Playground
and outside games
(Most
singing games can be played outside but the ones
below are
more suited to an outdoor environment or are
traditionally
played outdoors)
All in a row
Blackthorn! Blackthorn!
Bluebells, cockle shells
Buttercups and daisies dancing
Chickama Chickama craney crow
Dancing around the Juniper tree
Early in the morning at eight
o’clock
Father, mother may I go / Banks
of roses
Mrs. Macaroni
My mother said I never should
One, two, three O’Leary
Our gallant gallant ship
Poor Jenny sits a-weeping
“Stop!” says the red light
Throw it and catch it
Walking in the green grass
Last updated: 6/20/2022
9:50 AM
These
songs are nursery rhymes and other traditional songs compiled, illustrated and
music arranged by Dany Rosevear.
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To listen to music from these songs click on 🔊
To watch the author
sing a song click on the title at:
© Dany Rosevear 2013 All rights reserved
You
are free to copy, distribute, display and perform these works under the
following conditions:
·
you must give the original author credit
·
you may not use this work for commercial purposes
·
for any re-use or distribution, you must make clear to others the
licence terms of this work
·
any of these can be waived if you get permission from the copyright holder
Your
fair use and other rights are no way affected by the above.
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All in a row 🔊
Learn about conservation of number, halves, division and adding
numbers. I found this song in CandiceVerney’s lovely collection ‘The singing
day’ where it was suggested as a going home song to encourage tired feet with
a child on either side of a carer who pull them together on the rabbit / crow
line. I think it might also work well as a joining together and splitting
game as below. Children
in groups of three walk round the playground. On ‘catching a rabbit’ they
meet up with another group, skip round in a circle and then go their way in a
group of three – does not need to be the same three! |
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All
in a row, all in a row, Catching
a rabbit and shooing a crow, All
in a row. |
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Blackthorn! Blackthorn! O
A call and response catch game from Yorkshire. A
set of children stand with backs to the wall. One children stands in the
middle of the playground. After the song is sung the group run across the
playground and the child in the middle catches as many ‘geese’ as possible.
They join the catcher in the centre and the game is repeated. |
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Blackthorn!
Blackthorn! Buttermilk
and barley corn. How
many geese have you to-day? More
than you can catch and carry away. |
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Bluebells, cockle shells O
A partner game for outdoor play. Longer versions are also used for skipping such as: Bluebells, cockle
shells, eevy ivy over, My mother sent me to the store And this is what she
sent me for: Salt, vinegar, pepper, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5… Continue counting to see
which child can skip the longest. Two children with hands joined swing arms from side
to side in time to the music. On the word 'over' they move under an arch formed by
one arm of each partner. They remain back to back swinging arms while the
song is repeated and on the second 'over' both turn back through the arch to
face each other once again. |
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Bluebells,
cockle shells, Eevy,
ivy, over, Bluebells,
cockle shells, Eevy,
ivy, over! |
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A song for Spring. This game which is played in a similar manner to ‘A-tisket, a-tasket‘
and is an adaptation by Dany Rosevear of the Australian game song ‘Jacaranda’
to reflect the flora of the British Isles. The
gentle Chinese sounding tune (let me know if you know its origins) is so
beautiful that it was worth the trouble. If you live in a country where there
are no buttercups and daisies or indeed jacarandas then make up your own
version with the native plants of your homeland! Ideally
this game would be played outside and accompany daisy chain making. Sit in a circle with hands covering
eyes. As the circle sings a child with a little basket walks round the
outside and drops a daisy on a child’s head. This child then jumps up and
runs in the opposite direction to the dropper aiming to reach the vacated
space before them. If successful they become the new child to walk round.
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A playground game very similar to the more familiar ‘What’s the time
Mr. Wolf?’ Children (the chickens) stand
against the wall facing the witch. The children at the end of the song ask
her ‘What time is it Mrs Witch?’ She answers a time for instance ‘3 o’clock’
The children continue to ask the question until she says ’12 o’clock’ at which the children then run to
a home base as the witch chases and tries catches a child who becomes the new
witch.
