#playground folklore

[im-not-like-other-catgirls]

childlore is so understudied for the fact that it’s literally everywhere. if there’s a playground, there’s myths and legends and rhymes and songs that were born there, passed down and kept alive solely by children who then grow up and forget. while the kids still playing keep the tradition alive

[im-not-like-other-catgirls]

rhymes, songs, and chants i remember from the playground as a y2k baby

obligatory killing barney song

i hate you, you hate me

let’s all go and kill barney

with a baseball bat and a two-by-four

no more purple dinosaur

mean grandma song

old grandma, old grandma

just as mean as she could be

she’s the meanest old grandma

that i ever did see

“comeback” 1

bang, bang, choo-choo train

come on girls, let’s do our “thang”

reese’s pieces butter cup

mess with me i’ll mess you up

brick wall, waterfall

girl, you think you know it all

you don’t, i do

so “poof!” with that attitude

“comeback” 2 (accompanied by movement/“dance”)

don’t make me snap my fingers in

z-formation

hip rotation

elbows, elbows, wrists, wrists

girl, you just got burnt

“comeback” 3

i am rubber, you are glue

whatever you say bounces off me

and sticks on you

song/chant (little sally walker)

little sally walker

walkin’ 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 and switch

hey girl, do your thing

do your thing and switch

chant (for clapping hands)

i don’t wanna go to mexico

no more, more, more

there’s a big fat policeman

at my door, door, door

he grabbed me by the hips

kissed me on the lips

i don’t wanna go to mexico

no more, more, more

rhyme (accompanied by “massage”)

x marks the spot

a circle and a dot

boom! you just got shot

spiders go up, blood runs down

spiders go up, blood runs down

tight squeeze, slight breeze

you just got the chills

note: first, draw an x on your partner’s back with your finger, then a circle and a dot (like a target), then hit/slap/push their back in the middle of the target (not hard, just enough that it might startle), then make a spider-crawling motion up their back with both hands before dragging them back down (twice), then squeeze their shoulders, then blow on the back of their neck. done with the intention of making your partner shiver.

why/z game

“why?”/“z!”

“what for?”/“five!”

batman christmas song

jingle bells, batman smells

robin laid an egg

the bat mobile

lost a wheel

and the joker got away

hey!