Folklore: Do kids still do clapping rhymes?

Subject: RE: Folklore: Do kids still do clapping rhymes?
From: GUEST,Boo- south east england
Date: 06 Jun 08 - 05:01 PM

Please someone help me! My sister phoned me to try and remember the rhyme we did as kids, and i cant remember the first lines! ive got the rest though, it goes like this...
.... Watching the clock go tick-tock tick-tock curly wirly,
tick-tock tick-tock curly wirly,
A-B-C-D-E-F-G,
wipe those cobwebs off your knees,
sunlight,
moonlight,
sunlight,
moonlight feast,
the girls in spain wash their knickers in champagne,
and the boys in france do a hula hula dance
and the dance they do is enough to tie a shoe,
and the shoe they tie is enough to ring a bell
and the bell they ring goes DING A LING A LING!

Subject: RE: Folklore: Do kids still do clapping rhymes?
From: GUEST,Aryana
Date: 19 Jun 08 - 11:20 PM

Yeah we still do, but some of the latest are,

Down by the banks of the hanky pank were the bullfrogs jump from bank to bank
Say hip hop soda pop
I pledge alegance to the flag
Micheal Jackson makes me gag
Pepsi Cola burns butt
Now we drinkin 7up
7up has no caffine
Now we drinkin Ovaltine
Ovaltine is out of style
Now we drinkin some thing wild
C-O-K-E COKE!

(its played like Stella Ella Oh La)

Stella Ella Oh La
Clap Clap Clap
Singing
Es chigga-chigga
Chigga Chigga
chat chat
Es chigga-chigga
Love Love
Love Love Love Love
5-4-3-2-1

Little Sally Walker
Walking down the street
She didn't know what to do so she stopped
in front of me
She said
Hey Girl Do Your Thing
Do Your Thing Do Your Thing
Hey Girl Do your thing and
Switch!

(this game is played, when the kids gather in a circle a "Sally Walker" is chosen and she walks in a circle then she stops in front of someone and starts dancing and the other girl mimicks her, then by the end of the song, they switch places, and the girl is now sally walker the game repeats until the girls get tired and they all quit)

I said a Boom Chicka Boom
I said a Boom Chicka Chicka Boom
I said a Boom Chicka Rocka Chicka Rocka Boom
Alright Okay Now were gonna do it
her way (then you point)

(yeah not a clapping game but still something popular in Michigan)

Subject: RE: Folklore: Do kids still do clapping rhymes?
From: Azizi
Date: 20 Jun 08 - 12:58 AM

Boo- south east england, thanks for sharing that rhyme. See this example called "Miss Sue From Alabama" that gives some beginning lines which are often used with the rhyme that you asked about on 06 Jun 08 st- 05:01 PM:

Miss Sue From Alabama {Version #7}
Hi there. I'm from Mississippi and was in elementary school in the late 80's through early 90's. the version of "Miss Sue" I remember was not listed here. I thought I'd help you out. Last time I heard it, I think it had varied ever so slightly from when I was in school, but this is how I remember it: Miss Sue (clap clap clap) Miss Sue (clap clap clap) Miss Sue from Alabama Sittin' in a rocker eatin' betty crocker watchin' that clock go tick-tock, tick-tock-banana-nana tick-tock, tick-tock banana-nana ABCDEFG-wash those stains right out'a my knees MUSHKA, MUSHKA, MUSHKA FREEZE (as fast as you can) 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10! I never got the last part...sometimes the rule was you had to stay still while you counted, and sometimes it was to count the fastest. The most distinct difference I remember is that there were always three claps after "Miss Sue." I hope that was helpful.
-Allison {Mississippi; late 1980s, early 1990s}; 2/28/2007; http://cocojams.com/handclap_rhymes.htm


**
Click on that link for more examples of rhymes that begin with that "Miss Sue" line. Your example seems to be a combination of the Miss Sue rhyme and a rhyme that is usually called "All The Girls In France". You can also find examples of that rhyme on that Cocojams page.

****

Thanks, Aryana, for sharing those examples here so other people throughout the world can read them. Thanks, also for including how you play them. That way, other people might play them too.

Subject: RE: Folklore: Do kids still do clapping rhymes?
From: GUEST
Date: 27 Jun 08 - 05:07 PM

Some say they are alive and well but .... the folksongs are going away.
more about this below.

National Children's Folksong Repository
http://www.edu-cyberpg.com/ncfr/
record what you remember and lets put it up for us to hear!

Subject: RE: Folklore: Do kids still do clapping rhymes?
From: GUEST,KLC
Date: 10 Jul 08 - 08:22 PM

Hi I live in East Harlem in New York and hand games are very much alive.

1. Eeny Meeny Sys a leeny, ooh aah tumble leeny, ochy Cochy Liver achy I Love you. Take a peach take a plum not a stick of bubble gum. No peach no plum just a stick of bubble gum. I saw you with your boyfriend last night. I looked through the window. Nosey. I ate a bag of cookies. Greedy. I didn't take a bath. Dirty. I jumped out the window . Now I know you crazy. I like icecream I like tea I like the color boys and they like me so step off white boy you don't shine, I'm gonna get my boyfriend to kick your behind. He'll kick you up, he'll kick you down, he'll kick you all around the town. (very racial driven at the end I know)

2. Down down baby, down down the roller coaster. Sweet sweet baby I'll never let you go, Jimmy Jimmy coco puff Jimmy Jimmy Pow.Jimmy Jimmy coco puff Jimmy Jimmy Pow. Mama mama sick in bed she called the doctor and the doctor said lets hear the rythym of your head, ding dong.lets hear the rythym of your head, ding dong.Lets here the rythym of your hands (clap clap). Lets here the rythym of your hands (clap clap). Lets here the rythym of your feet (stomp stomp). Lets here the rythym of your feet (stomp stomp).Lets here the rythym of the hoooooot stuffff. Lets here the rythym of the hoooooot stuffff. Put it all together and what do you get: ding dong, clap clap, stomp stomp, hooooot stuuuuuffffff, now put it all backwards and what do you get: hottttt stufffff, stomp stomp, clap clap, ding dong.

3. Boom boom chat chat boom boom chat chat boom chat boom chat boom boom chat chat

there is more let me know if you want the lyrics.

Subject: RE: Folklore: Do kids still do clapping rhymes?
From: Azizi
Date: 10 Jul 08 - 10:10 PM

Hello, KLC!

