Down on the banks of the hanky-panky
where the bull frog leaps from bank to bank

I don't remember the rest, but if you googled just that, you might find the rest. I remember the clapping, though.

I LOVED these by the way.

I have like the tunes to a few in my head, but can't remember the words. Sigh, sorry.

Hm. I remember one about...

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 elephant elephant elephant
Jump over the fence fence fence
He jumped so high high high
He reached the sky sky sky
And he never came back back back
'Til the fourth of July ly ly

It's kind of weird, though...
Then there was one my Mom taught me...

I woke up Saturday morning
And looked upon the wall;
The beetles and the lady-bugs
Were playing a game of ball.
The score was 6 to nothing.
The beetles were ahead.
The ladies hit a homerun
That knocked me out of bed.
I'm singing
Eenie meenie and a miney moe;
Catch a wiffle-waffle by its toe.
And if it holler-oller-ollers, let it go!
Eenie meenie and a mi-iney moe!

Of course, if you don't know the melody, it might not be as much fun, though I guess you could make one up.

We used to do that all the time. Something about Cinderella? I dont remember!! It was a long time ago.

I know HEAPS of Danish ones which probably aren't that useful for you, but I did learn one while in NZ. It's rather long, so I hope I don't reach the upper bound for comments too fast ;)

Suzie was one, she used to suck her thumb. Thumb little ladies, thumb little ladies, half past one, cross-down-wards.

(ordinary clapping for most of the verse. On "cross" - cross arms in front of you - i.e. left hand on your right shoulder, right hand on your left shoulder -- if that makes sense? "down" - clap your thighs. "wards" - clap your hands).

Suzie was two, she used to tie her shoes. Shoes little ladies, shoes little ladies, half past two, cross-down-wards.

(I assume you get the pattern now, so I'll write the rest in shorthand)
3 - climb a tree
4 - slam the door
5 - take a dive
6 - pick up sticks
Suzie was 7, she prayed to go to heaven
8 - shut the gate
9 - tell the time (I know it doesn't rhyme, I didn't make it up! ;) )
Suzie was 10, she used to say THE END! (last two words shouted).

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 fifteen cents, cents, cents
To see the elephants, elephants, elephants
Jump off the fence, fence, fence
They jumped so high, high, high
They reached the sky, sky, sky
They never came back, back, back
'Til the Fourth of July, July, July
YOU LIE!

There were also "Anna Banana", "Do You Know Exactly How to Eat an Oreo" (I think that one was originally from a commercial), "My Little Playmate", and "My Sailor Went to Sea, Sea, Sea" - sorry, it would take too long to type them all but maybe you can Google them. (Though you might get some results you didn't want from the "Little Playmate" one.) Come to Phoenix and I'll even demonstrate the clapping patterns.

Hi Rachel,
I've been reading your blog & Kristen's for a few months.. & commented on Kristen's just recently also. : )

I use to do the 'Miss Mary Mack..' one
and instead of using Suzie on the above one, we'd say "When Billy Boy was three.." and also
do the rhyme a little different..
"When Billy Boy was three, he used to climb a tree. tree-e-o-ka, tree-e-o-ka, half past three, cross down when... Billy Boy was four.."

We'd use part of the word just said:
another example
'door-e-o-ka'
& say 'when' instead of 'wards'

So you can pick what way you want to do it now.

And there's:
See, see, o playmate, come down & play with me,
& bring your dollies three,
climb up my apple tree,
slide down my rainbow,
into my cellar door,
& we'll be jolly friends,
for-e-ver more, more, shut the door.

Sorry, hard to show you the tune on here! : D

I think that's all I played.
Have fun!!

As a librarian, I am going to recomment skipping down to the public library and borrowing these books:

1. Anna Banana: 101 Jump Rope Rhymes (no reason why you couldn't clap them) by Joanna Cole

2. Miss Mary Mack also by Joanna Cole, a collection of over 100 hand-clapping and street rhymes.

I adored these two books as a kid. In fact, I'm going to go unearth them now!

Here are a few others you might be able to find too:

1. Hand Clap! "Miss Mary Mack" and 42 Other Hand Clapping Games for Kids by Sara Bernstein

2. Schoolyard Rhymes : Kids' Own Rhymes for Rope-Skipping, Hand Clapping, Ball Bouncing, and Just Plain Fun by Judy Sierra

My personal favorite:

Miss Lucy had a baby,
She named him Tiny Tim
She put him in the bathtub
To see if she 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.

In walked the doctor,
In walked the nurse.
In walked the lady with the alligator purse.

"Mumps," said the doctor.
"Measles," said the nurse.
"Nothing," said the lady witht the alligator purse.

"Penicillin," said the doctor.
"Aspirin," said the nurse.
"Pizza," said the lady with the alligator purse.

A dime for the doctor,
A nickel for the nurse.
Nothing for the lady with the alligator purse.

Out walked the doctor,
Out walked the nurse.
Out walked the lady with the alligator purse.

Boy, that felt good!

I can totally hear the tunes to all these, so cool! I forgot about all of them! Thanks for taking me way back guys!

The Cinderella one is a jump rope rhyme. Cinderella, dressed in yellow
Went upstairs to kiss a fellow
Made a mistake and kissed a snake
How many doctors did it take?
And then you count how many ropes you jump and when you mess up, that's how many it took.

I know the (slightly) dirty version of Miss Lucy! And actually we did do Anna Banana as a clapping rather than a jumprope rhyme. I know "See, see, o playmate" as "My little playmate" but otherwise it's the same.

Something about Cinderella dressed in yella? Does that sound right? I just cant remember any more of it. Something about a snake too? calling a doctor?

er we did......i went to a chinese resteraunt, but i cant remember all of it, and also another one is

My mother said
I never should
Play with the gypsies in the wood
If I did
She would say
Naughty little girl to disobay

Down by the river by the hanky panky
where the bullfrog jumps from bank to bank
saying oh, ah, skit, skat big fat rat

in a circle, with one hand under and the other over another person, slapping the person's hand next to you, whoever gets hit on rat is out. on the last two people, stand up, find a line, and pull back and forth and on rat act like tug of war and whoever crosses the line loses.