Spanish
Singing Games and Songs 1
© Dany Rosevear 2009 All
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Spanish
pronunciation
Spoken
Spanish in Spain and Latin America is quite distinctive from spoken English.
For that reason
a few
lyrics are accompanied by the sounds of the Spanish language. A guide is
provided of the more
distinctive
sounds to aid the pronunciation of the other words in the songs below:
a sounds like ah (father) as
in madre
i sounds like ee (feet) as
in mi
e sounds like e (met) at the beginning or within a word as in leche
e sounds like ay at the end of
a word as in leche
o sounds like oa (boat) as
in no
u sounds like oo (boot) as
in una
c sounds like th
before the letters i and e as
in cinco
cc sounds like ks (accident) as in accidente
j and g sounds like ch (loch) as
in juego and girafa
g sounds like h (hallo) before the letters i and e as in gente
ll sounds like y (yard) as
in llamas
ñ sounds like ni (onions) as
in señorita
qu sounds like k as
in ¿qué?
rr sounds
like a Scottish r as in
arroz
v sounds
like b as in vaca
z sounds
like th (thin) as
in arroz
h is always silent unless the word is of foreign origin
u is silent after g
and q as
in ¿qué?
There are many sites on line
that provide help with pronunciations
To
listen to music from these songs click on O
At a
later date these songs will be available to buy in book form at the
Gryphon’s
Garden website. In the meantime....
’¨To buy
French and other singing games books follow this link:
Books I have written.htm
H Return to Gryphon’s Garden Home
Page {–{—{
Rice with milk O
‘Arroz con
leche’ is possibly the most universal singing game in Latin America. It is also
an essential comfort food, a sweet hot cereal for children similar to our
rice pudding. Ingredients can include; rice, cinnamon, raisins, milk, sugar
and vanilla.
Directions: Children hold hands and walk round a child in the
middle who walks in the opposite direction. On ‘Con esta ...’ this child
points first to a chosen one, then to another, finally returning to the
first child. This pair then cross hands and dance round. They swap roles
with one joining the circle leaving their partner in the centre to begin
the game again.
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Arroz con
leche,
Me quiero
casar,
Con una
señorita / el señore,
Que separ
bailar.
Que sepa
coser
Que sepa
contar
Que sepa
abrir la puerta,
Parar ir a jugar.
Con esta si,
Con esta
no,
Contigo mi
vida
Me caso yo.
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Rice with sweet milk,
I wish to be wed,
To a fine young lady /
fellow,
Who knows how to dance.
Who knows how to sew,
Who knows how to sing,
Who can open the door,
To go out to play.
With this one yes,
With that one no,
With you my dear,
I’ll surely go.
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75. Bate bate chocolate
‘Stir, stir
the chocolate’ (bah-tay bah-tay cho-coh-lah-tay) goes this chant. In Mexico
chocolate is drunk for breakfast, made with chocolate, milk, cinnamon and
vanilla and stirred with a ‘molinillo’ a utensil held between the hands and
rotated back and forth.
Each time the
game is played move faster and devise new clapping patterns.
Bate, bate,
chocolate, x2
Uno, dos,
tres, CHO,
Chocolate,
CO,
Chocolate, LA,
Chocolate, TE!
Chocolate, chocolate,
Bate, bate,
chocolate!
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Face partner holding hands. Pump hands forwards
and back to the beat.
Clap hands three times or another part of the body
and then slap partner’s hands. Repeat for each count.
Hold hands and speed up for each line.
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Aserrín, aserrán O
Originally a poem written by the Columbian poet Jose
Asuncion Silva (1865 – 1896) this version of the traditional game is based on
one found at; Early Learning Initiative for
Wisconsin Public Libraries a pdf that
contains many excellent resources for the very young in English and Spanish.
Directions: Pairs join
hands to make an X shape and move arms back and forth in a sawing motion.
On the last two lines skip round fast.
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Aserrín,
aserrán ,
(ah-ser-rin, ah-ser-ran)
Los maderos de
San Juan,
(lowz ma-der’-ohs day san wan)
Piden pan no les
dan,
(pee-den no lays dahn)
Piden queso les
dan guëso
(pee-den key’-so lays dahn gway-so)
Los de Enrique
alfeñique
(lowz day en-ree’-kay al-fen’-ee-kay)
¡Ñique, ñique,
ñique!
(knee-kay, knee-kay, knee-kay)
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Saw, sawdust, saw,
sawdust,
In the woods of old San
Juan.
The lumberjacks ask for
bread,
The lumberjacks ask for
cheese,
Young Henry asks for
candy,
Almonds spun with sugar
candy!
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Chirombolo O
Learn the Spanish body part
names with this traditional singing game from Ecuador. Chirombolo is a nonsense
word that refers to a mechanical movement. The music is printed with Spanish
words but the English translation will work well with the tune. Listen at; http://www.eeisantiagoapostol.com/html/musica_infantil.html
Make two circles, one outer
and one inner, holding hands with the partner opposite. Alternatively stand
in pairs scattered around the room. Each time the
game is repeated the game speeds up.
El juego chirimbolo,
¡Qué
bonito es!
Con un pie, otro pie;
Una mano, otro mano;
Un codo, otro codo;
La nariz y la boca!
