«Sal de Ahí, Chivita»: The Get-Out-Little-Goat Chain

The little goat won't leave the field, so in this traditional Spanish cumulative song we call the wolf, the dog, the stick, the fire, the water and the ox. Each character has its own move and we chain them together. It works on remembering a sequence and varied ways of moving.

How to play

1. Meet the characters and their moves: little goat (small hops), wolf (on all fours), dog (trot), stick (stiff walk), fire (hops with shaking hands), water (wave arms) and ox (heavy steps) (2 min).
2. The teacher sings the first verses (goat, wolf, dog) and we move around the yard like each one (1 min).
3. Keep going with stick, fire, water and ox, adding a new character each verse (2 min).
4. Run the chain from the end back to the start, a little faster, just like the song (2 min).
5. The goat finally leaves the field: hop back to the circle and sit down (1 min).

Rules

• New character, new move.
• Wolves on all fours go slowly.
• Use the whole yard without bumping.
• If I forget, I look at the teacher.

Variations

Adaptations

• Limited mobility: act out each character with arms and face from the chair.
• Autism: picture cards of each character lined up on the wall.
• Hearing impairment: the teacher holds up the character card while singing it.

Learning goals

• Remember a cumulative sequence of movements.
• Vary ways of moving.
• Warm up the body gradually.

Teacher tip

Wall cards are a huge help with cumulative songs. Some versions have more characters; seven is plenty for preschool.

More activities like this

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