Games played at school or in the street as a child often came with a song or rhyme attached.Can you remember any from your chidhood?

I don’t remember many games that involved any singing, aside from some skipping rope rhymes that involved bashing boys. >_>

“Red Rover, Red Rover, let _____ come over!”

“Ring around the rosies, pocket full of posies, ashes, ashes, we all fall down!”

“Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Sailor, Rich Man, Poor Man, Beggarman, Thief, Doctor, Lawyer, Indian Chief”

We used to skip rope to “cross down when Sally was one, she learned to suck her thumb….” even though that was a hand slapping game. We had a song for hopscotch too but I don’t remember it. Ring around the rosies was a favorite of mine.

“Down by the banks of the Hanky Panky / Where the bullfrogs jump from bank to banky / With a hip, hop, hippity hop / There goes the little one, kerplop” It was a hand slapping game where you sit around a circle.

“England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales / Inside, outside, puppy dog tails” For an elastics game. (Went to school in Australia. Don’t know if Americans have this. It’s like a long elastic band you hook on people’s shoes, or whatever.)

Oh Mary Mack, Mack, Mack

All dressed in black, black, black

With silver buttons, buttons, buttons

All down her back, back, back

She called her mother, mother, mother

For fifty-cent, cent, cent

To see the elephant, elephant, elephant

Jump over the fence, fence, fence.

We did this with “pitty pat” hands;

Now isn’t this a refreshing change from all that intellectual jousting. Childhood memories ahhhhh!

@eeveegurl Absolutely fantastic!

@TLRobinson – !! I loved that one! Reminds me the other chants that I can’t remember anymore.

@TLRobinson Imagine how long that would take if the person had a stutter.

@TLRobinson I was trying to remember that one for a good 10 minutes before I gave up. :-)

Simon says,“Hop on one foot.”
One potato, two potato, three potato, four….

@Symbeline Tell me about it. When I was at school in England the boys were banned from kicking a football in case the girls got hurt. Lost count how many boys were injured caught up in the bloody skipping ropes. Sexist bias . Still never mind.

we used to throw conkers at the girls and sing pretty much the latest pop hits while doing it, not sure if it’s a proper game though but it was fun.

seemed to me it was the girls who did the singing and playing cos, well, we were boys! lol

@ucme- too funny!

Here’s another oldy but goody

Cee, Cee my playmate

come out and play with me;

Damnit, I’ve forgotten the rest! Help!

I’m a nut.
In a hut.
I stole an apple from a tree, so what?
I’m crazy.
I’m foolish.
I’m crazy.
I’m foolish.
And I’m cool!

@TLRobinson Sounds like a line on facebook to me~ Must confess that’s a new one on me.I have another, dip doo maga zoo who’s on not you! How very high brow.

@ucme – reminds me of – dip dip sky blue, who’s it, not you!

@ Blondesjon Right that’s enough about you. Now try answering the question if you’re not too busy~

Here are some of the ways we determined who was it:

Engine. Engine. Number nine.
Going down the Chicago line.
If the train goes off the tracks,
Do you want your money back.

——————————————————————-

My mother and your mother were hanging out clothes.
My mother punched your mother right in the nose.
What color was the blood?

———————————————————————

Doggy Doggy step right out!

———————————————————————

Eeeny. Meeny. Miney. Moe.
Catch a tiger by his toe.
If he hollers make him pay,
Fifty dollars every day.
My mother told me to pick the very best one and you are not it.

Wonder if this is how they pass the time at the U.N. I bet Kofi Annan knows some great lines.

My favorite jump rope song was:

Cinderella, dressed in yella
Went upastairs to kiss a fella
Made a mistake
And kissed a snake!
How many docotrs did it take?

@knitfroggy I think the Iraqi’s sung that when Saddam was executed.

Cinderella, dressed in yella’
went upstairs to kiss a fella
made a mistake and kissed a snake
how many doctors did it take?
——-
ink, a bink
a bottle of ink
the cork fell out
and you stink!
——-
Oooey Gooey
was a worm
and a big fat worm was he
he climbed up on the railroad track
the train he didn’t see…
oooooeeeey goooooeeey!
——-

Oh and my mom would sing this to us to make us laugh:

Three, six, nine, the goose drank wine.
The monkey chewed tobacco on the street car line.
The line broke
The monkey got choked
And they all went to Heaven in a little row boat! Uh-huh!

@ucme really?

Well something similair

These determined who was “it.”

“Down by the banks of the hanky panky
Where the bull frogs jump from bank to banky
Sayin’ ‘ees’ ‘ice’ ‘ose’ ‘oos’ I have no idea where those words came from
Listen to the California ding dang dong.
Michael Jackson is a man
[something something] broke his hand
Seven Up has no caffeine
Now he’s drinking gas-o-line.
Not last night, but the night before
Someone’s knocking at my door
Sayin’ 1–2-3–4
Knock, knock out!”

