# Hand clapping recess games ?



## idaismyname

Hi all
I have a crazy question.
Do you remember those fun games we used to play with a friend with rhymes at recess.
I remember one called Miss Mary Mack.
What are those called.
Do you remember any.
I have a second grader. She says they play them on the playground and she's shy and just watches because she can't figure them out.
I thought if I could find some on the net and teach them to her at home she might be more willing to do them at recess. She really wants to learn some.
There has to be some site in www land i just don't know what to look for.

thanks so much


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## Aster

http://www.kidalog.com/shopfactory/en-us/dept_374.html

I just got the kidalog catalog and they sell a couple of books that looked really cool. Clapping rhymes, skipping rhymes, type of things, one of the books is called miss mary mack.

Would be worth asking for at the library!


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## captain optimism

I remember those! I was great at learning the rhymes but couldn't do the claps. It was just too hard! I used to get a friend to do it: I would recite/sing the rhyme or song, and hold my hands up, and she would do the claps. Both the rhymes and the claps are regional.

These were the rhymes in my area in my childhood--some are naughty, and some, really out of date--maybe passed down for a long time!

Quote:

Miss Mary Mack,
all dressed in black,
with silver buttons,
all down her back
she asked her mother
for fifty cents
to see the elephant
jump the fence
he jumped so high
he touched the sky
and he didn't come back
'til the fourth of July

Quote:

Miss Lucy had a baby
his name was Tiny Tim
She put him in the bathtub
to see if he could swim
he drank up all the water
he ate up all the soap
he tried to eat the bathtub but it wouldn't go down his throat.
Miss Lucy called the doctor, Miss Lucy called the Nurse, Miss Lucy called the Lady with the Alligator Purse
Mumps said the Doctor, Measles said the Nurse, Nothing said the Lady with the Alligator Purse.
There's more of that one, but my memory fails me!

Quote:

All the girls in France
do the hootchy-kootchy dance
and the way they shake
it's enough to kill a snake '
when the snake is dead
they put roses in its head
when the roses die
they put diamonds in its eyes
when diamonds break
it is 1968.
(you freeze on the word "eight")

Okay, baby is crying, I'll post more later.


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## captain optimism

nak but I'm back. Here's a naughty one:

Quote:


Miss Lucy had a steamboat
the steamboat had a bell
Miss Lucy went to heaven and the steamboat went to --
Hello, operator, please give me number 9
and if you dis connect me I will kick right--
behind the 'fridgerator
there was a piece of glass
Miss Lucy sat upon it and she broke her little--
ask me no more questions
I'll tell you no more lies
the boys are in the bathrooom
pulling up their--
flies live in the city
bees live in the park
Miss Lucy and her boyfriend are kissing in the D-A-R-K, dark.

Quote:

Say say oh playmate
come out and play with me
and bring your dollies three
climb up my apple tree
slide down my rain barrel
into my cellar door
and we'll be jolly friends
for evermore.
There was a parody to that one, but I didn't learn it.

one more:

Quote:

Oh baby
come let's get together with a glass of Schlitz, a friendly glass of Schlitz
(sarena cass sarena!)
great (_claps_)
big (_claps_)
glass (_claps_)
of....
Schlitz!
Oh I must know some more! too bad I can't be sure that they are the same where you live, or indeed, anywhere in 2003!


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## Clarity

My memory say the Miss Lucy one is

and if you dis connect me I will kick you from-

and the
say say my playmate (we said see, see but that just regional I think...)

And we said slide down my rainspout, into my cellar door

You can double dutch to a lot of these rhymes too if she wants to learn that.


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## captain optimism

Rainspout makes more sense! wahat does sarena cass sarena mean, anyway?

I knew a lot of the jumprope ones, too, but again, I was always the reciter, never the jumper--at least, not for more than a minute or two!

Your daughter could invite a nice girl who knows the rhymes and claps over to her house to teach her. Even if she is hopeless at the claps, as I was, it's a good excuse for someone to come over. It will make the other girl feel special to be asked to teach!


