apr 2021 06:22:38 +0000

Get ready to welcome your bilingual baby-to-be.

Planning to raise a bilingual baby? Maybe you and your partner have different native languages. Maybe you live in a country with a language different than yours. Or maybe you’d like your child to learn the language of their ancestors.

Whatever your reason may be, it’s important to be ready!

Before your baby arrives, this post outlines what you can do to prepare. It is based on our family’s experience with Italian language, but the strategies can be applied to any language.

If your baby has already arrived, also check out this post.

Make a Language Plan

Identify Majority and Minority Languages

To raise a bilingual baby, you need to understand at least the basics about language acquisition.

According to the Linguistic Society of America, exposure and need are the most important factors when learning a language. Exposure leads to vocabulary and grammar development. Actual need to communicate leads to mastery!

For babies – who only speak baby talk initially – exposure is what’s important!

If you’re raising a bilingual baby, in most cases, it will easier to expose your baby to one language over another. The majority language is the one that will naturally be more prevalent in your child’s life. Exposure to the minority language will be trickier.

In our case, we live in Brooklyn and are raising our daughter to speak Italian (dad’s native language) and English (mom’s native language). Here, we need to actively create opportunities to expose our child to Italian. So, in our case, English is considered the majority language, and Italian is considered the minority language.

To ensure consistent and adequate exposure to the minority language, it’s important to have a solid plan.

Choose Your Approach

Research shows there is no one-size-fits-all approach to helping your baby learn multiple languages. The best plan is the one that will work for your particular family and will provide maximum exposure to the minority language.

Since my husband and I speak each others’ native languages, we chose to make Italian the language of our home.

Even though my Italian pronunciation and language skills are not native-speaker level, I am able to fluently and (mostly) accurately communicate to greatly increase our daughter’s exposure to the language. Exposure is more important than perfection.

Outside the home, we speak Italian with Italian-speaking family and friends. With everyone else, we speak English.

What will your approach be? Will you speak one language at home vs. outside the home? If both parents do not speak each others’ native languages, will each parent exclusively speak their native language to the children? Or will you do something else?

Start Before Baby Arrives

While waiting for your baby, you should start implementing your language plan. For example, if you choose the “one language at home” approach, start speaking only that language even before your baby arrives. We definitely underestimated the difficulty of keeping English completely out of our conversations at home.

Let any family members or friends who will be involved know what you’d like their role to be, and make sure they are on board.

Get into a rhythm as soon as possible.

Stock the Bookshelf

Reading with your baby is a proven way to help them develop language skills.

If you live in the States, you’ll likely find yourself with many books in English. You’ll receive them as gifts or maybe even still have some from your childhood (if English is your native language, like me). Getting your hands on good books in Italian can be much harder.

Yes, you can translate English books as you read them out loud, but this is often harder than you might think (especially when you’re sleep-deprived!). Books that rhyme or are about the alphabet do not translate correctly between languages. Plus, before you know it, your baby will start paying attention to words (not just pictures) so you might as well have books with words in Italian right from the start!

Buy or Register for Books

Research where you can find bilingual books or books in Italian and order them. Sometimes, they can take weeks to arrive.

If you use a multi-store baby registry such as Babylist, you can add books directly to your registry.

Customize a Board Book

There are many websites where you can make custom board or photo books.

We created a family board book so our daughter could “see” her relatives who live in Italy every day.

To get started, we asked each family member to send us a headshot and an “action” shot. The book teaches family names like zia, cugino, nonno as well as verb phrases like cucinare, andare in bici, mangiare il gelato, eccetera.

For example: Ecco Nonna Giulia. Nonna Giulia va in bici.

Our daughter loved reading this book! She also recognized family members when we visited them even though she was just a few months old!

Whether you’d like to make a family book or another type, making a nice custom book does take quite a bit of time. It is wise to do so before the craziness of taking care of baby begins.

Prepare the Nursery

Hang Pictures

As you work on decorating baby’s nursery or play area, why not incorporate some Italian elements? Anything you can do to surround your baby in the language and culture is worth it – especially something as easy as hanging a painting or photo on the wall.

