Houzz Logo Print
3r3o3b

Did you ever play clapping games?

7 years ago
last modified: 7 years ago

When I was young, we always played those clapping games. For some reason, it came up the other night and I was able to tell my son all the words to Miss Mary Mack. The stuff we remember can be so weird!

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 fifty cents, cents, cents
To see the elephants, elephants, elephants
Jump over the fence, fence, fence
They jumped so high, high, high
They touched the sky, sky, sky
And didn’t come back, back, back
Till the fourth of July, July, July


My older sister played it when she came from the Philippines?! So I sorta figure it's "universal". Her game was:


(first one said it, then the other repeated)

Flea

flea fly

Cummala cummala cummala fiesta

On and on and on a fiesta

(said together)

Ennie meenie decameanie do what-you-whatcha-wanna-meanie

Hotchie kotchie cumalatchie do what you want...

Do you have one you want to share?

Comments (32)

  • 7 years ago

    My boyfriends name is Tony

    He came from the land of bologna

    With a pickle for a nose, and three black toes, that's the way my story goes.

    One day he gave me peaches

    One day he gave me pears

    One day he gave me 50 cents and took me to the fair

    And when the fair was over

    I asked him to take me home

    He said he had another date

    And would rather walk alone

    I made him do the dishes

    I made him mop the floor

    I made him eat an oyster

    Behind the kitchen door door door.

  • 7 years ago

    We also played using the lyrics to the song "Rockin Robin"

    We sang some naughty ones too, cant think of the lyrics tho

  • Related Discussions

    Have you played the 'encircle the cat' game?

    Q

    Comments (5)
    I finally won a game. It wasn't simple to me. I stayed ahead of the cat in a sort of zigzagging way but that may not be the answer because I tried that way again and that cat beat me over and over and I haven't won since. Blasted Ol' cat. LOL
    ...See More

    What games do you play?

    Q

    Comments (41)
    Crossword puzzles. It's rare when I can't finish one but I'm not good enough to solve in pen... at least not confidently. I print out several almost every day to do during any slow time at school. I try to encourage students to join me (HS aged) but they're really not interested. They have to THINK and have more than a 3-4 letter word vocabulary, so don't have the patience.
    ...See More

    Have you played the game TRUE?

    Q

    Comments (16)
    I played for the 2nd time last night for a few minutes and managed to get 18 again (again in foods). Got some higher numbers in a couple of other categories too, but didn't have time (or the concentration) to play long. 34, wow! What category was that? I found that some questions get repeated if you play several times.
    ...See More

    Have you ever played Shrub Madness?

    Q

    Comments (52)
    Beautiful photos Diane. "Eastern" or "Old Fashioned" Snowball (V. opulus roseum) and American Cranberry Viburnum (V. trilobum) as well as Arrowwood Viburnum used to be perfectly good shrubs in my area until VLB arrived. The other "snowball" viburnum (V. plicatum) is also nice (and resistant to VLB), and a number of cultivars are available. I have a V. plicatum Kern's Pink which has darker foliage for good contrast with the long lasting blooms (very light pink turning white):
    ...See More
  • 7 years ago

    Later on we played hand jive

  • 7 years ago
    last modified: 7 years ago

    AAA, we too sang Rockin' Robin with clapping game in concert band class in junior high school! I forgot we did that. In high school we sang our own lyrics to Here she comes just walking down the street singing doo wah diddy diddy dum diddy doo... High school ought to tell you those lyrics.

  • 7 years ago

    Oh geez, I'd forgotten doing this is elementary school!

    There was one we did that started off "Down, down baby, down by the rollercoaster. Sweet, sweet baby, don't let it roll you over. Shimmy bop, shimmy bop..." that's all I remember.

  • 7 years ago

    No, but the ones posted are interesting.

  • 7 years ago

    I remember playing them and getting really good, our hands would go numb eventually because we’d clap so long. Ah, those simpler times. We’d play that on the bus and then jumping rope for hours once we got home.

  • 7 years ago

    The only one I remember is Patty Cake.

  • 7 years ago

    “See see my playmate, come out and play with me and bring your dollies three. Slide down my rain pipe into my cellar door and we’ll be jolly friends for evermore” That’s all I remember but the clapping and handwork was quite complicated.

  • 7 years ago
    last modified: 7 years ago

    That's the part that is really escaping my memory. We sort of gave each other a two handed "five", each of our right hands over the other's left hand, did the crossing over thing the girls do in the attached video, and then I remember something about our hands flipping backward at some point... but that's it.

  • 7 years ago

    Boy, I remember my sister's wrong! (the attached video lyrics look very close)

  • 7 years ago

    We’d sit in a circle, count off with each of us having a number, and then do a clapping and snapping chant. One would say, while everyone clapped and snapped their fingers, “Who stole the cookies from the (snap) cookie jar?” The next in order would pick a number and say,” Number _ stoke the cookies from the (snap) cookie jar.” “Not me.” “Yes, you.” “Not me.” “Then who?” “Number —_ stole the cookies from the (snap) cookie jar.” Good grief, sorry....didn’t realize it was so long and that I’d actually remember it!

  • 7 years ago
    last modified: 7 years ago

    Oh, I know Flea, flea fly! Taught it to my Brownie troop! Late 70’s.

    It ended with “Be Billy often boaten, be bop be beaten bottom, SHHH!

  • 7 years ago

    Yes, but only in California, after I moved to Nevada in the 5th grade, the kids there didn't play those games...or maybe we were just too old then?

