A Kid’s Guide to Your Neighborhood in Spanish

Teach your young Spanish learners about their neighborhood in Spanish and jump-start their language abilities with a fun and useful kid’s guide and activity pack. 

Knowing how to describe your neighborhood in Spanish is essential to engage in conversations about your daily life or routine. 

Describing Your Neighborhood in Spanish

Talking about your community in Spanish is important for both adults and young Spanish learners.

What is more, kids need to be able to identify their environment and recognize where their safe space is. 

Being able to talk about their neighborhood in Spanish strengthens kids’ sense of belonging. El vecindario (the neighborhood) is where they make close friends, practice their family values, have favorite places, play with their pets, and more. 

The definition of neighborhood in Spanish describes it as a place where different families and people coexist and inhabit. A commonly used slang word you can use for neighborhood in Spanish is barrio. Others also call it la vecindad or la colonia. 

Here’s a list with a few example sentences to describe your neighborhood in Spanish.

Mi vecindario está cerca de la ciudad.
My neighborhood is close to the city. 

Yo vivo en un vecindario grande.
I live in a large neighborhood.

Mi vecino es mi amigo.
My neighbor is my friend. 

En mi vecindario hay muchos niños jugando.
There are many children playing in my neighborhood.

Mi vecindario tiene todo lo que necesitas.
My neighborhood has everything you need. 

Neighborhood in Spanish Vocabulary

Who lives in your neighborhood? What can you find down the block from your house?

Most neighborhoods have the essential elements you need right around the corner to keep it functioning and thriving. 

The neighborhood in Spanish is home to a diversity of colorful and unique objects, services, places, and people. They make it easy to get food, walk around, or run a few errands without moving far from home. 

Here’s a list of neighborhood vocabulary words in Spanish and sentences for your classroom or home lesson. 

Home 

English	Spanish
apartment	el apartamento, el departamento
apartment building	el edificio de apartamentos, el edificio
block	la cuadra
home	el hogar
house	la casa
parking spot	el estacionamiento
sidewalk	la acera, la banqueta
street	la calle

Neighbors

English	Spanish
baker	el panadero, el pastelero
babysitter	la niñera
butcher	el carnicero
delivery boy	el repartidor
fireman	el bombero
garbage man	el basurero, el colector de basura
mailman, postman	el cartero
neighbor	el vecino, la vecina
neighbors	los vecinos, las vecinas
neighborhood	el vecindario, el barrio, la vecindad
neighborhood watch	el comité de vigilancia, la vigilancia de la vecindad
pets	las mascotas
policeman	el policía
teacher	la maestra

Example Sentences

Muchas personas con mascotas viven en mi vecindario.
Many people with pets live in my neighborhood 

El cartero pasa a mi casa en la mañana.
The mailman stops by my house in the morning. 

Mi vecino vive a una cuadra de mi casa.
My neighbor lives one block away from my house. 

Los vecinos de mi edificio son muy amables. 
The neighbors in my building are very nice.

Mi niñera es mi vecina.
My babysitter is my neighbor. 

La maestra se estaciona en la calle afuera de mi casa.
My teacher parks in the street outside my house. 

La vigilancia de la vecindad nos cuida a todos.
The neighborhood watch takes care of all of us. 

What Do You Spy in Your Neighborhood?

English	Spanish
ATM	el cajero automático
bench	la banca
bicycle	la bicicleta, la bici
bus	el bus, el autobús
car	el carro, el coche
flowers	las flores
garbage can, bin	el basurero
garden	el jardín
mailbox	el buzón
motorcycle	la motocicleta, la moto

Here are more nouns to talk about your neighborhood in Spanish. 

More to Spy in Your Neighborhood!

English	Spanish
parking meter	el parquímetro
plants	las plantas
pool	la piscina
school bus	el bus escolar
speed bump	el túmulo
skateboard	la patineta
street light	la luz de la calle
traffic signs	las señales de tránsito
traffic light	el semáforo
trees	los árboles
truck	el camión

Example Sentences

En mi vecindario hay muchas señales de tránsito.
My neighborhood has plenty of traffic signs.

Me gusta montar en bicicleta por el vecindario.
I like riding my bicycle around the neighborhood.

Todas las casas de mi vecindario tienen buzón.
All the houses in my neighborhood have a mailbox.

El bus escolar pasa por mi casa.
The school bus stops at my house.

Un camión ocasionó tráfico en mi vecindario.
A truck caused traffic in my neighborhood.  

¿Sabe si hay un cajero automático en este barrio?
Do you know if there’s an ATM in this neighborhood?

What Are Some Places in Your Neighborhood?

English	Spanish
bakery	la panadería, la pastelería
bank	el banco
book store, stationary store	la librería, la papelería
butcher shop	la carnicería
bus stop	la parada de bus
cemetery	el cementerio
city hall, municipality	el ayuntamiento, la municipalidad
church	la iglesia
coffee shop	la cafetería
convenience store	la tienda, la abarrotería

Here are more places to talk about your neighborhood in Spanish. 

What Other Places Are in Your Neighborhood?

English	Spanish
fire station	la estación de bomberos
flower store	la floristería
hospital	el hospital
park	el parque
pharmacy, drug store	la farmacia, la droguería
pizza place, pizza parlor	la pizzería
playground	el patio de juegos
police station	la estación de policía
post office	la oficina de correos
restaurant	el restaurante
school	la escuela, el colegio
square	la plaza
supermarket	el supermercado

Example Sentences

Mi escuela está en mi vecindario. 
My school is in my neighborhood.

A dos cuadras de mi casa hay una tienda.
There’s a convenience store two blocks from my house. 