Thanks for posting those examples. And thanks for including the information about where you live.

Have you considered joining this group? Membership is free and it's easy to join.. Just click on Membership at the top of the page on the right, and follow the easy instructions that come up,

As a member, you can receive private messages. For instance, I'm writing a book on children's rhymes, and would love to ask you more questions about these rhymes.

Even if you don't join Mudcat, please post more. Also, for the sake of reseach and documenting more information about these rhymes, would you please write back and tell how the rhymes you already have shared are performed {I think they're handclap rhymes, is that right?}. And please let us know what you think is the age of most people who do these rhymes.

Two more things, KLC, in your experience, are these rhymes performed by girls {and boys?} and which race or races, ethnic groups have you seen perform them {such as African Americans, Latinos, Whites, Asians}?


Thanks, again!

I hope you do considering joining. Mudcat has a lot of threads {pages of discussions} about many kinds of children's rhymes and we need more people to share and discuss them, especially more younger people. [You can click on one title at a time that is listed up above these messages to visit another discussion]

If you are under 18 years old, perhaps you should ask your parents/guardians about joining this group.

Best wishes,

Ms. Azizi

Subject: RE: Folklore: Do kids still do clapping rhymes?
From: KLC
Date: 11 Jul 08 - 11:43 AM

Hello Azizi,

The children that play these games range from 5 - 12 years old. Both boys and girls play these games but girls are more into it and know a lot more hand games then the boys. The children that I see playing these games are Hispanic, African American, Carribean, Caucasian and Asian because that is the population that I serve at my program.

All games I mentioned before are hand games the actual movements are a little tricky.

Some other ones are:

1. I said a east, a west, I met my boyfriend at the candy store he bought me icecream, he bought me cake, he bought me home with a belly ache, mama mama I feel sick, call the doctor quick quick quick, doctor doctor when I die just close your eyes and count to 5 I said a 1 a 2 a 3 a 4 a 5 I'm alive, 6,7,8,9,10 I'm dead again.

2. My mother your mother live across the street 18, 19 blueberry street every time when it is night the kids come out and start to fight: Boys are rotten made outta cotton, girls are sexy made out of pepsi, boys go to jupiter to get more stupider, girls go to college to get more knowledge. Wrap it up in toilet paper, send it down the escalator. 1st floor stop by your mama, 2nd floor stop by your papa, 3rd floor said you better watch out for the s s the t t the o o the p p spellssss stop. (And they pause to see who moves first)

3. Tweet baby tweet baby, my mama said: shes rocking in the tree top all day long huffing and a puffing and singing that song all the little girls on dainburn street love to hear the birds go tweet tweet tweet, rocking robin tweet twirly rocking robin tweet twirly. Batman and robin flying in the air batman lost his underwear batman says I don't care mamas gonna buy me a brand new pair, rocking robin tweet twirly rocking robin tweet twirly, I went down town to get a stick a butter all i saw was james brown sitting in a gutter took a piece of glass shoved it up his ahhhhh... never saw a motha sucka run so fast (crazy isnt it) rocking robin tweet twirly rockin robin tweet twirly, went to the movies to see king kong all I saw was a rubber ding dong rocking robin tweet twiyly rocking robin tweet twirly, mothers in the kitchen cooking rice, poppa's in the bathroom shooting dice, brothers in jail raising hell, sister's in the corner selling fruit cocktail rocking robin (some children sing other parts not to sure what they are, the words were the same since I was young but now they add things that relate to their time)

3. Candy girl, all my world, look so sweet special treat this is the way we (then they name a dance i.e the whop) Candy girl do the whop the whop all my world do the whop whop look so sweet do the whop the whop special treat do the whop the whop... goes on with different dances mostly what is in at the time.

4. Quack dilly oh so, quack quack quack, hit it, senorita your mama smells like pizza, fello fello fello fello fello, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 ,7, 8,9, 10 (on ten the person tries to hit the other persons hand if they get um that person is out if they miss then the person trying is out. This is usually done in a circle so they one left at the end is the winner.)

5. Nintendo 64, no repeats or hesitations starting with the name of... (anything usually colors, boys, girls, cars, toys, tv shows, movies, etc) they keep up the hand beat and shouting names to someone messes up whoever is left at the end is the winner.

6. Mostly the kindergarteners play Miss Mary Mack sung:
Miss Mary Mack Mack Mack
All dressed in Black Black Black
With silver buttons buttons buttons
all down her back back back
she asked her mother mother mother
for 15 cents cents cents
to see the elephant elephant elephant
jump over the fence fence fence
it jumped so high high high
it reached the sky sky sky
and never came back back back
til the fourth of july lie lie

6. Kindergarteners also play this game that just goes... Thats the way uh huh uh huh I like it uh huh uh huh and just repeat the hand movements and song till someone gets tired and quits.

Subject: RE: Folklore: Do kids still do clapping rhymes?
From: Azizi
Date: 11 Jul 08 - 01:40 PM

Hello, KLC.

I see you joined Mudcat. That's great!!!

And thanks for those other rhymes. I'm particularly happy to see a version of "Candy Girl". My daughter and her friends chanted a slightly different version of "Candy Girl" in the late 1980s in Pittsburgh, PA and I haven't seen another version until the one you posted.

Best wishes,

Azizi

Subject: RE: Folklore: Do kids still do clapping rhymes?
From: GUEST,Robyn
Date: 22 Jul 08 - 05:00 PM

I'm still in primary the'thats the way uh uh huh is different to the way we do it but then again they all vary.

Thats the way
Uh huh
uh huh
uh huh
I like it
uuh huh
uh huh
thats the way
uh huh
uh huh
i like it
JIT IT RIGHT NOW!
Scooby Scooby Dooby Dooby Doo
Scooby Dooby Scooby Dooby Doo!
YO!

Subject: RE: Folklore: Do kids still do clapping rhymes?
From: GUEST,guest
Date: 22 Jul 08 - 10:47 PM

I work at an after school program/ summer day camp on the Lower East Side, New York, New York.

MY GOD DO THEY DO CLAPPING GAMES!

Quack didi oso,
slide,
numbers,
eeny meany,
down down baby (later converted by Nelly in one of his rap songs),
tweet baby,
miss mary mack,
shame shame,
mama mama can't you see?,
. . . I'm sure the list goes on and on.