  • 7 years ago

    Miss susie had a steamboat

    The steamboat had a bell

    Miss susie went to heaven

    The steamboat went to

    Hello operator

    Give me number 9

    And if you disconnect me

    I'll hit you from

    Behind the frigerator

    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

    I caught her in the bedroom

    Eating chocolate pies!

    It looks weirder in print than it sounded on the playground......


  • 7 years ago

    I remember Miss Susie!

  • 7 years ago

    My boyfriend's name is Jello,

    He comes from the land of Mello,

    With freckles on his nose,

    And carrots on his toes,

    And that's the way my story goes!

  • 7 years ago

    You all are bringing back memories. I can still go through all the motions, which included crossing your arms and tapping your shoulders, then hitting your thighs.

  • 7 years ago

    My boy friend gave me peaches.

    My boy friend gave me pears.

    My boy friend gave me 50 cents and kissed me on the stairs!

    i gave him back his peaches.

    i gave him back his pears.

    i gave him back his 50 cents and kicked him down the stairs!

  • 7 years ago

    No clapping games. I can vaguely remember jump rope chants. I remember dirty songs that my friend learned at summer camp and taught me when she came home.

  • 7 years ago
    last modified: 7 years ago

    I remember the Miss Susie, but I thought it was Lucy, but, maybe that way another one..

    Miss Marry Mack, Mack Mack and dressed in black, black black? ? Not sure if this was offensive?

    Skibby, I remember all of yours too.

    Similar, we used to play one with a ball. A my name is Alice and my husbands name is Al, we come from Alabama and we eat apples. All the a words, your leg goes over the ball.

    Then your friend does a b series until you complete the alphabet.

  • 7 years ago

    One of the jump rope ones was....Cinderella dressed in yellow, went upstairs to see her fellow.

    That is all I remember of that one.

    And this one for choosing something:

    Einie, meanie, miney, mo,

    Catch a monkey by his toe.

    If he hollers make him pay, fifty dollars every day.

    Oh you dirty dish rag you!

    My momma told me to choose this one,

    But I was a naughty girl and chose this very best one.


  • 7 years ago

    I remember a jump rope chant that started a Teddy bear, teddy bear, touch the ground, teddy bear teddy bear, turn around. That’s all I remember.

    Marilyn we said Ernie, meenie, but used a different word for monkey. It was a horrible slur but we were so little we had no idea what we were saying. As I recall we were then taught to say a Tiger instead, thank heavens.

  • 7 years ago

    Cinderella dressed in yella

    Went upstairs to kiss a fella

    Made a mistake and kissed a snake

    How many doctors did it take?

    (the the jumprope went to "hots" and you counted those jumps)

  • 7 years ago

    I remember Teddy Bear! But just as much as Dedtired.

  • 7 years ago

    This was the version we did at camp:

    Flea
    Flea fly
    Flea fly flow
    Fista
    Coomberalla coomberalla coomberalla fista
    Oh no no no no navista
    Eeny meeny dessimeeny oowalla-walla-meeny
    Exameeny salameeny oowalla wah
    Beep diddlee oppenboppen mo bo badeepin dopping
    Shhhhhhhh!

    We also clapped to the "A sailor went to sea sea sea; to see what he could see see see" chant. I don't remember any other clapping songs, but we had a ton of jump rope songs and chants.

  • 7 years ago

    We did Rudebekia's this way:


    Koomalah Koomalah Koomalah Vista

    Koomalah Koomalah Koomalah Vista

    Nah nah-nah nah-nah-nah vista

    Vista vista

    Eskamina Salamina oo-wah kawalla meena

    Eskamina Salamina oo-wah-wah

    Bee billeb alley oh ooooo



  • 7 years ago

    Here's another one


    Miss Lucy had a baby

    She named him 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

    The doctor called the nurse

    The nurse called the lady

    With the alligator purse.

    Chicken pox said the doctor

    Measles said the nurse

    Mumps said the lady

    With the alligator purse.


    Has anyone else noticed that a lot of these are to the same tune or is that just how I learned them?

  • 7 years ago

    Here's the real lyrics to Flea.

    Flea Fly

    Red Hot Chili Peppers

    Flea, flea
    Flea fly, flea fly
    Flea fly flo, flea fly flo

    Bee stay
    Bee stay

    A kooma lata, kooma lata, bee stay
    A kooma lata, kooma lata, bee stay
    Oh, no, no, no, not to bee stay
    Oh, no, no, no, not to bee stay

    Eenee meenee, exameenee, exameenee
    Sala meenee, eenee meenee, examee-nee
    Exameenee, sala meenee, so

    Eenee meenee, exameenee, exameenee
    Sala meenee, eenee meenee, examee-nee
    Exameenee, sala meenee, so

    Weepa sapa, eepa sapa, eepa sapa little
    And a run scum tum, tie me, oh
    Weepa sapa, eepa sapa, eepa sapa little
    Little, little, spittle, blow

    Weepa sapa, eepa sapa, eepa sapa little
    And a run scum tum, tie me, oh

    Songwriters: MICHAEL PETER BALZARY,JACK IRONS,ANTHONY KIEDIS,HILLEL SLOVAK

    © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC,MoeBeToBlame


  • 7 years ago

    The flea fly thing was around LONG before the RHCP.

  • 7 years ago

    Was not familiar with clapping games growing up. When I first started teaching elementary 4th grade I noticed the girls doing the clapping game on the playground. I was amazed.