Un elefante se balanceaba is one of the best known Spanish children’s songs. It is a counting song and the rhyme helps children learn the words. With each verse, children add another elephant to the web. Below you’ll find lyrics, videos and activities for Un elefante se balanceaba.
Check out our favorite Spanish songs for kids organized by theme.
Un Elefante Se Balanceaba Lyrics
Like most traditional children’s songs, there are many versions of Un elefante se balanceaba.
These are a few of the most common variations:
- Se balanceaba/se columpiaba – Both of these verbs mean to swing.
- Fueron a llamar /fueron a avisar – Both verb phrases mean that the elephants went to tell another elephant.
- Como veían que resistía / como veían que no se caían – The first phrase means “since they saw that the web was strong” or “since they saw that the web didn’t break”. In the second variation, the elephants are the subject of the verb caerse – “since they saw that they didn’t fall.”
This is one common version of the lyrics.
Download a printable of the Un elefante se balanceaba lyrics.
Un elefante se balanceaba,
sobre la tela de una araña.
Como veía que resistía,
fue a llamar a otro elefante.
Dos elefantes se balanceaban,
Sobre la tela de una araña.
Como veían que resistía,
fueron a llamar a otro elefante.
Tres elefantes se balanceaban,
sobre la tela de una araña.
Como veían que resistía,
fueron a llamar a otro elefante…
Un Elefante Se Balanceaba Videos
There are many YouTube videos of the song. These three are clear and not too fast, so they are great for kids learning Spanish.
Un elefante se balanceaba by Música Vaca
This version is voice only and very clear. It uses se caían and the lyrics are on the screen.
Un elefante se balanceaba by El Oso Traposo
This version is very slow. It also uses se caían. The graphics support words of the song well.
Un elefante se balanceaba
This version was posted on YouTube by MrLearnSpanish, but he does not identify the artist. The songs uses resistía, but the video is a little strange.
Activities for Un Elefante Se Balanceaba
Regardless of the version you sing, the song lends itself to many activities with counting, elephants and spider webs.
Sequence cards for Un elefante se balanceaba
Download free sequence cards for Un elefante
- Put the free cards in order as you sing.
- Color the cards.
- Make the cards into a mini-book. You may want to mount them on construction paper to make the pages a little bigger.
Elephants on a Web – Craft and Counting
Cut out the small paper elephants to add to a web as kids sing. You can make a web with yarn around a paper plate like this one from first palette. You can leave out the spider of course.
Download small elephants for this web craft.
Un Elefante Game
Make a web on the floor for kids to stand on and add children as they sing. All Done Monkey wrote a post about this wonderful game.
Un Elefante Coloring Sheets
You can find coloring pages for the song online, like this one Un elefante coloring sheet (just scroll down past the instruments) or this one Un elefante se balanceaba.
Un Elefante Board Book
Lil’ Libros publishes a darling board book based on this song. It is Un elefante and is available on Amazon. The book is a lovely way to introduce young children to numbers in Spanish and the song.