There's one that involved the feet instead of the hands now too which I never saw when I was little. You have to hold your partners shoulders and then perform a serious of kicks aside each other's legs and through them. . . If that makes any sense without the visual

Subject: RE: Folklore: Do kids still do clapping rhymes?
From: Azizi
Date: 23 Jul 08 - 12:00 AM

GUEST,guest,22 Jul 08 - 10:47 PM,

Thanks for that list of titles and the demographical information re your location.

If you read this, would you please also post demographical information regarding the race/ethnicity, gender, and ages of the children who performed these rhymes.

Given my research on children's rhyme, including my direct experiences, I'd guess that you're talking about African American girls & Latino girls {ages 5-13 years}

Is this correct?

Also, does the rhyme that you called "Shame Shame Shame" have the lines "I don't want to go to mexico no more more more/there's a big fat policeman at the door door door" etc

And does the rhyme that you refer to as "tweet baby" have the lines "he rocks in the tree top/ all night long/huffin and a puffin and a-singing his song/all the little birds on Jaybird street/love to hear the robin go tweet tweet tweet"?

Also, do the girls in your after school program also do cheerleader cheers in which they basically stand in place and chant formulaic verses to the sound of the bass sounding foot stomps and {their own} hand claps and/or body pats?

If so, I'd looove to know which chants they do.

I wish you were a member of this forum so I could private message you. I'm writing a book on children's rhymes & cheers, and I'm interested in having more examples from New York.

Here's a link to my website if you want to check it out and see whether any of the foot stomping cheers read like the ones you've seen.

www.cocojams.com [ foot stomping cheers page]

Unfortunately, Cocojams is a text only website. Eventually I want to add some sound clips and video clips.

Thanks, guest,guest for sharing that list of handclap rhyme. And thanks, in advance, for any additional information & examples that you might share.

Subject: RE: Folklore: Do kids still do clapping rhymes?
From: GUEST
Date: 23 Jul 08 - 06:12 AM

Thank you all of you for all this information!

I´m currently working on a small article about immigrant kids doing handclapping games in norwegian in Oslo.

Two turkish-norwgian 7-year-olds sing what is a norwegian translation of the english song "A sailor went to sea":

En sjømann dro til ABC
For å lære litt om ABC
Men da han kom til ABC
så var det bare ABC

(A sailor went to ABC/to learn a little about ABC/but when he came to ABC/all there was was ABC)

En sjømann dro til Kina
For å lære litt om Kina
Men da han kom til Kina
Så var det bare Kina

(Same with China)

En sjømann dro til India
For å lære litt om India
Men da han kom til India
Så var det bare India

(Same with India)

En sjømann dro til Island
For å lære litt om Island
Men da han kom til Island
Så var det bare Island

(Same with Iceland)

En sjømann dro til ABC
For å lære litt om Kina
Men da han dro til India
Så var det bare Island

(Then the verses are mixed-up. The girls usually end the game in laughter!)

It is extremely interesting for me to learn that the handclapping games are associated with black girls! In Oslo we seem to have inherited the gender, but not the colour issue. Both immigrant and norwegian girls do these.

Subject: RE: Folklore: Do kids still do clapping rhymes?
From: Azizi
Date: 23 Jul 08 - 08:15 AM

From: GUEST,23 Jul 08 - 06:12 AM

Thank you for your interesting and informative post. I'm eager to learn moe about continuity & changes in English language children's rhymes that are recited in other languages.

Guest, 23 July 08-06:12 AM, you wrote "It is extremely interesting for me to learn that the handclapping games are associated with black girls!"

I would like to clarify any comments that I might have made that led you to this conclusion, by posting this excerpt from a portion of a book I'm writing on English language children's rhymes:

There are multiple sources for the text of American [United States] children's playground rhymes {the term "rhymes" as used here includes handclap games, ring [circle] games, jump rope rhymes, foot stomping cheers, and other types of usually rhyming chants}.

a)Verses of or references included in American [United States] children's playground rhymes come from a variety of sources including other handclap games & ring {circle} games from the United States, and other nations, but particularly the Great Britain

[italics used for emphasis]

b)Verses of or references included in American playground rhymes may also come from Mother Goose & other nursery rhymes; R&B songs;
Hip-Hop songs; Rock & Roll songs including references to R&B/Hip Hop, and Rock & Roll dances; cheerleader cheers, particularly dance style cheerleader cheers; fraternity & sorority steppin chants; drill team chants; gospel songs, particularly Black gospel songs; dance songs from 19th century African American slavery; songs from other cultures; and other types of songs.

c} Verses of or references included in American playground rhymes also come from folk customs such as the dozens insult exchange; contemporary street sayings & street slang; older/no longer used folk sayings & slang; military cadences; lines from or references to television shows or movies, including characters from those shows and stars from those shows; lines from television commercials; lines from product jingles; and references to popular cultural interest such as fashion, and sun sign astrology

Since the influence of African American culture is so deep, intertwined, and widespread in historical and present day American culture, it's not surprising that many of the textual sources of children's playground rhymes have come from and continue to come from African Americans. However, it would be inaccurate to say that all children's playground rhymes originate with African Americans. There may even be some basis for stating that the origin of most of American children's handclap rhymes and circle game songs that are still being played now did not originate among African Americans, though most of the text, and the performance activities have been adapted by African Americans.

That said, with regard to a relatively new style of playground rhyme-foot stomping cheers-most of the text originates in African American culture. And the performance activity of foot stomping cheers-which features girls usually standing in place while chanting call & response rhyming lines to their creation of bass sounding foot stomps alternating with {individual} handclaps or body pats-also clearly comes from traditional & contemporary African American culture

Click here for more information from my Cocojams website about foot stomping cheers

**

In my opinion, understanding the "originally" intended meaning of words & phrases in children's playground rhymes is often dependent on knowing the racial/ethnic origin of those rhymes. One example of this is the line "my name is [insert name]/I'm number nine/kickin it with Genuwine

These lines are from "Hollywood Swingin" {and similar titles}, a foot stomping cheer that later became a partner handclap rhyme. It's quite easy to misinterprete these lines if you didn't know that "kickin' it" means "spending social time with" and that "Genuwine" is the name of a popular male R&B singer.

