Learn Hardcore Spanish (Latin America): Los niños se meten en el saco de dormir, pero no pueden dormir porque piensan en la bruja sin varita. - The children get into the sleeping bag, but they can’t sleep because they think about the witch without her wand.

Meter (non‑reflexive): “to put something into something”
- Los niños meten los juguetes en la caja.
  “The children put the toys into the box.”
Meterse en (reflexive): “to get into / climb into / crawl into (something)”
- Los niños se meten en el saco de dormir.
  “The children get into the sleeping bag.”

If you said Los niños meten en el saco de dormir, it would sound incomplete in Spanish: what are they putting into the sleeping bag?

Entrar (en) means “to enter (a place)” and is more neutral:

Entran en la casa. – “They enter the house.”

For a sleeping bag (something you squeeze yourself into), meterse en is the natural verb.

What exactly does meterse en mean here, and how is it different from ponerse or entrar?

In this sentence, meterse en = to get inside / to climb into / to crawl into.

Typical uses of meterse en:

Me meto en la cama. – I get into bed.
Se mete en el saco de dormir. – He/she gets into the sleeping bag.
Nos metimos en el coche. – We got into the car.

Compared with other verbs:

Entrar (en): neutral “enter (a place)”
- Entramos en la casa. – We enter the house.
- Not usually used for things like sleeping bags.
Ponerse: “to put on (clothes/accessories)” or “to become”
- Ponerse la chaqueta. – To put on the jacket.
- Ponerse triste. – To become sad.
- If you say ponerse el saco de dormir, it would sound like you’re putting it on as if it were clothing, which is odd.

So for physically going inside something enveloping (bag, bed, car, tent), meterse en is very common and natural.

Why is it el saco de dormir (singular) if there are several children? Shouldn’t it be plural, like los sacos de dormir?

Spanish sometimes uses the singular when:

it’s a set phrase, or
the exact number is not important to the story, or
it can be interpreted as “each one has their own.”

Possible readings of Los niños se meten en el saco de dormir:

They all get into one big sleeping bag (literally singular).
Each child gets into a sleeping bag; the sentence speaks of “the sleeping bag” as a generic object.

If the writer wants to be very clear that each child has a separate one, they might say:

Los niños se meten en sus sacos de dormir. – “The children get into their sleeping bags.”

So the singular isn’t wrong; it just leaves the exact situation a bit open.

Could we also say la bolsa de dormir in Latin America instead of el saco de dormir?

Yes. Both exist in Latin America:

saco de dormir – common in many countries; also used in Spain.
bolsa de dormir – also used, and in some areas it may sound more natural.

They both mean “sleeping bag.” Usage varies by country and even by person, but both are understandable across Latin America.

Why is it no pueden dormir and not no duermen or no pueden a dormir?

Structure with “poder”:
In Spanish, poder (can / be able to) is followed directly by an infinitive:
- poder + infinitive
- no pueden dormir – “they can’t sleep”
You never add a here:
- ❌ no pueden a dormir – incorrect
- ✅ no pueden dormir
Meaning difference:
- no pueden dormir – They are unable to sleep (they want to, but they can’t).
- no duermen – They don’t sleep (a neutral fact; no idea why, maybe by choice).

In this context, the witch is preventing them from sleeping, so no pueden dormir (they can’t sleep) makes perfect sense.

Why is piensan in the present tense? In English we’d normally say “they are thinking.”

Spanish uses the simple present much more often than English, especially for:

current mental states and emotions
ongoing or repeated actions in narrative contexts

So:

piensan en la bruja can mean “they are (busy) thinking about the witch” right now.

You can say:

están pensando en la bruja – literally “they are thinking about the witch.”

Both are correct, but in storytelling the simple present (piensan en) is very natural and doesn’t sound incomplete in Spanish the way “they think about the witch” might in English in this context.

Why is it piensan en la bruja and not piensan de or piensan sobre?

With pensar, the preposition changes the meaning:

pensar en + something/someone
= “to think about” (have in your mind)
- Pienso en ti. – I think about you.
- Piensan en la bruja. – They think about the witch.
pensar de / pensar sobre + something
= “to think of / have an opinion about”
- ¿Qué piensas de esta película? – What do you think of this movie?
- ¿Qué piensas sobre el tema? – What do you think about the topic? (opinion)

Here they’re not giving an opinion about the witch; they can’t stop thinking of her. So pensar en is the correct choice.

Why does bruja sin varita not use an article before varita? Why not sin una varita?

After sin (“without”), Spanish often omits the indefinite article (un/una) when the noun is:

non‑specific or generic
a kind of object, quality, or tool being mentioned in general

So:

una bruja sin varita
literally: “a witch without wand” → idiomatically: “a witch without a wand”

Compare:

Está sin trabajo. – He/she is without a job.
Vive sin coche. – He/she lives without a car.

You could say sin una varita, but that usually emphasizes one particular wand:

sin una varita – “without a (single) wand,” slightly more specific.

In this sentence they’re talking generically: a witch who, as a type of witch, doesn’t have a wand. So sin varita is more natural.

Why is it la bruja with la, but varita has no article?

Because they play different roles in the sentence:

la bruja – specific witch already known in the story; we identify her.
varita in sin varita – an unspecified, generic wand (any wand, not a specific one).

So:

piensan en la bruja – they think about that particular witch (the one we’ve been talking about).
sin varita – she lacks a wand in general, not one particular wand.

That’s why we keep la before bruja, but drop una before varita.

Is Los niños necessarily “boys,” or can it include girls too?

Niños is the masculine plural, and in Spanish:

masculine plural is used for:
- a group of only boys, or
- a mixed group of boys and girls.

So Los niños can mean:

“the boys” (if context clearly says it’s only boys), or
“the children” (boys and girls together).

If you want to emphasize that they’re all girls, you’d use Las niñas.

What is the difference between niños and chicos in Latin America?

Both are commonly used for children, but there are some nuances:

niño / niña / niños / niñas
- Slightly more neutral and universal.
- Often used for younger children.
- Very standard in narration, school contexts, etc.
chico / chica / chicos / chicas
- Also very common; often a bit more informal.
- In some places it can lean slightly older (kids, preteens, teens), but usage varies a lot by region.
- In Mexico, for example, niño is very common for “child,” and chico can be “kid / young person” more generally.

In your sentence, Los niños is a natural, neutral way to say “The children.”

Why do we use pero here and not sino?

Pero and sino both translate to “but,” but they’re used differently.

pero = “but / however” → adds contrast, not correction:
- Quieren dormir, pero no pueden.
  They want to sleep, but they can’t.
sino = “but rather / but instead” → corrects or replaces something negative that came before:
- No quieren dormir, sino jugar.
  They don’t want to sleep, but rather play.

In your sentence:

There is no correction of a previous negative idea; it’s just contrast:
- They get into the sleeping bag, but they cannot sleep.

So pero is the correct conjunction:
Los niños se meten en el saco de dormir, pero no pueden dormir...