Te veo más tarde en la plaza del vecindario.
I’ll see you later in the neighborhood square.

Mi vecindario tiene todo; hay hasta una floristería.
My neighborhood has everything, there’s even a flower store.

¿Dónde queda el patio de juegos de tu vecindario?
Where’s the playground in your neighborhood?

Tengo que ir a la papelería del vecindario.
I need to go to the neighborhood stationary store. 

Adjectives 

English	Spanish
affordable	barato
around the corner	a la vuelta de la esquina
boring	aburrido
busy	ocupado
calm	tranquilo
clean	limpio
dirty	sucio
expensive	caro
fancy	elegante
far	lejos

Here are more adjectives to describe your neighborhood in Spanish. 

More Useful Adjectives

English	Spanish
isolated	aislado
large	grande
loud	ruidoso
modern	moderno
near	cerca
nice, pleasant	agradable
pretty	bonito, lindo
small	pequeño

Example Sentences

Los edificios de mi barrio son pequeños.
The buildings in my neighborhood are small. 

Mi vecindario es  agradable y tranquilo. 
My neighborhood is nice and quiet.

El perro de mi vecino es ruidoso.
My neighbor’s dog is loud.

Mi vecindario favorito en la ciudad es moderno y elegante. 
My favorite neighborhood in the city is modern and fancy.

Las calles de ese vecindario están limpias y ordenadas.
The streets in that neighborhood are clean and organized. 

En mi vecindario no hay niños. 
There aren’t any kids in my neighborhood.

Tu casa está aislada del resto del vecindario. 
Your house is isolated from the rest of the neighborhood.

Enhance your child’s vocabulary with this list of 77 Spanish words for children about home and family. 

Neighborhood in Spanish Games and Activities

Children need to feel motivated through fun strategies and resources to learn Spanish. By engaging in a fun activity, kids learn and play at the same time! 

Make your homeschool or classroom lesson extra enjoyable by using these amusing games and hands-on activities about the neighborhood in Spanish. 

What’s Your Neighborhood Like? – ¿Cómo es tu vecindario?

Use our set of flashcards for an educational game of questions and Spanish sentence building. 

The flashcards are illustrated and have a variety of nouns and adjectives in Spanish from this lesson. Your goal is to have each student choose a flashcard and use the vocabulary word to describe their neighborhood in Spanish. 

The flash cards support your kid with words that relate to location, size, features, and neighbors in Spanish. Begin the game by asking the question ¿Cómo es tu vecindario? (What’s your neighborhood like?)

Teach them to answer using this set of sentences to describe their community in Spanish using the word on the chosen card. 

En mi vecindario hay…
In my neighborhood there’s…

Mi barrio es…
My neighborhood is…

Mi vecindario es…
My neighborhood is…

Cerca de mi casa está…
Near my house there’s…

Mi vecino es…
My neighbor is…

Neighborhood in Spanish Scavenger Hunt

Take the lesson outside and go searching for elements listed in our Neighborhood in Spanish Scavenger Hunt template. 

Kids are great visual learners and have the capacity of retaining loads of information and memorizing it. Looking at the physical elements also allows them to identify them easily. 

For this specific activity, remember that the more the merrier! Feel free to invite friends and family to collaborate and encourage some healthy competition. Make this an opportunity to discover the community and learn about the area in Spanish. 

Watch this amusing video about a family picnic in Spanish and make your time learning outdoors even more extraordinary.

Neighborhood in Spanish Songs and Videos

Take advantage of free online resources and use YouTube songs and videos for your lesson. Music and visuals make any topic entertaining and dynamic. Here’s a useful selection. 

• Bingo: Neighborhood Song
• Que es un vecino (What is a Neighbor)
• Mi vecindario, mi barrio (My Neighborhood)
• Mi comunidad para niños (My Community for Kids)

Neighborhood in Spanish Worksheet

Our neighborhood in Spanish worksheet has 2 different activities that test your child’s reading, writing, and vocabulary skills. Use them as a quiz or after the lesson as a review. 

Neighborhood in Spanish Books – Katie Woo y su vecindario 

Reading in Spanish is an efficient way of supporting language learning. 

Katie Woo y su vecindario (Kati Woo and Her Neighborhood) Spanish books are available for purchase on Amazon. This lovable illustrated series includes a variety of short fictional stories about young Katie Woo and her adventures around her neighborhood. Here’s my favorite selection of the series.

• Ayudemos a la alcaldesa (Let’s Help the Mayor)
• Preparados para la tormenta (Prepared for the Storm)
• Sorpresas por correo (Surprises in the Mail)
• Paramédicos al rescate (Paramedics to the Rescue)

Kids Love Their Community!

Kids learn a language by listening and speaking. Children with a strong Spanish foundation are even able to develop an accent or  learn other languages as they grow up. It also gives them a wider understanding of cultural diversity in their neighborhood and community.  

As a homeschool parent or Spanish educator, you’re on the right path to improve your child’s language skills. Give them a chance to engage in conversation with a native speaker and sign up your child to a free class with our teachers from Guatemala. 

Want more free Spanish lessons, fun content, and easy learning strategies for kids? Check these out!

• Airplane Science and Vocabulary (Free Spanish Lessons for Kids)
• Parts of the Body (Free Spanish Lessons for Kids)
• Learn the Shapes (Free Spanish Lessons for Kids)
• The Wonders of Mayan Civilization (Free Spanish Lessons for Kids)
• A Kid’s Guide to Desert Animals in Spanish
• Kid’s Guide to Ancient Rome in Spanish
• Kid’s Guide to Ancient Greece in Spanish
• A Kid’s Guide to Musical Instruments