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Dancing around the Juniper
tree 🔊
A Swedish game to play round a favourite tree, the name of the tree
can be changed (old oak, chestnut, little fir). It comes from ‘Sociable songs book 1A’, the English words were
written by Anne Mendoza. Encourage children to suggest their own movements
for each day of the week. Hold hands in a circle and move as suggested round in a circle. For
‘swinging’ stand still and swing hands up and down. Last verse turn to a
partner and clap a simple or more complex pattern. |
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Early in the morning at
eight o’clock 🔊
The first verse is a traditional rope skipping (jump rope) rhyme which
is more often chanted. Music added by Dany Rosevear. It can be also be used as a hand play as below. 1. Tap wrist. Hold up eight fingers. 2. Put hand to ear. Knock on
floor / table. 3. Throw hands up and ‘open’ door. 4. Put up one finger at a
time. |
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Father, mother may I go / Banks of roses 🔊
A playground line game from Kirkoswold, Cumberland recorded by the Rev
Canon Thornley 1900 in the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and
Archaeological Society Transactions p273
https://archive.org/stream/transactionscum01socigoog#page/n320/mode/2up/search/banks+of+roses The original tune was more like ‘London Bridge is falling down’
(s,s:s,f|m,f:s |r,m:f |r,m:f | s,s:s,f |m,f:s |r :m|r,d: ) Three
children representing the child, father and mother stand with their backs to
a wall. They face a row of children. The child sings the first
verse, answered by the mother and father (alternatively all can sing both
verses). The child then skips to the row takes the named child by the hand,
brings her out of the line, and holding each other's hands they whirl round
as fast as they can. Places are exchanged, and the game continues. |
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Father,
mother, may I go. May
I go, may I go. Father,
mother, may I go, Across
the banks of roses? Yes,
for Mary, you may go, You
may go, you may go, Pick
up your tails and away you go, Across
the banks of roses. |
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Several versions of this playground song were noted by Iona and Peter
Opie in their book ‘The Singing game’.
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My mother said I never
should 🔊
A skipping game chant that I remember well but more usually with the
words‘the gypsies in the wood’, I have also substituted ‘child’ for girl to
make it less gender specific. The tune, in a minor key, is by Dany Rosevear to reflect the fairy
theme. |
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My mother said, I never should, Play with the fairies
in the wood; If I did, she would
say, “Naughty little child
to disobey! Your hair won't grow,
your shoes won't shine, Naughty little child,
you shan't be mine!" My mother said I never
should, Play with the fairies
in the wood; They dance with fire,
they roll in the hay, They steal your heart right
away. |
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One, two, three O'Leary 🔊
A playground chant and ball game that has been heard in various forms
throughout Ireland and Scotland; this one with slight modifications comes
from the streets of Dublin, around the 1930s and was recorded by Dominic
Behan on ‘The singing streets’. Find out more at: http://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=11034 The
ball is bounced to the chant and when O’Leary is sung the leg is passed over
the ball. It
can also be played with two balls up against a wall. |
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One,
two, three O'Leary, Four,
five, six O'Leary, Seven,
eight, nine O'Leary, Ten
O'Leary, postman! Open
the gate and let me in, sir, I
am soaking to the skin, sir, Open
the gate and let me in, sir, Just
to post a letter. |
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This verse was originally taken from the song ‘The Mermaid’ but I
remember playing something like this in the playground as a singing game in
the 1950s. Stand in a circle holding hands.
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Several versions of this playground song were noted by Iona and Peter
Opie in their book ‘The Singing Game’. The version below is similar to the
one I sang in the playground as a child – I think! Children walk round in a circle
holding hands – one child ‘Jenny’ sits in the middle with hands to her eyes.
‘Jenny’ sings the third verse and then stands up and chooses a new child and
skips round inside the circle. On the last verse they shake hands and the
game begins again. If a boy is chosen sing ‘Poor Johnny sits a-weeping’
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A great game for outdoor play. Everyone pretends to be a car except one child chosen to be the
policeman. This child puts a hand up when the light is red and beckons when
it is green. On the green light the children move around. On amber they move
more slowly with hands open and closing like flashing lights. Any child who
is moving when the lights are red is caught by the policeman who parks them
to the side. |
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“Stop!” says the red
light, “Go!” says the green, “Careful!” says the
amber light, Flashing in between. That is what they say And that is what they
mean. We must all obey them, Even the Queen! |
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Throw it and catch it 🔊
A simple ball bouncing game for outdoor play. Throwing, catching and
bouncing ball requires a lot of practice and skill. To catch a ball open
hands like a tulip, close and pull towards the chest. Remind children to keep
an eye on the ball! Once children are able to do this confidently on their
own work in pairs throwing to a partner and catching and then bouncing and
catching. Start slowly and get faster each time. Younger children could just sing the first verse and throw a bean bag. Words adapted from ‘Big rubber ball’ ‘We play and grow’ by Maisie
Cobby, published in 1959 by Pitman. Music by Dany Rosevear. |
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Throw
it and catch it, Throw
it and catch it, One
and two and three and four. Bounce
it and catch it, Bounce
it and catch it, Five
and six and seven and more. |
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Walking in the green grass O
A singing game from Pennsylvania.
An ideal outdoor play activity and for children to suggest their own
movements for everyone to copy. Encourage fast and slow movements. Actions: Move as suggested by the words. |
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Walking in the green grass, Green grass, green grass; Walking in the green grass, So early in the morning. Running in the green grass... Jumping in the green grass... Tiptoe in the green grass... Stamping in the green grass... Skipping in the green grass... So early in the morning. |
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