Spanish Poem for Kids: Bien Tomados de la Mano

This Spanish poem for kids is by Douglas Wright of Argentina. I love his poetry because it is direct, conversational, and relevant to the lives of children.

Many of Douglas Wright’s poems are excellent for Spanish language learners because the vocabulary is simple, there is lots of repetition, and there is a significant cultural component in the descriptions of daily routines in Argentina. You can find more of his poetry on his blog El Jardín de Douglas.

You can also find more poems for children and information about sharing them with language learners on our poetry resource page Spanish Poems for Kids.

Using the Spanish Poem for Kids in Class

Talk about the illustration

Bien tomados de la mano is about how nice it is to go through life with a good friend. Douglas illustrates his work and the illustration that goes with the poem shows two friends holding hands. The image will help kids understand the literal meaning of the first stanzas. By the end of this Spanish poem, they will see that bien tomados de la mano, holding hands or hand in hand, is figurative as well as literal.

Make a list of things kids like to do with friends

This poem is a great springboard for talking about friendship and the idea that even simple things are fun when shared with a friend. Caminar, mirar los árboles, and mirar el cielo serve as examples for kids to make their own list of things that they like to do with friends.

Practice Qué + adjetivo

This Spanish poem for kids also works well to teach or reinforce the structure Qué + adjetivo = How + adjective. Students can write original sentences based on Qué lindo es mirar los árboles: Qué divertido es jugar al fútbol, Qué rico es comer helado, Qué difícil es levantarme temprano.

The poem also includes the structure Qué lindo que es caminar, where the second que is for emphasis. If children are writing their own sentences, they can choose one thing that they feel strongly about to express more emphatically by adding the second que. Beyond individual sentences, Bien tomados de la mano has a structure that can be adapted for students to write their own Spanish poems, or to create a poem as a class.

As always, many thanks to Douglas Wright for his permission to share his Spanish poetry for children with my readers!

Bien tomados de la mano by Douglas Wright

Qué lindo que es caminar,
bien tomados de la mano,
por el barrio, por la plaza,
¿qué sé yo?, por todos lados.

Qué lindo es mirar los árboles,
bien tomados de la mano,
desde el banco de la plaza,
en el que estamos sentados.

Qué lindo es mirar el cielo
bien tomados de la mano;
en nuestros ojos, volando,
dos pájaros reflejados.

Qué lindo que es caminar
bien tomados de la mano;
¡qué lindo, andar por la vida
de la mano bien tomados!

You can find more Spanish poems for kids by Douglas Wright in these posts: Spanish Poem for Children – Rimando ando and Spanish Poem for Children – ¡Qué grande era todo! for Beginning Spanish Learners
Photo Credit: emma freeman portraits via Compfight cc