"The spades go" is an interesting example of a phrase that has been separated from its original meaning. This phrase is found in a number of different children's handclap rhymes, among them this one:

The spades the spades the spades go iny miny popsa kiney i love bomaragn a hop a scoth a liver roch a peach a plum i have a stick of chewing gum and if u want the other half this is wut you say: amen amen amendiego sandieago bostn bruins rah rah rah boo boo boo criss cross apple sauce do me a favor get lost while ur at it drop dead either that or lose ur head bang on trash cans bang on tin cans i can u can nobody else can sitting on the bench nuthing to do along comes some one..cohey coochey coo! andu tickle the other person
By Sally on Friday, May 6, 2005 - 08:07 pm:
http://www.streetplay.com/discus/

In my opinion, the phrase "the spades go" originally meant "The Black people go", depending on one's culture "spades" is a mildly or highly derogatory referent for Black people. Of course, I very much doubt that most-or any-child reciting this rhyme knows the original meaning of this phrase.

In summary, there are many sources for American children's playground rhymes. In my opinion, a person would be wrong if he or she indicated that all of the text of these rhymes originated with Black Americans. However, in my opinion, a person would be on much more solid ground if he or she indicated that much of the text for American playground rhymes either came from or was & is heavily influenced by past & present African American cultures.

-Azizi Powell

Subject: RE: Folklore: Do kids still do clapping rhymes?
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 23 Jul 08 - 11:13 AM

All I have to offer is this observation: last month I was the Rocks & Minerals speaker at a Girl Scout camp, and I heard the girls doing clapping rhymes as I passed the meadow where they hung out. They ranged in age from 6 to 11.

So they're still doing it, I'm happy to say.

Subject: RE: Folklore: Do kids still do clapping rhymes?
From: GUEST,Ida Tolgensbakk Vedeld
Date: 28 Jul 08 - 05:05 AM

Hi again!

Thank you Azizi Powell for your informations! One more question: in Denmark and Norway the handclapping songs are almost uniquely something girls do. Boys might do them at home or in the classroom, but seldom "in public" / on the street.

Is this still the case in USA?

PS The danish folklore archive have a site where it is possible to hear kids clap&sing.

http://www.dafos.dk/brug-arkivet/kilder-online/boernetraditioner/en-soemand-tog-til-si-si-si.aspx

This is the "A sailor went to sea" - a common song in both Denmark and Norway since the 1970s.

This time I remember to sign with my name!

Subject: RE: Folklore: Do kids still do clapping rhymes?
From: Azizi
Date: 28 Jul 08 - 09:50 AM

Hello, Guest,Ida Tolgensbakk Vedeld

With regard to your thank you to me, "You're welcome"! I love collecting, sharing, and studying versions of children's playground rhymes. It's great to find other people who are also interesting in doing these things too.

**

Ida, thanks for letting us know about that website. Here is its hyperlink:

http://www.dafos.dk/brug-arkivet/kilder-online/boernetraditioner/en-soemand-tog-til-si-si-si.aspx

Is there a way built in feature on the Internet that that page can be translated to English? If not, Ida Tolgensbakk Vedeld, would you please translate what the English words are to this rhyme? Thanks!

Btw, I like the inclusion of the photographs on that page. I have a large collection of children's rhymes on my website at http://cocojams.com/.

Unfortunately, there are no photographs, videos, or song clips on my website. Hopefully, I'll eventually be able to add those features, but that words only website is the best that I can do by myself.

**

Ida, you wrote that "in Denmark and Norway the handclapping songs are almost uniquely something girls do. Boys might do them at home or in the classroom, but seldom "in public" / on the street". And you asked if that was the same in the USA.

In my experiences as an African American woman who grew up in the state of New Jersey in the 1950s, and who has lived in the state of Pennsylvania since 1969, the answer to your question depends on which kinds of handclapping songs you are talking about and whether they are directed to participate in circle games during school {as a fun, end of period group activity or for other reasons-see my last comment in this post about circle handclap games}.

In the states that I mentioned, among Black Americans {and I think Americans of other races/ethnicities [by "ethnicity" I mean "Latinos"/Hispanics which are not considered a race in the USA"], I think that some boys between the ages of 5-7 may do partner handclaps. But most boys that age and older don't because they have come to realize {as the results of comments from other boys and girls} that these games are considred "girl games".

I think that after age 7, few boys "do handclaps" at home and they definitely don't do so in the classroom or the playground or the streets.

But, in my experiences of conducting an after-school program & summer sessions in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania {1997-2004} and working as a substitute teacher in an African American school {2008} that most Black boys ages 5-12 will not start a circle handclap game such as "Strolla Ola Ola", "Quack Dilly Osa" or "Down By The Banks Of The Hanky Panky"Ah , but when they are directed by teachers or other adults to join in a competitive circle handclap game, they will join in those games and they appear to enjoy doing playing them once they get started.

All these games involve children {and/or teenagers and adults} standing [or sitting]in a circle and while chanting the words to the rhyme, starting with a designated person who is part of that circle, with each word, each child slaps the hand of the person to his or her right. At the end of each rendition on the chant, a person whose hand is slapped is out. This continues until there are only two people left. Those people face each other, and slap each others hands while chanting the rhyme {similar to what is done in partner handclaps}. Whoever's hand is slap at the end of this rendition is out, and the remaining person is the winner.

See the links listed above for the Mudcat threads on "Stella Ella Ola" and "Down By The Banks Of The Hanky Panky".

By the way, the only reason why I went into all that detail about dates, geographical location, and race is that any of these details might make a difference in the answers to questions about which age groups and genders play {or "do" as I say and as I've heard African Americans say} handclap rhymes.      

**

Ida, have you considered joining Mudcat? It's free and easy to do. Come on and join the number of us here who are interested in talking about children's playground rhymes and other subjects!

I hope you will join!

[This comment about joing Mudcat is for Ida and for any other guest who is reading this discussion thread].

Subject: RE: Folklore: Do kids still do clapping rhymes?
From: GUEST,Srut Miss Suzie
Date: 21 Nov 08 - 04:52 PM

I was trying to locate the words, renditions of this old school childrens game. Mmmmm, it sent me to your conversation. Pray tell, can anybody help.

SLD

Subject: RE: Folklore: Do kids still do clapping rhymes?
From: Azizi
Date: 21 Nov 08 - 05:45 PM

SLD,

"Strut Miss Suzie" is also known as "This-a Way Valarie", or at least these two African American and/or Afro-Caribbean singing games are very closely related to each other.