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## Aster

We used to say slide down my rainbow. =) And in my version it's if you disconnect me i'll kick you in the... Seems to be a lot of regional variation.









I was pretty clueless with the clapping part of those rhymes, so to learn them, my friends would have me just put both hands up, and then they could clap on them whenever they needed too. I"d eventually get it. :LOL I"m still pretty uncoordinated, you should see me trying to do aerobics videos.


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## kama'aina mama

I could never figure out if these were standardized or not. My sis and I used to do them together and we did them our own way. I never tried with anyone else. Don't know if she did. (I'm refering to the complicated clap progressions, alternating hands, clapping up and down rather than straight forward, hands backward... )

We said "ching ching oh playmate" and we slid down a rainbow too.


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## Clarity

If you enjoy stuff like this, I liked the Oxford English Book of Nusery Rhymes. It stuck to nursery rhymes only but some or the verion comparisons and changes over time were really interesting.


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## captain optimism

Hey Aster, my sister in uncoordination







! I also have to do exercise videos several times until I get them!

Here's another one I remembered. These aren't very pc, are they?

Quote:

My mother, your mother live across the street
18, 19 alligator street
every night the have a fight and this is what they say: "Boys are rotten, just like cotton, girls are dandy, just like candy, inka binka soda pop, inka binka boo, inka binka soda pop and out goes you!"
I wish I could remember a jumprope rhyme, besides the beginning of "Blondie and Dagwood." I only know the beginning because none of us were good enough at jumping rope to get past "hop on one foot"!


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## eilonwy

i loved these as a kid! i was really good at learning the rhymes and the claps; clapping on the playground was the only time i ever felt like i fit in with my classmates. it was the only social skill that i had!

we sang slightly different versions of the ones you've already listed, and of course the 'naughty' ones were the most popular. :LOL in particular, 'miss suzy had a steamboat' and 'rockin robin'. i did learn the parody to 'see, see my playmate', which didn't rhyme very well but was funny (again, the 'naughtiness' factor).

the mamma one i learned went:

my mamma, your mamma
lived across the street
18, 19, strawberry street

every night they had a fight and this is what they said:
boys are rotten, made outta cotton
girls are sexy, made outta pepsi.

boys are dumb, made outta bubble gum
girls are dandy, made outta candy.

boys go to jupiter to get more stupider
girls go to mars to be movie stars

rickety, rockety, soda pop!

(ick, i know it's awful! :LOL the things kids say!)

i also remember one that went:

eeny-meeny diseliney
ooh-bop-bop shabeeny
achy-kachy liberace i love you

an east, a west
i met my boyfriend at the candy store
he bought me ice cream
he bought me cake
he brought me home with
a stomach ache

mama, mama, i feel sick
call the doctor, quick quick quick
doctor doctor, will i die?
no my girl, just count to five
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, i'm alive
6, 7, 8, 9, 10, i'm dead

there was more, but (if you can believe it) it gets even more unpleasant.

speaking of the hand-clap & jump rope rhymes, did anyone else do massage games? i know a bunch of those too, they had rhymes and hand motions and stuff like that...?


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## eilonwy

Cinderella, dressed in yella,
went downstairs to meet her fella
by mistake she kissed a snake;
how many doctors did it take?
(count until you trip)

A my name is Alice
my husband's name is Adam
we come from Alabama
where we sell Apples

[we did this one jumping rope and with a ball to bounce for the younger kids. when jumping rope, you keep going until you miss the jump or you don't get the rhyme right on the rhythm (like you can't think of a B name in time) and when bouncing a ball, we usually passed the ball around, each kid taking a letter.]

Teddy bear, teddy bear
turn around
teddy bear, teddy bear
touch the ground
teddy bear, teddy bear
show your shoes
teddy bear, teddy bear
read the news
teddy bear, teddy bear
go upstairs
teddy bear, teddy bear
say your prayers
teddy bear, teddy bear
turn out the light
teddy bear, teddy bear
say good night!

