A Yoto Make Your Own card can be much more than another playlist.
It can tell your child what happens next in the morning. Send them racing across the room looking for something amarillo. Turn cleanup into a challenge. Hold a story told in Grandma’s voice. Or start a game that gets everyone moving.
For bilingual families, MYO cards can be especially fun because English and Spanish don’t have to feel like a lesson.
They can simply become part of the play.
Here are 15 ways to turn listening into doing.
1
Record a short sequence of movement commands:
“Jump!” “¡Salta!” “Stomp!” “¡Pisa fuerte!” “Spin!” “¡Gira!”
Then suddenly: “FREEZE!” “¡QUIETO!”
Leave a few seconds between directions so your child has time to move.
The unpredictability is what makes this one fun. Change the order every few weeks and the same card becomes a new game.
Play Aprende pairing: Muévete / Move It or Stomp, Salta, Shake
2
Instead of teaching animal vocabulary from a list, become the animals.
“Walk like an elephant.” “Camina como un elefante.” “Hop like a frog.” “Salta como una rana.” “Fly like a bird.” “Vuela como un pájaro.”
Add animal sounds, dramatic pauses and silly challenges.
The goal isn’t to test whether your child remembers the Spanish word. The goal is for the word to become attached to something they actually did.
3
Record five or six tiny dance challenges. For example:
“Dance pequeño.” “Dance GRANDE.” “Baila despacio.” “Now FAST!” “Hands only.” “¡Todo el cuerpo!”
Keep each challenge short and let the movement change with the language.
This works especially well when your child has reached the age where “dance” somehow means throwing their entire body at the furniture.
4
A MYO card can become a simple audio sequence for getting ready. Try:
“Buenos días.” “First, let’s get dressed.” “Ahora, los zapatos.” “Brush, brush, brush your teeth.” “¿Listos?” “Let’s go!”
Use the same phrases every morning so the language becomes predictable.
Young children often respond well to knowing what comes next, and a familiar audio routine can turn repeated directions into something more playful.
Play Aprende pairing: Buenos Días / Good Morning
5
Instead of “Clean up your toys.” Again. And again. And again. Record an audio cleanup challenge.
“Find something BLUE.” “Put away three toys.” “3… 2… 1… GO!” Then: “¡Busca algo ROJO!” “Ready?” “¡A guardar!”
You can even create separate tracks for blocks, stuffed animals, books or art supplies.
Play Aprende pairing: Limpia Limpia / Clean It Up or 3, 2, 1… ¡A Guardar!
6
A bedtime MYO doesn’t need to be a full story. It can simply create a familiar sequence:
“Pajamas.” “Dientes.” “Choose one book.” “Abrazo.” “Buenas noches.”
Keep the voice calm and the order consistent. You can also record a parent, grandparent or other loved one saying goodnight.
The simplest cards can become the ones children request the most.
Play Aprende pairing: Buenas Noches
7
Instead of sitting down to “practice colors,” send your child looking for them.
“Find something rojo.” Pause. “¿Dónde está?” “Now find something azul.” Pause. “Touch something amarillo.”
For older preschoolers, make it harder: “Find something verde AND pequeño.” Or: “Bring me two cosas azules.”
Language becomes part of the game instead of the reason for the game.
Play Aprende pairing: Los Colores
8
Choose objects your child already knows.
“Busca una cuchara.” “Find a shoe.” “Busca un libro.” “Find something soft.” “Busca algo redondo.”
You can make themed versions too: Kitchen Hunt, Bedroom Hunt, Outside Hunt, Animal Hunt, Vacation Hunt.
One card can contain several different hunts as separate tracks.
9
Give your child things to DO with numbers.
“Clap three times.” “Da cuatro saltos.” “Bring me two blocks.” “Touch cinco dedos.” “Stomp six times.”
The physical action helps make the number meaningful. Then switch languages unexpectedly. “Three jumps.” “Ahora… ¡CINCO!”
Play Aprende pairing: Counting Contando Reggaeton
10
Record familiar sounds around your house. A door closing. Keys jingling. Water running. A cat meowing. A spoon tapping a cup.
Then ask: “¿Qué es?” or: “What do you hear?” Let your child guess before revealing the answer.
You can later create categories such as animals, vehicles, kitchen sounds or outside sounds.
11
The audio gives the prompt. Your child decides what happens.
“You’re in a boat.” “¡Viene una ola!” “DUCK!” “Now the boat is going muy, muy despacio…” “And suddenly…” Pause. “¡RÁPIDO!”
No screen is required because the room becomes the story. A couch can be a boat. The rug can be the ocean. And apparently every pillow in the house must now be involved.
12
Start with: “Agent… we need your help.” Then give your child three or four tasks.
“Find something yellow.” “Crawl debajo de la mesa.” “Bring back one spoon.” “Then whisper the secret word…” “¡AGUACATE!”
There does not need to be any educational justification for the secret word. Sometimes aguacate is simply funny. And funny gets repeated.
13
Ask a parent or grandparent to record a short story. It could be a favorite childhood memory, a completely invented story, a family tradition, or the story of something funny that happened when they were little.
For bilingual families, don’t worry about making every sentence perfectly 50/50. Let people speak naturally. Maybe Grandma tells most of the story in Spanish. Maybe Dad uses Portuguese. Maybe Mom switches back and forth.
The voices themselves become part of the keepsake.
14
Start the recording with a question: “There was a tiny dinosaur outside our house. What happened next?”
Pause the recording. Ask your child. Record their answer. Then continue.
You can build a completely ridiculous story together one piece at a time. The finished card isn’t polished. That’s the point. It’s theirs.
15
Record a few short messages your child can hear whenever they want.
“I love you.” “Te quiero mucho.” “I’m thinking about you.” “Siempre estoy contigo.” “Can you take one big breath?” “In…” “Out…” “Nos vemos muy pronto.”
This can be especially sweet for daycare days, travel, time with grandparents or simply moments when a familiar voice feels good.
It doesn’t need music. It doesn’t need sound effects. Sometimes hearing your person is enough.
You don’t need to translate every English sentence into Spanish. In fact, we usually wouldn’t.
Instead, choose words and phrases that make sense inside the activity.
Repetition inside real routines and play gives those words a reason to exist. That’s much more interesting than turning every activity into a vocabulary quiz.
Yoto Make Your Own cards are designed for recordings, playlists and audio you are allowed to use.
Use your own recordings, your own original material, audio you legitimately own where its terms allow that use, or content you otherwise have permission to use.
Don’t download or copy protected audio from streaming services simply to put it onto a MYO card.
When in doubt, check Yoto’s current Make Your Own guidance and the rights attached to the audio you’re using.
Listening doesn’t have to be passive. A song can become a movement game. A story can become pretend play. A few Spanish words can become a scavenger hunt. And one little audio card can start an entire afternoon.
That’s what we mean by Listen. Play. Aprende.
Explore more bilingual songs, stories and screen-free activities, including our Toniebox activities hub, from Play Aprende. If you want more on building a bilingual Yoto library day to day, see our Spanish and bilingual Yoto ideas, or head back to the full Yoto activities hub for more ways to turn listening into play.
Play Aprende is an independent resource and is not affiliated with, sponsored by, or endorsed by Yoto. Names and trademarks belong to their respective owners.
