10 Imperfect Tense in Spanish Practice Activities

Are you planning a childhood unit with your Spanish classes? When you work on the “Cuando era niño” unit with your classes, you might need some imperfect tense in Spanish practice activities for your students! In this post, I wanted to share 10 games, activities, and ideas you can use with your high school Spanish students!

Imperfect Tense in Spanish Practice Activities

Digital Games to Practice

Here are a few sets and websites I found that you could try out as part of your imperfect tense in Spanish practice activities to help students engage with this vocabulary:

• Cuando Era Niño (74 terms)
• Cuando era niño (102 terms)
• Boom Cards
• Conjuguemos

Shorts and Videos

Here’s a mix of short films, clips, and ideas for segments you could use for a Movie Talk or in your unit to practice the imperfect:

• When I Was Young. Level A2
• Un día en el parque
• the scene in Coco where they were remembering what happened to Hector
• the movie Up when Carl met Ellie

Imperfect Reading Activities

Gallery walks are one of my favorite ways to give students a bunch of input and focus on necessary vocabulary and structures at the same time! In this unit I have two different gallery walks I like to use, at different times in the unit.

This Cuando Era Niña Gallery Walk is a great way to start off the unit because it focuses on one character reminiscing on her life. Each short reading includes her age at the time, personal and physical characteristics, hobbies and interests, life events, and vocab support on the bottom of the page to help students be successful!

The second gallery walk includes 18 short readings about people and their childhoods written in comprehensible language – so 18 different characters rather than one person sharing her reflection! The readings are a basic summary of each person’s favorite activities and pastimes as a child.

Creative Writing Prompts for the Imperfect Tense

Once your students are more familiar with the forms and uses of the imperfect, it’s the perfect time to lean into storytelling. A simple but powerful addition to your set of imperfect tense in Spanish practice activities is personal narrative writing. Try prompts like “Cuando tenía cinco años…” or “En mi escuela primaria…” to get them writing about their childhood. Encourage them to include daily routines, emotions, favorite toys, and weekend habits.

What’s great is that this activity can be easily scaffolded. Beginners can use sentence starters or fill-in-the-blank style prompts, while more advanced students can be challenged to write short paragraphs or combine their past habits with an unexpected twist. You could even turn this into a collaborative story activity where groups take turns adding sentences in the imperfect tense. Laughter guaranteed.

Pair the writing with student illustrations or comic strips for even more fun and engagement!

Imperfect Tense in Spanish Practice Activities Games

If you’ve introduced the imperfect to your students, chances are they just need some more time with it. These imperfect tense in Spanish practice activities and games are a great way to reinforce their understanding while keeping class fun and engaging.

Boom Cards

If you’re new to Boom Cards, you might be wondering what they are! These digital interactive task cards are self-checking and give students immediate feedback. They are great for independent work, stations, and homework. Click here to try this deck out!

¡Corre en Círculos! Imperfect Tense Game

¡Corre en Círculos! is one of my favorite review games for Spanish class because it is so low prep for you and so engaging for students! Print the cards, hang them around the room, and let students go in this scavenger hunt style game! Download this review game here!

Maze Games

Maze games have students answer a series of questions, but students are also trying to find their way to the end of the maze at the same time. This print and go or post and go practice is super engaging! Click here to download the imperfect tense set of activities.

El Toro Review Game

Everyone loves a good review game, and this is one of my students’ favorites! I call this fast-paced verb trading game “El Toro”. I often describe it to my students as “Go Fish, but everyone fishes at once”. There’s no sitting and waiting in this game! It’s the perfect review game for Spanish class. Download the cards to play here!

Conversation Cards

 I love using these conversation cards to scaffold students’ speaking skills. There are so many ways to use them, but I most often grab a set to use during stations! Download the ready-made set for practicing the imperfect here!

Combine Audio and Visuals for Even More Input

Another engaging way to deepen your imperfect tense in Spanish practice activities is through audio and visual input. Play short clips from familiar movies like Up, Coco, or Toy Story, and pause to narrate what the characters were doing using the imperfect. Ask questions like “¿Qué hacía Carl cuando era niño?” or “¿Cómo era la vida de Héctor antes?”

You can even let students retell the scene in their own words or act it out as a class. These activities hit listening, speaking, and writing all at once and are especially fun for students who learn best through movement or visuals.

Looking to keep it even simpler? Choose a scene and ask students to create a storyboard using the imperfect to describe each frame. Visual storytelling is one of the most memorable ways to make grammar stick!

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