See this YouTube video clip of the 1967 Bill Eberien and Bess Lomax Hawes film "Pizza Pizza Daddy-o" that shows African American girls performing "This-A Way Valerie" and other singing games

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2YodFqZ7nQ

-snip-

Here are the words to that song as captured by that film:

"THIS-A-WAY VALERIE

References: Trent-Johns p. 14-17; Abrahams p. 130; Hawes-Jones (Zudie-0). I have also heard a tape of this game being played by Negro children in Austin, Texas. The children habitually played this game all the way through: That is, until everyone, whether skilled or inexpert, had had a turn to dance down between the lines. It is also notable that the basic formation never traveled during play; occasionally, the children, while holding hands during the first verse, would side-step slightly back to their original position. This was always done spontaneously, without direction or discussion.

This-a-way, Valerie,

Valerie, Valerie,

This-a-,gay, Valerie

All day long.

Oh, strut, Miss Lizzie

Lizzie, Lizzie

Strut, Miss Lizzie

All day long.

Oh, here come another one

Just like the other one,

Here come another one

All day long".

http://www.folkstreams.net/context,201

{Sorry, for some reason, the Mudcat clicky feature isn't working on my computer right now}

**

Also, here are two other versions of that song with performance instructions:

This Way Valerie
"This game works best with a fairly large group. You will need to have the girls get a buddy and then form 2 lines with the buddies facing each other. As soon as you have them in 2 straight lines they can start singing the song:

This way Valerie, That way Valerie,
This way Valerie all the way home.

Girls join hands with their buddy and sing this part while moving arms in a sawing motion - back and forth

Strut Miss Lucy, strut Miss Lucy,
Strut Miss Lucy all the way home.

Head girl in one line passes between the 2 lines making up any movement she wishes and falls in at the foot of the opposite line

Here comes another one just like the other one.
Here comes another one all the way home.

Buddy of the previous girl copies the movements just done by her buddy as she passes between the 2 lines and then joins the foot of the opposite line.

Both lines move up a wee bit and repeat the song over and over and over again until everyone has had a turn. The girls will eventually start getting quite creative in their actions if you play this many times."

http://www.scoutsongs.com/lyrics/thiswayvalerie.html

**

"Strut Miss Lucy (This Way Valerie)
(to the tune of "Shortnin' Bread")

Thanks very much to Jean, Barb, and Gail, who all helped me to piece together this song.

The girls line up in two lines facing each other. Each girl grabs hands with their partner and move arms alternately forward and back while singing the verse:

This way Valerie, that way Valerie,
This way Valerie, all the way home.

Take a couple of steps back and the head couple do the next two verses while everyone else sings and claps their hands. The girl on the right side struts down the line doing any action she wants. When she gets to the ends she joins the line on the left:

Strut Miss Lucy, strut Miss Lucy,
Strut Miss Lucy, all the way home.

The girl on the left copies the actions of the first girl during the next verse and when she gets to the end she joins the line on the right.

Here comes another one, just like the other one,
Here comes another one, all the way home".

http://dragon.sleepdeprived.ca/songbook/songs3/S3_96.htm

Subject: RE: Folklore: Do kids still do clapping rhymes?
From: paula t
Date: 04 Dec 08 - 06:02 PM

I use clapping rhymes as part of my year 3 and 4 music lessons along with skipping,selection and ball game rhymes. We learn some, look at ostinato, beat, etc. and then eventually move on to compose our own. The children love doing them.

Subject: RE: Folklore: Do kids still do clapping rhymes?
From: GUEST,Virginia Ann Marie
Date: 22 Dec 08 - 03:49 PM

I still do hand games cause im only 11.heres one that i know by heart:
1 2 3 4
i met my boyfriend at the candy store
he bought me ice cream
he bought me cake
he brought me home with a belly ache.
mother mother i feel sick
call up the docter quick quick quick
the docter said that iull be fine
hooray hooray im still alive!

Subject: RE: Folklore: Do kids still do clapping rhymes?
From: Azizi
Date: 22 Dec 08 - 04:21 PM

Thank you, Virginia Ann Marie, for sharing the words you know to that hand clapping game.

Happy Holidays!

Subject: RE: Folklore: Do kids still do clapping rhymes?
From: Shoyu
Date: 22 Dec 08 - 07:02 PM

I went to a workshop on playground games the other day (I'm a music teacher). It was great, I remembered loads of them from when I was a child and learned some new ones. Some of them were REALLY hard!

I find when I do them in lessons the kids love them. They also love making up their own clapping and action songs and teaching me and the rest of the class.

Subject: RE: Folklore: Do kids still do clapping rhymes?
From: GUEST,Virginia Ann Marie
Date: 22 Dec 08 - 10:51 PM

Azizi i hope you too have a merry christmas indeed.Goodnight from london england.

Subject: RE: Folklore: Do kids still do clapping rhymes?
From: Azizi
Date: 04 Mar 09 - 04:53 PM

It's March 2009 and I'm just reading this post.

I'm sorry.

I hope that Virginia Ann Marie didn't think that I was being rude.

I hope that she and everyone else had a good Christmas and will be happy, healthy, and creative this year.

Subject: RE: Folklore: Do kids still do clapping rhymes?
From: GUEST,Sarah
Date: 18 Jun 09 - 09:09 AM

I am now in 8th grade, and when I was younger me and my class mates played all of those handgames. To this day, anytime we get bored in school we play them. I have noticed that the younder kids at our school don't know the lyrics or hand motions to the games but are fascinated when we play them.

Subject: RE: Folklore: Do kids still do clapping rhymes?
From: Azizi
Date: 18 Jun 09 - 10:10 AM

Hi, GUEST Sarah.

Thanks for sharing your comment with us and thanks for providing some demographical information-your grade in school. It would be great if you would also share where you live (for the purposes of this discussion forum-city,state if in the USA, or city, country if outside of the USA). That helps people who study the topic of contemporary children's playground rhymes get a sense of what is going on in different areas.

It's a shame that some younger children are missing out on the creativity of saying and performing children's hand games. I wonder what they are doing in place of this past time.

Thanks again.

