10 Awesome Free Italian Learning Resources for Kids

#1 One Third Stories

Here at One Third Stories, we’re offering a free digital storybook, audiobook and activity book to give kids a flavour of what they can expect from a full physical subscription to our Italian Story Boxes. The focal point of the digital Story Box is a gorgeously illustrated original ebook that starts in English before we slowly introduce words and phrases from Italian – so by the end of the book, you and your child are reading together in a foreign language! Sign up for a free digital Story Box and get a taste of what One Third Stories has to offer!

#2 Imparare il Vocabolario Italiano – Bambini

This straightforward free app for Android devices is an effective way to help the youngest learners acquire their first pieces of Italian vocabulary. With hundreds of words to learn across 16 categories including animals, food, colours, numbers and more, it couldn’t be simpler to use, and kids get basic practice in all four skills – reading, listening, writing and speaking. Imparare il Vocabolario may not look like much, but as a first step for memorising vocabulary it does the job.

#3 Duolingo

Duolingo is far and away the world’s most popular language-learning app for adults – but its fun, reward-focused learning model and cute animation style mean that kids love it too! Italian is just one of 38 languages on offer, and Duolingo does a great job of keeping track of kids’ progress and strengthening the parts of the language that they’re finding trickiest to master. As the Duolingo owl might say, it’s a hoot!

#4 Pinterest

If it’s free and you can print it, the chances are it’s on Pinterest. The site is a goldmine for all kinds of Italian flashcards, worksheets and posters – simply search “Italian kids printables” and off you go! One word of warning: there’s plenty of rubbish on there too, but there’s simply so much content on Pinterest that it’s definitely worth a look. And while we’re on the subject of printables, by the way, our Digital Story Box is full of them- click here to get yours!

#5 BBC Bitesize Italian

The BBC’s online education treasure trove is a little lighter on Italian content than with French, Spanish, and German, but there’s still some great stuff on there for kids to enjoy. To the surprise of absolutely no-one, we’re especially keen on the video lesson in which a young girl and her friends travel to Rome to learn how to make the perfect Roman pizza. Buon appetito!

#6 Conjuguemos

Conjuguemos is a well-made and education-focused website that’s perfect for older, more advanced kids who are ready to take the next step in their Italian learning. It excels especially at helping kids get to the nitty gritty of Italian grammar, and there are also some great explanations of typical learner errors to help you support your child along the way.

#7 The Italian Experiment

We think the One Third Stories team would get on pretty well with the folk behind The Italian Experiment – like us, they’re all about teaching languages through wonderful storytelling. The Italian Experiment presents a number of classic stories and fairy tales translated into Italian, with accompanying narration from a great native speaker voice actor. Our favourite translated title has to be The Three Little Pigs – I Tre Porcellini!

#8 Spotify

The world’s most popular music streaming service puts a whopping 70 million (!) songs at your fingertips – and they aren’t all in English, you know! Spotify is a great place to find some authentic Italian canzoni to make kids want to dance while they develop their listening skills. Just search for “Italian kids songs” and you’ll find hundreds of pre-made playlists to explore, from nursery rhymes to lullabies to magnificent 1990s Italian disco. Belissimo.

#9 Musica Per Junior

Keeping with the musical theme, Music Per Junior is a lovely blog that uses songs as the basis for its beginner and intermediate Italian courses. Each of its levels features five units, centring around a song to listen to and a gap-fill exercise to complete. It’s a great way to encourage kids to listen for detail, and once they’ve finished each unit why not hit play again and sing along?

#10 Ti Racconta Una Fiaba

Once upon a time, there was a free app and website all about Italian fairy tales, and when we discovered it we just couldn’t wait to share! Ti Racconta una Fiaba (“I’ll tell you a fairy tale”) is an absolute joy to behold, with an incredible variety of user-submitted stories in all kinds of formats – audio, video, illustration – for you to enjoy with your child. For an extra challenge, why not challenge your child to write their own tale for submission? But remember, happy endings only!

Phew! Now that you’re absolutely overflowing with resources to help your child with their Italian, you’re almost ready to say buongiorno to a fruitful learning journey together. But before you depart? There’s no better way to kick things off than with a subscription to One Third Stories’ Italian Story Boxes. Check them out below!