For teachers

Lesson plan: «Juguemos en el bosque»

Children play the «Juguemos en el bosque» (“Let’s Play in the Woods”) circle-and-chase game, mime getting dressed along with the wolf, talk about their own morning routine and wait for the signal before they run.

Ages: Ages 3–6
Time: 35 minutes
Areas: Movement and the body · Attention and self-control · Language and communication

Opening

Show the four cards, mixed up, and ask: «¿Qué hacen ustedes en la mañana antes de venir? ¿Qué va primero?» (“What do you do in the morning before you come to school? What comes first?”). Put them in order together on the board: everyone gets ready their own way, and every idea counts.
Introduce this song’s wolf: a sleepy little wolf who has just woken up and needs to get dressed to go out and play. Act out together how he wakes up: he stretches, yawns and rubs his eyes.
Watch the video once, together, and notice what the wolf puts on each time he’s asked. Then turn the screen off.

Main activity

Sit in a circle and sing slowly, without the video. For now, everyone is the wolf: on every «¿Lobo estás?» (“Wolf, are you there?”), mime the wolf’s answer: slip one arm into a sleeve on «¡Una manga!» (“One sleeve!”) and the other on «¡Y la otra más!» (“And then the other!”), one foot and then the other into the pants, and brush your teeth «¡Arriba y abajo!» (“Up and down!”).
Rearrange the cards, this time in the song’s order, and compare: does the wolf get ready the same way you do? Before each «¿Lobo estás?», ask «¿Y ahora qué se pone?» (“And what is he putting on now?”) and let the group say it or point to it.
Go out to the schoolyard or clear a large space, with no tables or chairs in the way. Mark the wolf’s den on one side and, on the other, a long line: home base. One child is the wolf: they put on the cap or the ears and wait in the den, while the others hold hands in a circle in the middle and sing «Juguemos en el bosque mientras el lobo no está» (“Let’s play in the woods while the wolf isn’t here”). On every «¿Lobo estás?», the wolf answers and acts it out.
When the wolf shouts «¡Ya estoy listo!» (“I’m ready now!”) and «¡Allá voy!» (“Here I come!”), everyone runs to home base, where nobody can be tagged. This wolf is playful, never scary: tags are a gentle touch on the shoulder, with no grabbing or pushing. Play the first rounds walking, then running. The first child tagged is the next wolf, if they want to be; if not, they pick someone else.
Nobody has to be chased if they don’t want to: they can be the wolf’s helper, handing over the pretend clothes, or the one who calls out «¿Lobo estás?» from home base. Each round, the wolf can make up another piece of clothing: «¡Me estoy poniendo el suéter!» (“I’m putting on my sweater!”), «¡Me estoy poniendo la gorra!» (“I’m putting on my cap!”).

Closing

To wind down, the wolf goes to bed: sit in a circle and sing very softly. On every «¿Lobo estás?», the wolf answers with something done before bed, like «Me estoy quitando los zapatos» (“I’m taking off my shoes”) or «Me estoy poniendo la ropa de dormir» (“I’m putting on my pajamas”), and at the end everyone closes their eyes and rests their head on their hands, as if asleep.
Talk about it: “What did the wolf put on first? What do you do first in the morning? What did you like best: being the wolf, asking the question or running?”
Have children draw the little wolf getting dressed in the clothes they like best and ask each child to tell what the wolf is putting on.

Materials

Four picture cards: a shirt, a pair of pants, a pair of shoes and a toothbrush
A cap or paper wolf ears for whoever is the wolf
Tape or chalk to mark the wolf’s den and home base
Paper and crayons

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What to observe

Mimes the shirt, the pants or brushing teeth when the wolf says so.
Says or points to what the wolf puts on next, before the wolf answers.
Waits for «¡Allá voy!» before running to home base.
As the wolf, tags with a gentle touch on the shoulder, no grabbing or pushing.

Adaptations

With 2-year-olds, play without the chase: sitting in the circle, everyone mimes getting dressed with the wolf and, on «¡A correr!» (“Run!”), moves their feet really fast without getting up.
For children who don’t speak yet or who use AAC, use the cards: as the wolf, they can answer by holding up the card for what they’re putting on, and the group says it out loud.
For children who need to move less, play walking instead of running; they can also be the wolf from their chair, halfway to home base, tagging anyone who passes by.
If the group speaks other languages, ask how to say «lobo» (“wolf”), «camisa» (“shirt”) or «zapatos» (“shoes”) at home, and let the wolf answer in that language in one of the rounds.

For families

Ask families to sing the song in the morning while their child gets dressed: every «¿Lobo estás?» is one piece of clothing.

If you teach Spanish as a new language

Teach the key words with gestures (TPR), miming each one: «lobo» (wolf), «camisa» (shirt), «manga» (sleeve), «pantalones» (pants), «zapatos» (shoes), «dientes» (teeth).
Model one line at a time and let students echo it: the chorus repeats the same two lines every time, and the wolf’s clothing answers follow one pattern, «¡Me estoy poniendo…!» (“I’m putting on…!”), so students can soon swap in other clothes.
Let students take turns as the wolf: ask «¿Lobo estás?» and have them answer with a piece of clothing, «¡Me estoy poniendo los zapatos!» (“I’m putting on my shoes!”), or with just one word: «¡Zapatos!».

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).

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