Caramba Kids by José-Luis Orozco

Just saw on Spanglish Baby’s Facebook page that José-Luis Orozco has a new site:

Caramba Kids is developing a new and innovative education program based on the music of renowned bilingual educator Jose-Luis Orozco. Our team consists of award-winning experts in animation, music, technology and early childhood development who are committed to the development of exciting educational content for children 8 and under.

You’ll find printable activities in both English and Spanish. They already have a YouTube channel as well as a presence on Facebook and Twitter.

This is great! I remember using his songs all the time when I taught preschool Spanish.

Parts of the body: songs and game

This evening the boys and I were having Mexican restaurant night at home. I pretended to be their waitress and spoke in Spanish pretty much the entire time and they played along as well. I put on the cd Animales y Movimiento by José-Luis Orozco in the background to add some extra authenticity.

As I was cooking, Juanito came on which reminded me that this is a terrific song for learning parts of the body. It's such a great tune that you can't help but dance to it. The first part goes like this:

Juanito cuando baila,
baila, baila, baila.
Juanito cuando baila,
baila con el dedito,
con el dedito, ito, ito.
Así baila Juanito.

Then it goes on to using other parts such as el pie, la rodilla, la mano, etc.

To build on the theme, play a game of Simón Dice:

Tócate la nariz.
Tócate la boca.
Tócate el pie...

And so on... once your students get the hang of it you could make the commands more difficult. (If speaking to more than one person, use tóquense.)