El juego chirimbolo,
¡Qué
bonito es!
Let’s
play the chirimbolo,
What
fun it is to dance!
With
one foot, then the other;
Right
hand, then the left;
One
elbow, then the other;
The
nose and the mouth!
How
well we dance together,
The
chirimbolo game. Hey!
With familiarity other body parts can
be added;
la
cabeza
the head
el
cuello
the neck
los
hombras
the shoulders
los
brazas,
the arms
los
dedos
the fingers
la
barriga
the stomach
el
trasero
the bottom
la
espalda
the back,
las
piemas
the legs
el
moreno
the hair
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Make four sideways skipping
steps anti clockwise and then four in the opposite direction.
Tap right feet together then
left.
Slap right hands then left.
Place right then left elbows
together.
Point to nose and mouth of
partner.
Make four sideways skipping
steps anti clockwise and then lift hands high and turn under.
On ‘Hey!’ jump up high and
clap.
The inner circle then stands
still as those in the outer circle move one step to the right to face a new
partner and the game begins once more.
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Bravo little turkey O
In the traditional Spanish
children’s game ‘Al pavo pavito’ the child left out is taunted with ‘Pavo,
pavo, pavo’ which means not only turkey but also ‘silly’ or ‘idiotic’. This
version is a kinder one.
Directions: An odd
number of children make a circle and skip briskly round to the left. At the
end of the third line they stop to count ‘¡Una dos tres!’ and run to join up with a partner.
The child left becomes the turkey and stands in the centre as the children
sing the last line then chant ‘¡Bravo pavito pavo! The ‘turkey’ remains in the
middle for the next game but chooses a partner at the end of the verse
before the others make pairs so a new turkey remains.
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Al pavo pavito pavo,
Al pavo pavito si,
El pavito se ha perdito,
¡Una!
¡Dos! ¡Tres!
¡Y el pavito ya está
aqui!
¡Bravo pavito pavo!
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Turkey
little turkey turkey,
Turkey
little turkey yes,
Little
turkey has got lost,
One!
Two! Three!
Little
turkey is now here!
Bravo
little turkey!
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Mirón, mirón, mirón O
This old song from Columbia has its roots in the
more ancient ‘A la limón, a la limón,’ indeed the game is played in a similar
manner to our nursery favourite ‘Oranges and lemons’. Mirón in Spanish
means ‘voyeur’, ‘onlooker’ or ‘peeping Tom’ but in this context is probably a
nonsense word or more literally ‘Come and look?’
Directions: Two children secretly choose names from a theme e.g.
sun / moon orange / lemon then make a high archway with interlocking
fingers. The others form a line holding on to the waist of the child in
front as they pass through. On the last. ‘atrás’ the child
passing through is caught and chooses sun or moon standing behind that part
of the archway. At the end of the game the two parts of the archway try to
draw the other side into their territory. The line that is longest
invariably wins.
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Mirón,
mirón, mirón,
¿Donde pasa
tanta gente?
Mirón, mirón,
mirón,
Por la
puerta de San Vincente,
Que pasa el
rey, que ha de pasar,
Que el hijo el
conde se quedar atrás.
Atrás, atrás,
atrás!
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Mirón, mirón, mirón,
Where do the people pass?
Mirón, mirón, mirón,
Through the door of Saint
Vincent,
The king passes by with
all his men,
But the son of the count
is left behind.
Behind, behind, behind!
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Los esqueletos O
When the clock strikes one the skeletons
come out to play and indulge
in all sorts of wonderful antics before it
is time to return to the under
world. A spooky song that helps children
learn how to tell the time in
English or Spanish.
Directions. Act out the words of the
song. Make skeleton type movements to ¡Chumba, la cachumba, la cachumbambá!
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Cuando el reloj
marca la una,
Los esqueletos
salen de la tomba.
¡Chumba, la
cachumba, la cachumbabá!
When the clock strikes
one,
The skeletons rise from
their graves.
Chumba, la cachumba, la cachumbabá!
Cuando el reloj
marca las dos,
Los esqueletos
cantan una voz.
¡Chumba, la
cachumba etc.
2 sing together
Cuando el reloj
marca las tres,
Los esqueletos
se vuelven al revés.
3 turn upside down
Cuando el reloj marca
las cuatro,
Los esqueletos
bailen el tango.
4 dance the tango
Cuando el reloj
marca las cinco,
Los
esqueletos pegan un brinco
5 jump up and down
Cuando el reloj
marca las seis,
Los esqueletos
saludan el rey.
6 greet the king
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Cuando el reloj
marca las siete,
Los esqueletos
se lanzan en cohete.
7 launch a rocket
Cuando el reloj
marca las ocho,
Los esqueletos
comen bizcocho
8 eat cake
Cuando el reloj
marca las nueve,
Los esqueletos
todos se mueven.
9 shake their bodies
Cuando el reloj marca
las diez,,
Los esqueletos
andan al revés
10 walk backwards
Cuando el reloj
marca las once,
Los esqueletos
tocan los bronces
11 play skeleton statues
Cuando el reloj
marca las doce,
Los esqueletos
vuelven a la tumba
12 the skeletons return to
their graves
¡Chumba, la
cachumba, la cachumbabá!
¡Chumba, la
cachumba, la cachumbabá!
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