Ms. Azizi

Subject: RE: Folklore: Do kids still do clapping rhymes?
From: GUEST,Guest, Chloe
Date: 20 Jun 09 - 10:44 AM

We did clapping games when I was in primary, but the words weren't exactly like I've seen them. One was 'A-B-C Together' and we did 'Miss Suzy.' I think I've heard the one about the Chinese Restaurant (variant with Elvis Presley).
But this is funny: I also know Eenie Meenie Sicileeny, with different words to the ones I've found on the net. I know it from a two-week holiday in Greece when I was eleven. It was a resort, most of the other girls were English. So these rhymes are still getting passed around! (I never saw any boys do clapping rhymes or skipping rope games - and we never played skipping rope games either).
I think I'm about equivalent of eighth or ninth grade, but I don't know if younger pupils still play these games because there's a split between primary and secondary - when I came back from that holiday, I never bothered to teach any of my friends Eenie Meenie because we were in High School and too 'grown up.'
By the way, Azizi: I live in Scotland. Children still play creative playground games, but they more involve running around - tag, piggy-in-the-middle, Granny Greensteps.

Subject: RE: Folklore: Do kids still do clapping rhymes?
From: Azizi
Date: 20 Jun 09 - 11:31 AM

Hi Chloe!

Thanks for sharing that information and including demographical information-your grade equivalent, your gender, where you live, and where you learned the particular rhymes that you mentioned.

With regard to the running around games*, I have a general sense of how kids play "tag" (I think that that game is probably very similar all around the world). But I'd appreciate you sharing how do you play "piggy-in-the-middle" and "Granny Greensteps". I've never heard of those games before.

Thanks again,

Ms. Azizi

*There a some other Mudcat discussion threads about playground games(In the partial list above, they are described as "playground songs or playground games).

Subject: RE: Folklore: Do kids still do clapping rhymes?
From: GUEST,Uly
Date: 20 Jun 09 - 03:11 PM

I think "Piggy in the Middle" is the same game as Monkey in the Middle or as Keepaway.

Growing up, I always knew Monkey in the Middle and Keepaway as two different games - the first was a real game, where if the person in the middle caught the whatever-it-was they switched with whoever had missed catching it and the game went on; and the second was not a game at all but a form of bullying. But I've been told not everybody had the same conventions.

Subject: RE: Folklore: Do kids still do clapping rhymes?
From: Azizi
Date: 20 Jun 09 - 03:24 PM

Thanks, Uly.

I've never heard of Monkey in the Middle or Keepaway either.

Are these English (or British) children's games? You mentioned someone in the middle catching something. Is that "something" usually a ball? Are the players girls and/or boys? What is the usual age range? And do the players chant anything while playing this games?

Subject: RE: Folklore: Do kids still do clapping rhymes?
From: GUEST,Uly
Date: 21 Jun 09 - 03:03 AM

Never heard of either?

Piggy in the Middle is, I believe, the British name for those games, though I'm American. (There was a whole conversation in the Brit-picking comm on LJ recently, that's how I know this.)

I haven't played Monkey in the Middle in a long time, and I mostly only ever played with my sister - no chanting, you just throw whatever's handy (usually a ball or a frisbee) until you're bored.

Keepaway is... it's that thing you see in movies or TV where somebody snatches somebody's hat or jacket or book and throws it around while the poor sap is trying to get it back. Which is really a boy thing. Girls bully each other differently, usually, don't they? (Funnily enough, in my years of MASSIVE BULLYING growing up, nobody ever pulled this on me.)

Subject: RE: Folklore: Do kids still do clapping rhymes?
From: GUEST,Caroline
Date: 22 Jun 09 - 01:04 AM

CHINESE RESTURAUNT:

This is the version I had always done - i Didn't see it anywhere else.

I went to the chinese rest-ur-aunt
to buy a loaf of bread, bread, bread
they asked me what my name was
and this is what I said, said, said

My name is ee-ay, ee-ay
nick-a-ny, nick-a-ny
pom-pom-poodle
willie-willie whiskers

my name is
Elvis Presley
girls are hmm - hmm (the good odl days when sexy was a bad word)
sitting in the hot tub
drinking diet pepsi

My name is
Chief Roast Beef

Subject: RE: Folklore: Do kids still do clapping rhymes?
From: GUEST,me
Date: 22 Jun 09 - 07:14 PM

we do these ones(we're in gr 5):

double double this this
double double that that
double this double that
double double that that

Miss suzie had a steamboat
it even had a bell (ding ding)
the steamboat went to heaven,
miss suzie went to
HELLo operator,connect me number 9
and if you disconnect me, ill kick
your fat behind the fridgerator, there
was a pane of glass, miss lucy sat upon
it, and popped her big fake
ask me no more questions,ill tell u no more lies,
the boys are in the bathroom zipping up there flies r
in the meadow,bee's r in the park, miss lucy and her
boyfriend r kissing in the dark-er then the ocean, darker
then the sea, darker than the underwear my mommy puts on
me. SEE!?!

I went to a chinise resterant to order me some bread bread bread
the waiter asked me for a name and this is what i said

My name is hi lo picklo
picklo hi lo, hi lo picklo picklo
YO!

Gimme a break,gimme a break, break me off a piece of that kit kat bar
choclaty taste, makes my day, break me of a piece of that kit kat bar
i don't care what people say, just break me off a piece of that,gotta have a piece a that, gimme a piece of that KIT KAT BAR!


and Lemonade, and alot more!

Subject: RE: Folklore: Do kids still do clapping rhymes?
From: GUEST
Date: 03 Jul 09 - 02:01 PM

yes they do in our school anyway

Subject: RE: Folklore: Do kids still do clapping rhymes?
From: GUEST,Catherine
Date: 03 Jul 09 - 11:47 PM

I'm from a small town in Australia, The kids here at the local primary school still do them but as time has gone on they have got progressivly ruder.
My five younger sisters and three younger brothers LOVE playing hand clapping games. Even at school! The kids still play elastics here too! The chants they sing playing elastics is "England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Inside, Outside, Inside, ON... Then they have to jump on both sides of the elastics. I am 18 and i still enjoy playing these games with my younger siblings and my neices and nephews. Learning the new chants is always fun! I'm one of 12 (HUGE family) and all 12 of us have had fun with clapping games.

Subject: RE: Folklore: Do kids still do clapping rhymes?
From: Azizi
Date: 04 Jul 09 - 08:02 AM

Thanks to all who have shared versions of this rhyme with us.

Special thanks to those who remembered to add when and where (geographical location) they learned it.


**

Guest Catherine, I have five siblings. But I've known two families (whose children are now in their 20s and 30s) who have had 10 and 12 children. Some of the children were adopted.

Anyway, I wanted to take this opportunity to especially thank you for sharing this rhyme and others with us-and for remembering to add demographical information. I believe that it's important to add such information as it helps people like me who not only like to read these rhymes but also like to study how the words & the performance of rhymes may change over time and place, and how rhymes may be different at the same time but within different populations. Of course, another reason to share examples of rhymes is to perform them-but most people who are member of this forum aren't performing rhymes anymore.