“Eeny meeny inchercheeny
Ah bah bumpereeney
Acha chacha boomeraka
Out goes Y-O-U!”

LuLu had a steamboat,
Steamboat had a bell,
Steamboat went to heaven,
and LuLu went to -
“Hell-o operator, give me Number 9.
If you disconnect me, I’ll kick you in the -”
Behind the refrigerator, the was a piece of glass.
Little LuLu slipped on it, and cut her little -
“Ask me no more questions, I’ll tell you no more lies.”
That’s what little LuLu said right before she died.

choosing who is it games…

ip dip do the cats got the flu the dogs got chicken pox and out goes you!
ip dip dog **** you are not it.
ickle ockle chocholate bottle ickle ockle out

clapping games…
Down by the river goes hanky panky 2 fat frogs sat backy to backy, zoom zah, zoom zah down by the river goes your girl
( all sit in circle hands over lapping, pass the slap of hand on round cirle when get to your girl last person to smack hand of next person has to hit them or they are out!)

When susie was a baby a baby susie was.. she went wah wah wah wah wah
when susie was a toddler a toddler susie was she went gaga gaga gagaga gaga gaga
can remember the rest but can’t be bothered typing it! may do later if a get the urge!

jump rope games
Racing car number nine losing petrol all the time, who many gallons did it lose? (keep skipping on big jump rump till out!)

elastics
England Ireland Scotland Wales, inside outside, Donkeys tails!

General game

(one person skips towards group of friends singing…There game a duke a riding, riding ,riding, there came a duke a riding, rancy tancy tiddly toes!

Friends in a line… What you riding here for here for here for, what you riding here for rancy tancy tiddly toes!

1 person… I’m riding here to marry to marry to marry I’, riding here to marry rancy tancy tiddly toes!

friends…Who you gonna marry marry marry who ya gonna marry, rancy tancy tddly toes!

1 person… (chooses a description of a friend .. blue socks or blonde hair etc…
I think his/her name is blue socks blue socks blue socks I think her name is blue socks rancy tancy tiddly toes.

others… who the heck is blue socks etc…

1 person… Ithink their name is… says name (that person joins their team!)

has a tune but can’t sing it to you virtually!!

ps sorry about any spelling mistakes its late and my daughter wants to use the comp so typing too fast!

Here’s a jump-rope rhyme from eastern Massachusetts in the 1950s. This is one where two girls swing the rope and you jump in. There are prescribed motions in the “old lady” part, ending with jumping out on “skiddoo.”

I went downtown
To see Mister Brown
He gave me a nickel
To buy a pickle
The pickle was sour
So I bought a flower
The flower didn’t smell
So I bought a bell
The bell didn’t ring
So I gave it to the king
And this is what he said:
Old lady, old lady, turn around-round-round
Old lady, old lady, touch the ground-ground-ground
Old lady, old lady, show your pretty shoe-shoe-shoe
Old lady, old lady, twenty-three skiddoo!

Another jump-rope rhyme; the months were sung to a double-speed swinging we called “peppers,” and the answer to the question of “what month?” was the month you were on when your feet got tangled in the rope.

Eeevy ivy over
My dog’s name is Rover
He died in the clover
What month did he die in?
January, February, March . . .

There was a ball-bouncing rhyme that began like this; I’ve forgotten the rest:

Charlie Chaplin went to France
To teach the pretty girls how to dance

Every girl had a little pink ball, and the rules for bouncing it were elaborate and strict. The most complicated routine began “Plainsies, clapsies.” I improvised a version that doubled the difficulty. We played this one by the hour.

I remember the ball game @Jeruba we played that… my mum taught it me!
you just threw the ball against the wall to begin with, then daggers (bouncing the ball into the wall then you had to do all the simple things adding a clap once then a bounce and touch the ground then clap and touch the ground, then clap touch the ground and turn around!!!! Fun times where had by me and my sisters playing that against the side of my grandmas house we must have driven her nuts with all the bouncing!
thanks for the memory!!

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,
Miss Lucy called the nurse.
Miss Lucy called the lady with the alligator purse.

