Q wrote "Many of these children's songs, because of the simple structure, resemble gospel, or work songs."

black walnut wrote "Really? It just 'resembles' but not 'is'? Interesting."

My take on this subject is that spirituals can be used for religious purposes, or as work songs, or as recreational songs. In each case the purpose {function/use} of the song is different.

In another Mudcat thread I shared that I used the spiritual "Get On Board" {Little Children}" in recreational settings. Since I can't find that post, I'll share my experiences again.

I've used the spiritual "Get On Board" as a group activity for children ages 5-12 years. Specifically, the group sang the lyrics "get on board little children [3x}/ gotta be ready when He calls your name". We performed that song with the "train engineer" making 'choo choo train' motions and then randomly calling out the name of a member of the group. That child stands behind the engineer and follows his or her lead, moving around the room while making train motions. On the words "gotta be ready when He calls your name", that child calls out the name of another group member who then hurries to join the train. That patterns continues until every member of the group is part of the train.

Prior to teaching this song to the group, I explained the historical basis for the song. In doing so, these children learned something about American history. Btw, I shared this song with a number of African American children's groups between 1999-2005 in Pittsburgh, PA and its surrounding area. Prior to my sharing this song, no child in those groups knew it.

I've shared this song in the manner I described in groups where the members knew each other and in groups where the children did not know the names of every member of their group. In my opinion, the song can 'work' with both types of groups, although the group leader has to help the song along when members of the group don't know the other members' names. While it's true that individual members will tend to select the name of their friends, there are ways that the group facilitator can help this process along. For instance, directing the children to call out the name of someone they don't know. True, this slowed down the song. However, it furthered the goal of helping group members become acquainted with each other.

This interactive activity helped children learn the names of the other members of their group. It also helped to teach & reinforce such social/academic skills as following directions, working together as a group, being the leader of a group {since members could take turns being 'the engineer' {or whatever the correct name is for the 'train driver'}. Furthermore, using this spiritual as a recreational song helped the children reinforce their listening skills. It particularly helped them strengthen their ability to being alert and quickly "move when the spirit says move" {to allude to another African American spiritual}.

Besides all of that, it was fun!