Which brings me to a point, Catherine and other guests, please consider joining Mudcat. Membership in this forum is free and easy to do. Just click on the word "Membership" near the right hand corner at the top of this page and follow those easy instructions. You will have to give an email address, but no one else sees it but the moderators.

One advantage of being a member is that you are able to have a listing of all your posts to this forum. Another membership perk is that you can get private messages (like emails) from members, and can send them to members.

Of course, you don't have to join Mudcat to post comments here. I just wanted you and other guests to know that you would be welcome if you joined.

Best wishes,

Ms. Azizi

Subject: RE: Folklore: Do kids still do clapping rhymes?
From: GUEST,Emily
Date: 13 Apr 10 - 03:32 PM

You know, I have seen many versions of Miss Susie had a Steamboat, but I have never, on any website, seen the way I used to do it. It's pretty much all the same, but the ending is different. It went like this:

Miss Susie had a steamboat, the steamboat had a horn
Toot! Toot!
Miss Susie went to heaven, the steamboat went to
Hello operator, give me number 9, and if you disconnect me
I'll chop of your behind the 'fridgerator, there was a piece of
glass, Miss Susie fell upon it and broke her little
Ask me no more questions, tell me no more lies,
the boys are in the bathroom, zipping up thier flies
Are in the meadow, the bees are in their hives,
Miss Susie and her boyfriend are kissing in the D-A-R-K
Dark! Dark! Dark! Darker than the ocean, darker than the sea
Darker than the black boy that just kissed me, YUCK! (wipe face)

Haha, I've never seen anybody post that ending before, so I just thought I'd share it.

Subject: RE: Folklore: Do kids still do clapping rhymes?
From: Bettynh
Date: 14 Apr 10 - 08:58 AM

from Indiana

New York State

Kenya

Subject: RE: Folklore: Do kids still do clapping rhymes?
From: GUEST,NK
Date: 18 Mar 11 - 09:34 AM

Remembering this one from elementary school (but you had to do it whilst standing:

Mr. Dan Dan Dan
Mr. Dan Dan Dan
Hug me
Kiss me
Say that you love me
*stretching legs* I love you

Mr. Dan Dan Dan
Mr. Dan Dan Dan
Punch me
Kick me
Say that you hate me
*stratching legs* I hate you

This goes on until everybody falls and the person that could stretch the most and keep on standing wins.

---

Another one is:

My mother your mother lived down street
18 19 marble street
And every time they had a fight
This is what they say all night

Boys go to Jupiter to be more stupider
Girls go to mars to be rockstars

Itsee bitsee lollipop, itsee bitsee bo
Itsee bitsee lollipop, the boys love you!

----
Last:

Ameena *clap clap clap*
Superstina *clap clap clap*
Lazy boys *clap clap clap*
Super girls *clap clap clap*
*now faster*
Ameena
Supersteena
Lazy boys
Super girls
S
T
O
P
STOP
*no one moves*
The first to move loses and the last to stay in one position without moving wins.

Subject: RE: Folklore: Do kids still do clapping rhymes?
From: GUEST,brittany
Date: 04 Jun 11 - 08:51 AM

yes at least i do like

Shame,shame,shame,
I dont wanna go to mexico,
no more more more,theres
a big fat policeman,
at the door door door,if you
grab him by the collar boy you better
hollar if you grab him by the pants,
boy you betta dance,i dont wanna go to mexico
no more more more shut the door
Im 13 and i still play that

Subject: RE: Folklore: Do kids still do clapping rhymes?
From: GUEST,Megan
Date: 07 Jul 11 - 01:12 AM

I'm from New Orleans and I'm remember a lot of these mentioned, but I don't see one that I'm DYING to remember - it was in nonsense words and it was a pretty complex clapping game that sounded like this...

Bo-bo see-otton-cotton....

Ringing a bell for anyone?

Subject: RE: Folklore: Do kids still do clapping rhymes?
From: GUEST
Date: 28 Oct 11 - 08:42 AM

I'm 34 and from Australia. I don't know if any clapping games are still being played by the young kids, but I've been trying to remember the ones I played when I was in primary school.

Miss Mary Mak:
We had the same version that everyone has mentioned here, though I could have sworn we said that the cat jumped so high, not the elephant. Plus, one of my cousins had the surname of Mak, so I loved playing it whenever I visited her.

The hand clapping went like this:
*With two girls facing each other)*
         Miiiss
(hands crossed in front, touching own shoulders)
         Maaa-
(own hands touching your knees, straight down)
         -ryyyy
(clap your own hands together)
         Mak!
(slap your right hand only with the other girl's right hand, in effect crossing your arm in front of you, and then clap your own hands together)
         Mak!
(slap your left hand only with the other girl's left hand, then clap your own hands)
         Mak!
(slap your right hand only with the other girl's right hand)
         All dressed in black, black, black
(repeat hands movements)

Etc. until the end of the song, going faster and faster, repeating the song until someone fumbles.

Ronald McDonald:
We sang a slightly different version, but I can't, for the life me, remember it.

Under the Apple Tree. This was our version:

Under the apple tree
My boyfriend said to me
Kiss me, hug me,
tell me that you love me

Under the apple tree
My boyfriend said to me
Get lost!

Chinese Checkers:
We sang a different version. I think this is how it went:

I went to a Chinese restaurant
To buy a loaf of bread
I asked him what his name was
And this is what he said
Myyyy naaaaame is
Chinese Checkers
Cheese on toast
Put it in the oven
And poke, poke poke!

I remember a couple of games too. One was Crocodile, crocodile. My school playground had a couple of huge tractor tyres, laying down and embedded in the ground. Us kids would stand on top of the tyre, with one kid standing in the hole in the middle, designated "it". Then we would chant this song:

Crocodile, Crocodile, can I cross the river?
If not, why not, what's your favourite colour?

"It" would shout a colour (i.e. Pink!) and any kid wearing that colour tried to jump to the other side of the tyre without being tagged by "it". If tagged, that kid became "it" and the old "it" joined the other kids on the tyre for the next chant. And so on.

Another game I played with my cousins was "Red Light, Green Light". There were a lot of us in roughly the same age group, so this was a popular game for us at get togethers.

All of us lined up at one end of the back yard, this was the starting line.

