Skip to content
ES, Español

For teachers

Lesson plan: «El tren de los amigos»

Children follow the journey of «El tren de los amigos» (“The Friends’ Train”) with their bodies (arms as wheels, bunny ears, ducking in the tunnel), copy the animal sounds and count to three as the passengers get on.

Ages
Ages 2–5
Time
25 minutes
Areas
Movement and the body · Numbers and counting · Language and communication

Opening

  1. Ask: «¿Quién ha viajado en tren? ¿Cómo suena?» (“Who has been on a train? What does it sound like?”). Say «chucu, chucu» (“choo-choo”) together and move your arms like wheels.
  2. Introduce the three passengers (the rabbit, the duck and the cat) and ask what sound each one makes. Explain that in the song they get on the train one by one.
  3. Watch the video once, together, and count on your fingers how many friends get on the train. Then turn the screen off.

Main activity

  1. Make a train: everyone puts their hands on the shoulders of the child in front, or sits on the chairs in a row. Sing the chorus slowly, moving your arms to the beat, and on «¡una palma y un saltón!» (“a clap and a big jump!”), clap once and jump.
  2. With the bunny, make ears with your hands and wiggle them «una aquí y otra allí» (“one here and one there”).
  3. Each time a passenger gets on, a child puts it on the train and the group counts: «uno, dos, tres» (“one, two, three”). Say «cuac, cuac, cuac» (“quack, quack, quack”) with the duck and «miau, miau, miau» (“meow, meow, meow”) with the kitten.
  4. On «Viene un túnel» (“Here comes a tunnel”), everyone crouches down and goes under the blanket or the table; on the way out, arms up!
  5. Out in the countryside, hand out pretend bread and fruit for three, like the bunny in the song.

Closing

  1. To wind down, the train pulls into the station very slowly: «chucu… chucu…», slower and slower, until it stops.
  2. Say goodbye like the end of the song: one hand waves goodbye and the other blows a kiss to the sun.
  3. Have children draw the train with its three passengers and ask each child to tell who rides in each car.

Materials

  • Three stuffed toys or pictures: a rabbit, a duck and a cat
  • Chairs in a row to make the train
  • A blanket or a table to make the tunnel
  • Paper and crayons

Free on this site:

What to observe

  • Moves their arms to the beat in the chorus and jumps on «¡una palma y un saltón!» (“a clap and a big jump!”).
  • Copies the sound of the animal the song names.
  • Counts the passengers to three, with or without help.
  • Crouches down and stands up when the song says so.

Adaptations

  • With 1-year-olds, sing it with the child on your lap: rock like a train, make bunny ears with your hands and hide together under a blanket in the tunnel.
  • For children who don’t speak yet or who use AAC, the passenger toys or pictures are their support: they can point to who gets on and choose who goes first.
  • For children who need to move less, everything works sitting down: arms are the wheels, the big jump is a pat on the legs and in the tunnel they duck their heads.
  • Add new passengers the children suggest, with their sounds, and count to four or five.

For families

Ask families to sing «El tren de los amigos» at home and make a train down the hallway, with one of their child’s toys as a passenger.

If you teach Spanish as a new language

  • Teach the key words with gestures (TPR): «tren» (train), «conejo» (rabbit), «pata» (duck), «gato» (cat), «túnel» (tunnel).
  • Animal sounds are an easy way in: «cuac» (quack) and «miau» (meow) let students join in from the first round.
  • Count «uno, dos, tres» (one, two, three) as each passenger gets on, then ask «¿Cuántos viajeros?» (“How many passengers?”).

ACTFL World-Readiness Standards: Communication (interpretive and interpersonal), Cultures (a traditional game is a cultural practice; the song, a cultural product) and Comparisons (Spanish sounds and words next to your students’ languages).

More lesson plans

See all lesson plans