Spanish circle games and how to play them

What a circle game is

A «ronda» is a sung game: the group makes a circle holding hands, walks around singing and does what the words say, like crouching down, ducking under raised arms or choosing who goes next. In Spain they’re also called «juegos de corro» (“ring games”).

They’re traditional: it’s rarely known who made them up, kids learn them by ear from older children and family, and they change from place to place. In Mexico, «Antón Pirulero» is also sung as «Juan Pirulero», and in Argentina as «Al don Pirulero». If your family sings one differently, your version counts too.

To learn a circle game, watch the video once, together; then turn the screen off and play. Keeping the beat works better with people than with a recording: in a study with 36 children aged 2½ to 4½, they drummed more in time with a person than with a machine or a recorded sound.

Making the circle

Find a clear space, outdoors if you can, or push the tables aside. If making a circle is tricky, start with a little train: line up holding hands, then the engine takes the last car’s hand, and there’s your circle. A line of tape or chalk on the floor helps it keep its shape.

Hold hands with arms out straight, no pulling, and walk around, don’t run. The grown-up joins the circle too: sing, set a calm pace and change direction now and then. Two people are enough, you and your child, and a few stuffed animals can fill out the ring; if the group is big and turns take too long, make two circles.

Room for everyone

If a child would rather watch first, let them: they can keep the beat on a tambourine from outside or shout «¡agáchate!» (“crouch down!”) in «El patio de mi casa» (“The Patio at My House”), and join whenever they’re ready. If noise bothers someone, alternate loud rounds with quiet ones and offer a calm spot near the circle: they can play from there too.

Nobody has to hold hands or hug. A child who doesn’t want to hold hands can hold the end of a scarf instead, and in «Naranja dulce» (“Sweet Orange”) the hug is asked for and can always be swapped for a high five.

If a child uses a wheelchair, the circle moves at their pace: leave room for the chair to roll and turn and, when it’s their turn in the middle, let the circle walk around them. Every movement has a seated version: on «agáchate», lower your arms and head; in «La farolera» (“The Lamplighter”), the gate swings open like a door. A child who doesn’t speak yet can choose by pointing, looking or handing over a flower.

Ages and turns

From age 2, a short, simple circle with a grown-up: walk around, crouch down, stand up. Around 3, games with one child in the middle who picks who goes next, like «La pájara pinta» (“The Painted Bird”). From 4, games with longer words or more parts, like «Arroz con leche» (“Rice Pudding”) or «La farolera», and games whose rules change, like «Antón Pirulero», where you have to stay alert so you don’t pay a forfeit.

So everyone gets a turn, the child in the middle picks someone who hasn’t had one yet; with a big group, put two or three children in the middle at once. Start slowly and go a little faster each round: a review of programs that helped children aged 4 to 12 with skills like paying attention and holding back an impulse found that they all shared this, lots of practice and a challenge that grows little by little.

Kind forfeits and a calm ending

Nobody gets knocked out of a circle game. A child who slips up in «Antón Pirulero» hands over a forfeit, like a clothespin or a scarf, and keeps playing; at the end they win it back with a kind challenge they pick from two, like three frog hops or singing their own name, and they can do it with a friend. If they don’t like a challenge, swap it, and none ever involves a kiss or a hug they didn’t choose.

There’s a reason nobody is knocked out: in a trial with 65 preschoolers, half of whom played circle games to practice self-control, that group as a whole didn’t change more than the other half, but the children who started the year with the least self-control did make gains. Knock out whoever slips up, and the first to leave would be the kids who most need to play.

To finish, sing one last slow round, softer and softer, and end up sitting or crouched in silence until someone says «¡arriba!» (“up!”). A calm circle game like «Naranja dulce» makes a good goodbye at the end of the day.