One kid, designated "It", went up to the other end of the bark yard (the finish line) and had their back turned to the rest of us.

"It" would start the game by yelling out "Green Light!" which meant that you could start walking up to the finish line. You weren't allowed to run.

It would then yell out either Green Light! or Red Light! at any moment.

If It yelled Green Light!, you were safe to keep creeping to the finish line. If It yelled Red Light!, you had to freeze so that when he/she spun around, you weren't caught moving and had to go back to the starting line and creep up again.

To make it harder knowing which was Red Light or Green Light, It would half turn whenever yelling out "Green Light", trying to trick us into actually freezing. You could freeze, actually, but that meant other peeople were overtaking you by not freezing. You had to pay attention to words, not actions.

The first person to get to the finish and tag It was the winner.

Subject: RE: Folklore: Do kids still do clapping rhymes?
From: GUEST,Anonymous
Date: 22 Jun 13 - 01:44 PM

It goes like this:

Apple on a stick, makes me sick,
Makes my heart beat 2-4-6

Not because you're dirty, not because you're clean,
Not because you kissed a boy behind the magazine!

Boys and girls are having fun,
Here comes the lady with the big fat bum!

She can wibble, she can wobble, she can even do the splits,
But I betcha, I betcha, she can't do this

Close your eyes and count to 10, If you mess up, then you're not my friend -
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10

You didn't mess up, so you're still my friend
This is the end of Chapter 10
Amen..........Amen!

Also:

Down, down baby, down by the rollercoaster
Mama never let you go cause you're the one I wan't the mosta
Shimmy shimmy coca pop, shimmy shimmy pow!I like coffee, I like tea, I like a colour boy and he likes meSo step back white boy, you don't shineI'll get the colour boy to beat yo' behindLet get the rhythm of the hands (clap, clap)We've got the rhythm of the hands (clap, clap)Let's get the rhythm of the feet We've got the rhythm of the feet
Lets get the rhythm of the head DING-DONGWe've got the rhythm of the head DING-DONG
Peace!


Also:

Friends are like sisters, friends are like bliss,
Friends are like anything that goes a little like this –

We go up, down, turn around, hug, hug, hug, hug,
Drinkin' hot choc 'till the day is done from the mug.

Friends are like sisters, friends are like bliss,
Friends are like anything that goes a little like this –

We go up, down, turn around, hug, hug, hug, hug,
Talkin' on the phone 'till the day is done.

Friends are like sisters, friends are like bliss,
Friends are like anything that goes a little like this.
(Never let each other get down...)


Also:

Lemonade (clap clap clap)
Crunchy ice (clap clap clap)
Beat it once (clap clap clap)
Beat it twice (clap clap clap)
Lemonade, crunchy ice
Beat it once
Beat it twice
Lemonade, crunchy ice
Beat it once,
beat it twice
Shush! 

Also:

Miss Mary Mack, Mack, Mack, all dressed in black, black, black,
With silver buttons, buttons, buttons, all down her back, back, back.

She asked her mother, mother, mother, for 50 cents, cents, cents,
To watch the elephants, elephants, elephants, jump over the fence, fence, fence.

They jumped so high, high, high, they reached the sky, sky, sky,
They never came back, back, back until July, -ly, -ly!


Also:

There's a party 'round the corner, please, please come,
Bring your own cups and saucers and your own cream bun!

Who. Is. Your. Loved. One?
*whoever it is* will be there throwing peanuts in the air
Singin' la, la, lumber. Singin' Singin' la, la, lumber.

King, queen, jack, ace!




Basically, clap songs rock...
#clap

Subject: RE: Folklore: Do kids still do clapping rhymes?
From: GUEST,gobbledegook
Date: 22 Jun 13 - 01:50 PM

I know one...

Pepsi cola, pepsi cola.
Ali ali pussycat, ali ali pussycat -

The boys got the muscles,
The teachers can't count,
The girls got the sexy legs -
Ya better watch out!

You gotta hypnotise,
Paralyse,
Turn around,
And faint!



lolz

Subject: RE: Folklore: Do kids still do clapping rhymes?
From: GUEST,guest
Date: 21 Aug 13 - 11:23 PM

I once played a part in an outdoor "Passion Play" (Lake County, Calif.) and at the end, when all of us who'd acted in the play came down the hill to greet the audience, a grown daughter of a friend came up and celebrated the event by drawing me right into a hand-clapping game. This was some year between 1983 and 2000, I reckon. It involved clapping our own hands, clapping each other's hands, sometimes straight across and other times crossing them, and I think some twirling of the arms. Can't remember if it had a chant with it - I don't think so. I'd seen such before, but it was my initiation, and my first and only go at it. (And it was sooooooo FUNNNNNNNN !!!!!)

Subject: RE: Folklore: Do kids still do clapping rhymes?
From: GUEST
Date: 22 Aug 13 - 02:06 AM

complex cmqpping the the Banana Boat Song in the primqrt school playground: think it was a radio hit at the time.

Subject: RE: Folklore: Do kids still do clapping rhymes?
From: GUEST,Ashanta
Date: 12 Mar 14 - 07:55 PM

Lol its funny I still do them and im 16

Subject: RE: Folklore: Do kids still do clapping rhymes?
From: GUEST
Date: 13 Mar 14 - 10:48 AM

Guillaume
Le méchant homme
Qui a tué un million d'hommes

Sa femme
La Béatrice
Qui est la reine des saucisses

Elle mange
Des pot's d'orange
Et des saucisses à la sauce blanche

Le dimanche
En robe blanche
Et le samedi en bikini
Ouistiti!

Current in Belgium in the late 1990s

Subject: RE: Folklore: Do kids still do clapping rhymes?
From: GUEST,ADalton
Date: 04 Oct 14 - 01:20 AM

I was in elementary school when this thread started. I remember:

Down by the banks of the Hanky-Panky
Where the bullfrogs jump from bank to banky
Where the eeps, ops, soda-pops,
Froggy missed a lilly and he went ker-plop.

Also something like:

Girls go to college to get more knowledge
Boys go to Jupiter to get more stupider
Girls go to Mars, to get more candy bars!

And one that started:
Down down baby,
I can do karate


I'm sure there were more, but I don't remember them at the moment.

Subject: RE: Folklore: Do kids still do clapping rhymes?
From: GUEST,ADalton
Date: 04 Oct 14 - 01:22 AM

Forgot to add that I went to school in Los Angeles, CA.