LaLaFolk
LaLaFolk offers music-based resources that connect Catalan culture with English learning for primary school children.
Catalonia’s unique traditions—giants, fire runs, the tió, human towers, Carnival, and more—provide exciting themes that spark children’s imagination.
Each unit is built around a catchy song linked to a festival, with activities, games, videos, flashcards, and teacher guides.
This is an ongoing project, and new units will be made available regularly through our newsletter.
NOVEMBER:
Mushroom Picking - for 6-8 year olds
Available on Spotify. Search for 'Mushroom Picking' by Genevieve Shaw
A fun English-learning song inspired by the Catalan autumn tradition of going to the forest to pick mushrooms as a family day out. Children learn English through rhythm, movement, and nature — singing about baskets, woods, and the thrill of finding a hidden mushroom! A playful way to connect language, music, and the magic of the season.
Teacher Tip:
Encourage children to invent their own hand movements for parts of the song.
When they help create the actions, they become more engaged — and they learn the song much faster!
How to teach Mushroom Picking
Spend 10-15 minutes of your English class learning the song for around 4 sessions. If you want to do the additional activities (wordsearch, bingo, gap fill) allow an additional 15-20 minutes.
1. Start by passing a wooden mushroom in a bag around the circle
Sit the children in a circle and tell them you’re going to start a new song. They have to guess what it's about. Pass the bag around the circle, chanting: "What's in the bag? What could it be? What's in the bag? Let's touch and see." Do the chant in a loud voice, soft voice, whisper, singing voice, happy voice, sad voice etc. Then ask the children to guess what's in the bag. Make sure everyone guesses.
2. Introduce the song
Tell the children you’re going to listen to a song about Mushroom Picking. When you say the words "mushroom picking" always do an accompanying hand movement. Ask the children if they go mushroom picking. Ask them where they go and who they go with. They can talk about it in their own language. Play the song and ask the children to raise their hand (or so the mushroom picking action) whenever they hear the word "mushroom picking".
3. Learn and explore
In later sessions, show the children the images from the resource pack (click the Resources button on this page).
Go through parts of the song, helping them learn key words and phrases. Teach them one part of the song each week over 4 weeks.
Try out the different suggested activities:
🧩 Word search
✏️ Gap fill
4. End with games to reinforce learning
Finish each session with a fun game to help review the language from the song.
Here are some ideas:
- Simon Says using words or phrases from the song.
- Action repeat game — say a lyric and have the children repeat it with the matching movement. Turn it into a competition: the last person to do the action is out.
If you’re teaching a large class, divide them into two teams and play rounds so no one has to sit out for long.
Visit the 'Mushroom Picking' work unit, and get access to a teacher's guide, video with actions, flashcards, images and activity ideas.
Core library:
The Giants are Dancing - for 3-5 year olds
The Giants Are Dancing introduces the tradition of Giants to children in a simple, playful way. Designed for ages 3–5, the song encourages movement and participation while also teaching basic English vocabulary through rhythm and repetition. It’s a gentle first step into both language and culture, where children can whirl and dance like the giants themselves.
Towns and cities across Catalonia and Spain celebrate festes — community events that bring people together through music, tradition and celebration. Unlike a festival, a festa is organised by the town itself and features folkloric processions that fill the streets. At the heart of these celebrations are the giants (gegants), iconic figures that dance with slow, majestic movements.
1. Introduce the song by explaining that every town hall in Catalonia has its own giants, and that they are a focal part of summer festivals in Catalonia.
2. Explain that the giants have emblematic movements: twirling, whirling, which are different ways of saying 'turning around.'
3. Search for videos on YouTube of 'gegants' (giants) and show the students what they look like. Here is an example.
4. Listen to the song and ask the children if they were able to recognise any words. Repeat those words and ask the students to say them with you.
5. Listen to the song again and ask students to raise their hand when they hear the words you talked about previously.
6. Encourage the children to dance to the song while you listen to it again.
7. Practise singing and dancing this song over a 4-week period.
Tip: Encourage the children to dance and sing in pairs. Ask them to mirror the movements of Catalan giants, while singing and dancing together.
Another day, hand out scraves and encourage students to use wave the scarves and do the movements while singing the song.
Visit the work unit for additional resources and activities.