[that one requires a *lot* of coordination. i still remember being at a sleepover with some girls from school and practicing this over and over again.]

kindergarten babies,
first grade brats,
second grade angels,
third grade rats
fourth grade princesses,
fifth grade queens,
sixth grade meanest girls
i've ever seen!

[i have no idea where we got this one, as i've never seen it in print or seen a reference to it anywhere but on the playground in elementary school. there was also a variation that made them fruits, but because of the naughtiness factor it was only popular when an adult was standing nearby.]


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## Aster

Quote:

did anyone else do massage games?
yup
the one i remember goes

Spiders spiders crawling up your arms (fingers 'crawl' up arms)
one bites here (squeeze shoulder)
one bites here (squeeze other shoulder)
tight squeeze (squeeze back of neck)
light breeze (blow lightly down the back of their shirt)
now you have the shiveries (run fingers lightly down the back)

DS absolutely LOVES that one.


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## Aaudreysmom

This is so funny, I remember this song we sang while jumping rope.

Fudge Fudge Call the judge
(Insert name of jumper) 's gonna have a baby
wrap it up in tissue paper
send it down the elevator
Boy, girl, twins, tripplets
Boy, girl, twins, tripplets
(and so on uitil the jumper makes a mistake)

And what was that one...

Down by the bank with the hanky pank
where the bullfrog jumps from bank to bank
hip hop .................?????

I can't remember.

I LOVED to play cats cradle when I was young maybe you can look that up and see if it's something she likes. Good luck! You know it's so much fun to be (and have) a little girl.


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## Mama Katrina

Down down baby (cradde baby)
Down down the roller coaster (roller coaster with hands)
Sweet sweet baby (cradle baby again)
I'll never let you go (hug yourself)
Shimmy shimmy cocoa pops
Shimmy shimmy POW (Thumbs go over shoulders with pow)
Shimmy shimmy cocoa pops
Shimmy shimmy POW (Thumbs over shoulders again)
Mama mama sick in bed
Called the doctor and the doctor said (Talk on phone)
Let's get the rhythem in the head
Ding dong (head side to side with ding and dong)
Sure got the rhythem in the head
Ding Dong
Lets get the rythem in the hands
(clap clap) (clap hands)
Sure got the rhythem in the hands
(clap clap)
Let's get the rhythem in the feet
(stamp stamp) (stomp feet)
Sure got the rhythem in the feet
(stamp stamp)
Lets get the rhythem in the...
HOT DOG (hands on hips making circle with hips and puttin a southern drawl on HOT DOG LOL!)
Sure got the rhythem in the...
HOT DOG
Put them all together and what do you get?
Ding dong
(clap clap)
(stamp stamp)
HOT DOG
Put them backwards and what do you get?
HOT DOG
(Stamp stamp)
(clap clap)
Ding Dong

Another one I know... Forget the middle, just had it in my head, maybe some else knows...

There is a place on Mars
Where the women smoke cigars
And the men where bikinis
And the children drink martinis
Every break they take is enough to kill a snake
When the snake is dead they put diamonds in the eyes
When the diamonds break ...
... They call the king of Space
And the king of Space says FREEZE!


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## eilonwy

i learned that one a little differently, though i have to say yours makes a lot more sense, Katrina!

In the land of Mars
where the women smoke cigars
and the men wear bikinis
while the children drink martinis
when the snakes are dead
they put roses round' their head
when the roses die
they put diamonds in their eyes
when the diamonds break
nobody shake! (then you freeze and whoever moves first is out)

i remember one that went:

i was going to Kentucky
i was going to the fair
i met a senorita, with flowers in her hair.
shake it senorita
shake it all you can
shake it like a milkshake
and shake it once again
waddle to the bottom
waddle to the top
turn around and turn around
until you make an S-T-O-P stop!

all the kids stand around in a circle clapping except the 'senorita', who is in the middle shakin' it







.

Edited because once i saw it in print i remembered the whole thing! :LOL


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## captain optimism

When I was eight, I went to day camp in the Cleveland area. When I was nine, my mom decided she wanted to take a course in Haifa, so she brought us along to Israel. At the day camp we went to in Haifa, I was really popular because of my massage rhyme. You sit behind the person and use your hands on their back.

