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Lesson plan: «Naranja dulce»

Children play the «Naranja dulce» circle game, ask for a hug and accept other ways of saying goodbye, and talk about how they feel when someone leaves.

Ages
Ages 3–6
Time
25 minutes
Areas
Getting along and feelings · Language and communication · Movement and the body

Opening

  1. Pass the orange and the cut lemon around so everyone can smell them. Ask: «¿Cuál es dulce? ¿Cuál es ácido?» (“Which one is sweet? Which one is sour?”). Welcome every answer.
  2. Ask how they say goodbye to their family in the morning. Show the three cards: a hug, a high five or a wave. All three are just as good.
  3. Watch the video once, together, to hear the whole song. Then turn the screen off.

Main activity

  1. Make the circle like a little train: hold hands in a line, then the engine takes the last car’s hand. A child who’d rather watch first can sit nearby, wave from there and join when ready.
  2. Walk around slowly as you sing, without the video. On «dame un abrazo que yo te pido» (“give me a hug, I’m asking you for one”), stop and ask, like the song: «¿Me das un abrazo?» (“Will you give me a hug?”). Hugs are always optional: if the answer is no, high-five or wave.
  3. On the second verse, walk the other way. On «Toca la marcha» (“the march is playing”), march in place, knees up high; on «mi pecho llora» (“my heart is crying”), put a hand on your chest and make a sad face.
  4. On «adiós, señora, yo ya me voy» (“goodbye, ma’am, I’m leaving now”), let go of hands and wave goodbye. Each round, the group makes up another goodbye: an elbow bump, a foot tap, a bow…
  5. Also play in pairs, face to face: sway holding hands and, on «dame un abrazo», ask each other how to say goodbye. Switch partners every round.

Closing

  1. Sit down in the circle and sing the last verse very slowly, marching with your hands on your legs.
  2. Talk about it: “How do we feel when someone leaves? What helps when we miss someone?”
  3. From now on, use it as a goodbye song at the end of the day: at the door, each child picks a card to show how they’d like to say goodbye.

Materials

  • An orange and a lemon cut in half
  • Three picture cards: a hug, a high five and a wave

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What to observe

  • Asks before hugging and accepts the answer.
  • Says or shows how they’d like to say goodbye.
  • Marches and does the actions at the right moment in the song.
  • Names a feeling when the group talks about saying goodbye.

Adaptations

  • With 2-year-olds, sing it sitting face to face: clap on «Toca la marcha» and wave goodbye at the end.
  • For children who don’t speak yet or who use AAC, use the song’s pictogram sheet and the three cards: they can point to how they’d like to say goodbye.
  • For children who need to move less, march with your hands on your legs, and the circle can stop beside their chair for the hug, the high five or the wave.
  • If the group speaks other languages, ask how to say «adiós» at home and use those words in different rounds.

For families

Ask families to sing the song when someone says goodbye at home and to ask their child how they’d like to say it.

If you teach Spanish as a new language

  • Teach the key words with gestures (TPR): «naranja» (orange), «limón» (lemon), «abrazo» (hug), «adiós» (goodbye), «me voy» (I’m leaving).
  • Model one line at a time and let students echo it: every verse has four short lines, easy to repeat one by one.
  • Ask yes/no questions in Spanish: «¿Es una naranja?», «¿Me das un abrazo?» — «Sí» / «No». Either answer is fine.

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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