Is there anywhere a fun song for early Spanish learners that targets prepositions of location?  We couldn’t find any.  So we did it ourselves.

What phrases, exactly?

We call this song “Pañuelito” (little handkerchief). It accompanies Level C of Calico Spanish Stories, themed “I Live Here.”  In this level, several of the Video Stories feature our characters describing or asking about where an item is in relation to another item.  We chose to include these phrases needed for the purpose:

– dentro de (inside of)
– al lado de (next to)
– debajo de (under)
– encima de (on top of)
– en frente de (in front of)

Why a pañuelito?

In true Calico Spanish style, we offer you a song to help children learn to use these prepositions of location/place in a targeted but fun way.  But for what object?  Also in Level C, learners play a traditional Latin-culture game, called Pañuelito, in which the leader assigns each pair of particular vocabulary words or phrases.  Then, when the leader calls out a word or phrase, children race to be the first to grab a handkerchief the leader is holding.  This made the pañuelito a natural choice for our new song. We’re thankful again for the talent of Obed Gaytán, who took our idea of using the tune to “Twinkle, twinkle” and turned it into a Brooks & Dunn-style rhythm that’s certainly no naptime lullaby!

To make it even easier for children to learn these targets at a realistic pace, we offer you a shortened version, with only three phrases:

As well as the full version, with all five:

We hope these songs help you and your learners acquire this important communicative skill:

I can tell someone where an object is located in relation to another object.

Stay tuned – there’s even more to come, and we’re excited about it!