Name the Stuffed Animals

After countless discussions trying to choose the perfect name for our baby, we really enjoyed giving silly Italian names to our daughter’s stuffed animals. Her monkey is Antonio, her frog is Giovanni, her pig is Pancetta, her bunny is Coniglietto. It goes on and on.

Come up with some fun Italian names for your baby’s collection of stuffed animals, and use the names when baby comes. These will be baby’s first friends, and they will eventually be motivated to pronounce their names!

Get Ready to Rock

When baby arrives, you are going to be doing a lot of rocking! While rocking, why not rock out with Italian music?! Music is a wonderful way to expose your baby to language and culture.

Use Spotify Playlists

We found it incredibly helpful (and fun!) to have Spotify playlists ready to use in different contexts. You can use our playlists!

As we are inspired by new music, we continue to update the playlists.

Start listening even before your baby is born so you can learn some lyrics. Also, your baby will hear the songs in the womb and may even recognize them once they arrive!

Learn Children's Songs

When you’re trying to rock and calm, you’ll sing the first thing that comes to mind – which for me were songs in English, my native language. Or if you don’t remember any songs, you’ll just hum (like my husband)!

Don’t miss out being able to sing to your baby in Italian. These soothing songs will be ones they create positive associations with, learn, and remember.

Take a few minutes and learn the lyrics to a couple of children’s songs and lullabies. Check out our Spotify playlists, Italian Music for Kids and Italian Lullabies, to pick a few favorite songs.

So, there you have it! A little planning will go a long way in getting started on the right foot to raise a bilingual baby.

To read on about what to do when baby arrives, see this post!

The post Prepare to Raise a Bilingual Baby appeared first on All Around Italia.

Italian for Kids Archives - All Around Italia

Movies and TV Shows in Italian on Disney Plus

Check out our list of movies and TV shows to watch on Disney Plus USA in Italian language.

Most Disney movies have songs that kids love to sing.

Parents are familiar with most Disney movies and can talk about them with their kids.

Disney movies inspire children to invent games.

Dubbing works well for animated movies.

So, now that you know why we like Disney Plus, here are the movies and shows available on the app in Italian. These lists are for Disney Plus USA.

Animated Movies in Italian on Disney Plus USA

Non-Animated Movies in Italian on Disney Plus USA

TV Shows in Italian on Disney Plus USA

Currently Unavailable in Italian on Disney Plus USA

Hope this information is helpful. If we’ve left out any of your favorites, comment below!

Do you want to meet other Italian/English bilingual families?

The Best Italian Songs for Kids

Learn our favorite Italian songs for kids, and share language through music.

Table of Contents

These Italian kids' songs are sure to become family favorites.

Do you want to meet other Italian/English bilingual families?

The Best Italian Lullabies and Ninne Nanne

Learn our favorite ninne nanne to rock your baby to sleep in Italian.

Table of Contents

These are just a few of the many wonderful Italian lullabies.

Do you want to meet other Italian/English bilingual families?

Teach Your Baby Italian

Start raising your baby bilingual from Day One.

Table of Contents

Stick to your Language Plan

Chat with your Baby

Keep a Running Dialogue

Video Chat

Meet Up

Share Stories

Read, Read, Read in Italian

Listen to Audio Stories in Italian

Rock Out

Listen to Italian Music

Sing in Italian

Play like Crazy

Do Stuffed Animal Theatre

Invent Games

Make the Daily Routine Playful

Make Screen Time in Italian

Consider Italian in Childcare

In summary, do as much as you can to immerse your baby in Italian language.

Do you want to meet other Italian/English bilingual families?

Prepare to Raise a Bilingual Baby

Get ready to welcome your bilingual baby-to-be.

Table of Contents

Make a Language Plan

Identify Majority and Minority Languages

Choose Your Approach

Start Before Baby Arrives

Stock the Bookshelf

Buy or Register for Books

Customize a Board Book

Prepare the Nursery

Hang Pictures

Name the Stuffed Animals

Get Ready to Rock

Use Spotify Playlists

Learn Children's Songs

So, there you have it! A little planning will go a long way in getting started on the right foot to raise a bilingual baby.