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Lesson plan: «Tengo una muñeca vestida de azul»

Children sing «Tengo una muñeca vestida de azul» (“I Have a Doll Dressed in Blue”) while caring for a doll or a stuffed animal, tell in their own words what happened to her, and talk about how we care for someone who feels unwell.

Ages
Ages 2–5
Time
25 minutes
Areas
Getting along and feelings · Language and communication · Music and creative expression

Opening

  1. Take the doll out of the box, dressed in the blue cloth, and ask: «¿Quién es? ¿De qué color es su ropa?» (“Who is it? What color are her clothes?”). Choose a name for her together.
  2. Ask what their family does when someone at home has a cold. Draw two or three answers on the board.
  3. Watch the video once, together, to hear the doll’s story. Then turn the screen off.

Main activity

  1. Sing the first verse slowly, without the video, passing the doll from hand to hand. On «La saqué a paseo» (“I took her out for a walk”), whoever has her carries her around; on «se me constipó» (“she caught a cold”), everyone gives a pretend sneeze into their elbow: achoo!
  2. On «la tengo en la cama» (“I have her in bed”), lay the doll in the box and cover her with the towel. On «Todas las muñecas salen a bailar» (“All the dolls go out to dance”), everyone dances; on «menos la mía, que se fue a acostar» (“except mine, who went to bed”), they freeze and point to the doll in her bed, finger to their lips: shhh.
  3. Take turns caring for her: one child gives her pretend water, another tucks her in and another sings her «sánate prontito» (“get well very soon”). Anyone can play with the doll, boys and girls alike.
  4. Hand out the classroom’s stuffed animals and dolls, or cradle an imaginary one, and sing the whole song, each child caring for their own.

Closing

  1. Sing very softly from «Muñequita mía de mi corazón» (“My little doll, dear to my heart”) to the end, so the doll doesn’t wake up, and give her a goodbye hug.
  2. Ask «¿Qué le pasó a la muñeca?» (“What happened to the doll?”) and let the group tell the story in order: the walk, the cold, bed and the dance. Then talk about it: “Who looks after us when we feel unwell?”
  3. Have children draw the doll or the stuffed animal they cared for and ask each child to tell what they did to look after it.

Materials

  • A doll or a stuffed animal, plus any others the classroom has
  • A scrap of blue cloth to dress her in
  • A box and a small towel to make her bed
  • Paper and crayons

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What to observe

  • Tells in their own words what happened to the doll.
  • Does the walking, sneezing, tucking-in and dancing actions at the right moment.
  • Stops dancing on «menos la mía, que se fue a acostar».
  • Handles the doll gently and waits for a turn to hold her.

Adaptations

  • With 1- and 2-year-olds, sing it slowly with a stuffed animal on their lap and use just three actions: walking, achoo! and a hug.
  • For children who don’t speak yet or who use AAC, use the song’s pictogram sheet and point to the doll, the bed and the heart as you sing them.
  • For children who need to move less, the dance can be rocking the stuffed animal, sitting down, and the doll can come to them hand to hand.
  • If the group speaks other languages, ask how to say «sánate prontito» at home and say it to the doll in all of those languages.

For families

Ask families to sing the song with a doll or a stuffed animal from home and let their child show how they care for it.

If you teach Spanish as a new language

  • Teach the key words with gestures (TPR): «muñeca» (doll), «azul» (blue), «cama» (bed), «bailar» (to dance), «corazón» (heart).
  • Model one line at a time and let students echo it, acting each line out with the doll so the meaning is clear before they say it.
  • Ask either/or questions in Spanish with the doll: «¿Está en la cama o está bailando?» (“Is she in bed or dancing?”) — «¡En la cama!».

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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