Going on a treasure hunt
Going on a treasure hunt (_gently pummel the back with fists_)
X marks the spot
X marks the spot( _make Xes on back with finger_)
three big circles and one big DOT! (_make circles with finger and dot with fist--not too hard!







_)
Trickle up, trickle down, trickle up, trickle down (_fingers walk up and down back_)
hard mud, gooshy mud! hard mud, gooshy mud!(_mush shoulder blades, mush waist--the word gooshy is said in a squeaky voice for extra effect_)
bee stings (_little pokes with finger_)
spider bites(_little pinches with fingers_)
wind blow(_blow on neck--sometimes we would lift up the hair to get to the neck! it was the 70s, :LOL_)
Gotcha! (_grab the person's waist_)

What was amazing was that they didn't have a game like this in Hebrew. I learned the Hebrew for "now do me!" pretty quickly!


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## eilonwy

we did a massage rhyme that was a sort of chant that went:

concentrate
concentrate on what i'm saying, saying
people are dying, children are crying,
concentrate

squeeze an orange on your shoulder, (left)
let the juice drip down
chills go up, chills go down (drag your fingers along for chills)

squeeze a lemon on your shoulder (right)
let the juice drip down
chills go up, chills go down

concentrate
concentrate on what i'm saying, saying,
people are dying, children are crying
concentrate
concentrate

two cars crash the people die and go to heaven and the angel wants to know what's your favorite color? (massage-ee says a color)

then you count "one, two, three!" and gently punch in the middle of the back, and they're supposed to open their eyes & see the color they said.


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## eilonwy

We also had a (much) shorter version of the one Captain Optimism posted that went:

X marks the spot (draw an "X" on the back)
A circle and a dot (draw a circle and a dot)
Cool breeze (blow)
Tight squeeze (squeeze shoulders)
Now you've got the shiveries! (tickles!)

I still remember being in lines of 9 or 10 girls all singing the chants at the same time. :LOL


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## chellemarie

We did one that started "zing zing zing" and we'd hold hands facing each other and pull our arms back and forth. Does that make sense? I have NO idea what came after "zing zing zing". I just remember it was the coolest new clapping rhyme ever. It must have had a dirty line.

I also remember one car trip driving my dad crazy doing Miss Mary Mack over and over and trying to see how fast we could go without making mistakes. My dad had a way of reaching into the backseat to pinch legs when we were misbehaving. I think he drove with one arm behind him that trip. LOL

We did Teddy Bear and Cinderella when jumping rope. I should never have stopped. I'd be in great shape AND I'd remember the rhymes.


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## megangaia

Hey, how bout this one?

Apples on a stick
make me sick
make my heart beat two, four, six
Napkins dirty, napkins clean,
napkins kiss me behind a magazine
Hey tomboy, wanna fight?
Meet me on the corner on Saturday night.
Here comes Jenny,
she can wiggle, she can waggle, she can do the splits
but I betcha a dime, she can't do this.
Close your eyes and count to ten:
one, two, three, four, etc.

OR....

Do you know exactly how to eat an oreo?
Well to do it, you unscrew it.
A kid will eat the middle of an oreo
and save the chocolate cookie part for last!!

AND...

down, down baby, down by the rollercoaster
sweet, sweet baby, don't forget your honeycomb
shimmy, shimmy cocoa-pop
shimmy, shimmy bop!
shimmy, shimmy cocoa-pop
shimmy, shimmy lollipop!

AND...

I don't wanna go to Mexico no more, more more
there's a big fat policeman at the door, door, door
If he grabs you by the collar,
boy, you better hollar!
I don't wanna go to Mexico no more, more, more

There's a book called "HAND CLAP!" by Sara Bernstein (isbn# 1-55850-426-5) that my MIL found, but I find it confusing to follow, plus, if I didn't know it as a kid, it CAN"T be that great!lol!!

Also, there's an old book called "ONE POTATO, TWO POTATO", it's probably out of print now, but woman studied rhymes from all over and through the generations. It was fun reading.

