56. Una
mosca
57. El caracolito
58.
Aquel caracol
59.
Una pulga y un ratón
60. La cucaracha
61.Debajo
un botón
62. El gato
y el ratón
63. Don Melitón
64. El toro Torojil
65. Los pescaditos
Last updated: 9/17/2012
4:42 PM
The songs below are part of ‘‘La pajara pinta’ The Spanish collection
compiled, adapted, translated and illustrated by Dany Rosevear
To
listen to music from these songs click on O
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games for children’ home page H ¯×ׯ
© Dany Rosevear 2008 All rights reserved
You
are free to copy, distribute, display and perform these works under the
following conditions:
·
you must give the original author credit
·
you may not use this work for commercial purposes
·
for any re-use or distribution, you must make clear to others the
licence terms of this work
·
any of these can be waived if you get permission from the copyright holder
Your
fair use and other rights are no way affected by the above.
The
Spanish Collection
It is said that children who are exposed to just 50
words of a second language before to age six begin to develop an
"ear" for the sounds of that language.
It is hoped that where
possible these songs will be sung in their home language. An English version is
provided so children can enjoy the tunes before they have mastered Spanish.
Literal translations do not always make sense to the English ear so these have
been translated freely (very freely in some cases!) to complement the music and
capture the spirit of each song.
You will find more Spanish
songs in the collection ‘Away We Go’.
Spanish
pronunciation
Spoken
Spanish in both 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. The more distinctive sounds of letters in the words of the
songs are provided to aid pronunciation in the guide below. The letters not
listed are pronounced approximately as in English.
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?
In Spain ‘d’ is spoken with a lisp, this is not so
in Latin America.
There are many sites on line
that provide help with pronunciation
Spanish
punctuation
Written
Spanish in both Spain and Latin America is also distinctive from written
English; fewer capitals are used at the beginning of each line of verse,
exclamation and question marks are used both at the beginning and end of
sentences. However, for familiarity I have usually conformed to the English
model when writing Spanish verse.
56. Una mosca
O Watch Grupo Encanto at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9djyuBM0Qzs
|
57. El caracolito O Spiral games about
snails like this one are heard throughout Europe. Listen at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZz0CpuWPQM
|
58. Aquel caracol O What
a lovely expressive word for a snail: ‘caracol’! A
song for springtime when the blossom is on the trees. Watch
at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VmQ6EsrChGU
Make circles of four to six.
Choose a leader.
|
59. Una pulga y un ratón O This game encourages co-operation
between participants and is played in
the same manner as ‘El cocherito, leré’. An ‘estanco’ is a tobacconist that also sell stamps, bus and subway passes
and sometimes newspapers. Introduce the names of other shops especially if
you have issues with the primary role of an ‘estanco’! In the full
version of this song the protagonists steal matches and are soundly beaten
with a broom by the tobacconist. Watch at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVF5Mfm8SJo Practice
bending the knees for each ‘¡Pachín!’ in an inward facing circle walking to the left. Once the children can do this easily, bunch up
tightly one behind the other in a clockwise facing circle.
With familiarity other shops
can be added: una farmacia chemist una carnicería butcher una pescadería fishmonger una panadería baker |
60. La
cucaracha O Pick up the
maracas and get moving to the rhythm of ‘La cucaracha’. In the
traditional song cockroach is lacking two back feet, in the military version
marihuana is the missing element. Listen at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6j8_XAwB5P4&feature=related Watch at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c1if8F4Dzy4&feature=related Find a more
formal dance at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xsdn66abPzw0&feature=related
|
61. Debajo
un botón O Enjoy the repetition of the last
syllable of every sentence in this popular Spanish nursery rhyme. For more a
more effective translation replace ‘mouse’ with ‘kitten, ten, ten’ ‘wearing a
mitten ten ten’. Listen at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NtLHwF5VDCM
|
62. El gato y el ratón O ‘The cat and the mouse’ is a playground game from Puerto Rica although forms of this game are played all over the world. The game is played without music here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJNahY-XlgE&feature=related
|
63. Don Melitón
O A classic Spanish nursery
rhyme. Make two circles; a large
outer one and one made by three chosen kittens. Listen at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BfYMkk3pkeA&feature=related
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64. El toro Torojil O This popular singing game is
from Central America can become quite an excitable activity as children wait
in anticipation for the frog’s reply. Torojil is
the name of a medicinal herb. Watch at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZIpVNoH5gvM
|
65. Los
pescaditos O This song with its gentle
minor key makes a good calming down game. The tune below is adapted from the
French version of the song but if anyone knows the Spanish music I would be
delighted to hear it sung. Encourage the children to
suggest other animals and the movements they might make e.g. cats prowling,
snakes slithering, mice scampering.
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