Jump Rope Game:

• Similarly to how American children sing songs while jumping rope, Hispanic children have their own songs they sing while jumping rope.  The songs rhyme with “Candy, candy on a dish, how many pieces do you wish? 1, 2, 3, 4….
• Chicle, chicle, chicle en mi boca. ¿Cuántos chicles tengo yo? 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 …..
  (Gum, gum, gum in my mouth.  How many pieces of gum do I have? 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10…..)
• Osito, osito, ¿puedes saltar? Ayúdame, ayúdame a contar… 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 …. (Little bear, little bear, Can you jump? Help me, help me count … 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 ….)

Vowels in Spanish

Submitted by Martha Castañeda (Honduras)

• In order to learn and practice the Spanish vowels, teachers often use a song that contains all the vowels.  The song is sung with all the vowels until all the students feel comfortable, then ALL the vowels are replaced: first with A, then with E, then with I, then with O, and then with U.
• Yo te diré, te diré niña hermosa, te diré una cosa, una cosa que yo sólo sé.
• (I will tell you, I will tell you beautiful girl, will tell you one thing One thing that only I know.)
• Ya ta dará, ta dará naña harmasa, ta dará ana casa, ana casa ka ya sála sá.
• Ye te deré, te deré neñe hermese, e deré ene kese, ene kese ke ye séle sé.
• Yi ti dirí, ti dirí niñi hirmisi, ti dirí ini kisi, ini kisi ki yi síli sí.
• Yo to doró, to doró noño hormoso, to doró ono coso, ono coso ko yo sólo só.
• Yu tu durú, tu durú nuñu hurmusu, tu durú unu cusu, unu cusu ku yu súlu sú.

Sortija game from Argentina

• All the children, except for two (A and B), sit in a circle with the palms of their hands together.  Child A will take a ring or a small stone in his hands.  Child A will go around the circle from child to child pretending to be dropping the ring or stone into each of the childrens´ hands as he passes.  He eventually chooses one child (C) and drops the ring or stone in that child´s hands, but discretely and continues on the circle pretending to drop the ring or stone.  The other child (B) who was also excluded from the circle, will have to guess in whose hands the object was left.  All the children in the circle will pretend to have the object, and this way they will confuse the child who has to guess.  If the child (B) guesses, he becomes part of the circle and the child who had the object (C) will come out of the circle.  If the child (B) guesses incorrectly, then he has to do a dare.

Mexican Ronda

Submitted by Catalina Feller (México)

Growing up in a small town in Mexico, one of my favorite pastimes was to play “rondas” (circles in English).  My friends and I played this game in the street in front of our houses.  We made a big circle by holding hands.  My favorite “ronda” was called “La Rueda de San Miguel.”

• These are the steps for the game:
• A group of at least four children is necessary, but the larger the number of children, the funnier the game will be.
• Everybody holds hands to make a big circle.
• Someone in the group says: “La rueda!” and everybody starts singing and skipping around clockwise.  The song goes like this: “A la rueda, rueda de San Miguel, San Miguel.  Todos cargan la caja de miel.  A lo maduro, a lo maduro que se voltee, que se voltee, [insert the name of a child] de burro!”Then the child whose name was called, turns around and has to skip and sign going the other way.  The children continue singing and skipping in circles.  The leader picks another person  “to turn around.”
• The children sing the song, as many times as needed until everybody is turned around.”

Mexican Rhyme

Submitted by Catalina Feller (México)

My mother used to sing many Mexican rhymes while I was growing up.  You will find the rhymes below.  The teacher can give any tune to accompany the rhymes or instead of singing, children can recite the words slowly, dividing them by syllables

La Niña Hermosa
Esta niña hermosa
Que nació de día
Quiere que la lleven
A ver a su tía.

Esta niña hermosa
Que nació de noche
Quiere que la lleven
A pasear en coche.

A la ru-ru nena
A la ru-ru ¡ya!
Duermase mi nena
Y duérmase ¡ya!

( The Beautiful Girl
This beautiful girl
Who was born during the day
Wants to be taken
To see her aunt.

This beautiful girl
Who was born at night
Wants to be taken
To ride in a car.

Go to sleep my child
And go to sleep now!)

Señora Santa Ana
Señora Santa Ana
Porque llora el niño
Por una manzana
Que se le ha perdido.

Vamos a la huerta
Cortamos dos
Una para (dice el nombre que desee)
Y otra para Dios.

(Lady Saint Ana
Lady Saint Ana
Why is the kid crying
Because of an apple
That he has lost.

Lets go to the orchard
Lets pick two
One for (choose any name)
And the other for God.)

Colombian Ronda
Submitted by Marta Gil (Colombia)

The Wolf is here!
The kids make a circle (ronda) and only the kid who is going to play wolf will stay out of the circle (ronda). 

1.  The kids forming the circle will sing the chorus: “We will play in the forest; we will play while, is the wolf is here?”
2.  The kid that is pretending to be the Wolf will answer: “I am getting out of bed”
3.  The kids sing the chorus.
4.  The wolf continues by saying: “I am taking a bath”
5.  The kids sing the chorus.
6.  The wolf will say: “I am getting dressed"
7.  The kids sing the chorus
8.  The wolf will say: "I am eating breakfast”
9.  The kids sing the chorus
10.  The wolf will say: "I am brushing my teeth”
11.  The kids sing the chorus
12.  The wolf will say: “I am on my way………………”

The kids will leave the circle (ronda) and run, trying to prevent the wolf from catching them.  The kid whom the wolf grabs will be the wolf in the next game.

Variations
The kids can make up other variations of what the Wolf says he is doing before he leaves (his house) to try and match them.
This game was my favorite when I was a little girl.