We also had a knowck off from the Mcdonalds commercial popular in the early 80's:

Big Mac, filet o fish, quarter pounder, french fries
Icy coke, thick shake, sundaes and apple pies
You deserve a break today at McDonalds, DIP!

Thanks for letting me get this all out! I loved all the games as a kid!
Oh, chi-chi wah-wah tabasco
I've got another tabasco


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## idaismyname

Wow these are so helpful.
I do remember some of these now.
Also my library has some of the books suggested.
My daughter can't wait to learn some!
Thanks I feel like I'm in gradeschool reading some of these again.
He he


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## tinams8

I loved these games when I was a kid! I was really good at them, it's probably my only talent in life, LOL. Too bad it's not worth much!

My favorite was the clapping game with four people (major concentration for this one) in a square, I think we sang the boyfriend in the candy store song to it...it started with something in Spanish, like uno, dos, siego? I have no clue about the beginning part. How about this one:

Miss Sue, Miss Sue,
Miss Sue's from Alabama,
She's having a party,
Chick a boom, chick a boom, chick a boom boom boom (shaking butt)

Let's play a game of tic tac toe.
Tic, tac, tic tac toe (doing crazy foot moves)

Anyone remember the rest?

ETA: I remember one someone mentioned, it's a really easy one where any amount of kids can play standing in a circle. Everyone spreads out there arms so one hand is over the next person's hand and the other is under the person on the other side's hand. As you sing, the "frog" moves by slapping hands, when you get to kerplop, that person is out. You go faster and faster at the end to try to not be out. If that makes any sense!

Down by the banks of the Hanky Panky,
Where the bullfrogs jump from bank to banky,
With a hip, hop, hip hop hop,
Skiddle and a diddle and KERPLOP!

I definitely would have loved to help another girl learn to do it. I agree with having her get a friend to show her!


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## goodcents

WOW!!!!! Soooooo fun to read all of these. Amazing you folks remember them. As I was reading it all came back - what a trip down memory lane!

Thanks to the OP for starting this thread - good luck to your sweet little girl!!!


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## caytlyn

Miss Susy had a steamboat
The steamboat had a bell (ding, ding)
Miss Susy went to heaven
And the steamboat went to...

Hello, operator,
Please give me number 9
And if you disconnect me
I will chop off your...

Behind the 'frigerator (or yellow curtain)
There was a piece of glass
Miss Susy sat upon it
And cut her little...

Ask me no more questions
Tell me no more lies
The boys are in the bathroom
Zipping down their...

Flies are in the meadow
And bees are in the park
All the little boys and girls
Are kissing in the dar, dark dark!

The dark is like the movies
The movie's like a show
The show is like the T.V.,
And that is all I know

I know, I know my mother
I know, I know my pa
I know, I know my sister
With the forty acre bra

Texico, texico, over the hills to mexico
do the split and a high kick
turn around ad get out of town
please come back,
sit on a tck, Ouch!
read a book, please don't look,
how many chapters can you read?
1...2...3...4...5. etc...

and a not so nice one...

tara boom de ay..
how did i get this way?
the boy next door, he threw me on the floor..
he lifted up my skirt and said it wouldn't hurt.
He counted 1 2 3 then he jumped on me
my mother was surprised to see my belly rise,
my father jumped for joy, it was a baby boy...

( and to protect little girls from boys)

circle, circle, dot, dot, knwo you have the cooties shot.

jump rope game.. swing ropw normal and spell H E L P, if they miss on H they have to do High water jump rope is elevated like a foot, E is electric it gets shaken on the ground, L is leapfrog, jump like a frog, and P is fro hot Peppers, speeds up super fast.

and last the roller coaster, down down baby down by the roolllercoaster sweet sweet baby never let you go. shamrock shamrock, shimmy shimmy shamrock, caught you wih your boy friend, naughty naughty,
steal a peice of candy, greedy, greedy,
won't do the dishes, lazy lazy,
jump out the window crazy crazy!


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