“Measles,” said the doctor.
“Mumps,” said the nurse.
“Nothing,” said the lady with the alligator purse.
Miss Lucy kicked the doctor.
Miss Lucy kicked the nurse.
Miss Lucy paid the lady with the alligator purse.
________________________________________
Down down baby, down by the roller coaster
Sweet sweet baby, I’ll never let you go
Shimmy shimmy coca pop shimmy shimmy pow
Shimmy shimmy coco puff shimmy shimmy pow
________________________________
Miss Sue [clap three times]
Miss Sue [clap three times]
Miss Sue from Alabama
Her real name is Susanna
Sittin’ in a rocker eatin’ Betty Crocker
Watchin’ the clock go
Tick, tock, tick tock banana wanna
Tick, tock, tick tock banana wanna
A b c d e f g
Wash those spiders off of me
—————————
Three sailors went to sea, sea, sea,
To see what they could sea, sea, sea,
But all that they could sea, sea, sea
Was the bottom of the deep blue sea, sea, sea

Three sailors went to China
To see what they could China
But all that they could China
Was the bottom of the deep blue China

Three sailors went to ooh-watch-ee-kah
To see what they could ooh-watch-ee-kah
But all that they could ooh-watch-ee-kah
Was the bottom of the deep blue ooh-watch-ee-kah
____________________
London bridge is falling down,
Falling down, falling down,
London bridge is falling down
My fair lady.

Build it up with bricks and stones,
Bricks and stones, bricks and stones,
Build it up with bricks and stones
My fair lady.

Take the key and lock her up
Lock her up lock her up
Take the key and lock her up
My fair lady

Three sailors went to I, I, I
To see what they could I, I, I
But all that they could I, I, I
Was the bottom of the ocean I, I, I

Three sailors went to love, love, love
To see what they could love, love, love
But all that they could love, love, love
Was the bottom of the ocean love, love, love

Three sailors went to you, you, you
To see what they could you, you, you
But all that they could you, you, you
Was the bottom of the ocean you, you, you

This went with those clapping games (Is there a name for those?) so the hand gestures were pointing to the eye, crossing the chest with your arms and pointing to the other person: I love you.

There were a few other versions like, three sailors went to Disneyland: Diz, knee and land. Those had other hand gestures.

@TLRobinson “Cee Cee old playmate, come out and play with me, and bring your dollies three. Slide down my rainbow, into my cellar door, and we’ll be jolly friends forever more, more more!”

@Blondesjon, you are the only other person I have heard say make the tiger pay when he hollers! Most people say let him go! Aww Yeah!!

Jump rope song!

Not last night but the night before,
24 robbers came knocking at my door
As I ran out, they ran in
Hit me on the head with a rolling pin
Asked them what they wanted
This is what they said
Little dancers do the splits
Little dancers give a high kick
Turn around, touch the ground
Get out of town before sundown!

A couple of cheers!

Pepsi Cola
Coca Cola
Royal Crown
You gotta hypnotize em,
Paralyze em,
Knock em down,
Pick em up, roll em up,
Throw em away
Our team’s the only team that knows how to play!

Boys are rotten made out of cotton
Girls are dandy made out of candy
Apples on a stick make me sick
Make my heart go 246
Not because they’re dirty
Not because they’re clean
Just because they kissed a boy behind a magazine!
Girls, girls let’s have a fight
There goes (insert boy’s name here) with a skirt on tight!
He can wiggle, he can jiggle, he can do the splits!
But most of all he can kiss, kiss, kiss!

@SuperMouse-Thats it!! I was racking my brain!

Here’s another one!

Who stole the cookies out the cookie jar?

____ stole the cookies out the cookie jar

Who me? Yes you! Couldn’t be! Then who?

____ stole the cookies out the cookie jar. (repeat until you lose your mind)

Miss Lucy had a steamboat – that’s all i remember.

That reminds me, speaking of going stark, raving bonkers.

100 bottles of beer on the wall,
100 bottles of beer.
Take one down, pass it around.
99 bottles of beer on the wall.

We just had gameboys and showed off our pokemans
Like so

Chink-a chink-a Chinaman
Sitting on a fence
Trying to make a dollar
Out of 99 cents
Miss… miss… miss miss miss!

Pease porridge hot
Pease porridge cold
Pease porridge in the pot
Nine days old.
Some like it hot
Some like it cold
Some like it in the pot
Nine days old.

Milk.
Milk.
Lemonade . . .

@Blondesjon “around the corner fudge is made…” Are you sure we didn’t go to the same elementary school? How about this one at the three spout drinking fountain “coffee, tea, soda pop pee!

@eeveegurl, @Facade AAAAH! The banks of the hanky panky! I remember that!

I can’t remember the song right now but we jumped rope with 2 ropes which was called Double Dutch. Challenging.
Two kids would each hold 2 ropes instead of one. _something about Georgie Porgie kissed the girls and made them cry; when the girls came out to play, Georgie Porgie ran away_oh now I remember: Georgie Porgie puddin’ and pie, kissed the girls and made them cry etc