Do Kids Still Play Hand Clapping Games Since The 1990s?

Geneas, November 4, 2018
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The statistics for this video, as of January 24, 2024 at 5:38 PM EDT are:
total number of views - 738,818 and total # of comments - -snip-
Here are the time stamps for these hand clap games (from a commenter in that video's discussion thread)

@CramSkyy, 2022
"Thank you so much for these, like I love hand games lmao

And:

0:41 Shame, shame, shame

1:18 Mama mama (can't you see)

2:15 Boom boom/tap tap (double double/this this)

2:34 Ms. mary mack

2:56 Slide

3:23 Swing, swing, swing

4:23 Swing, swing, swing #2

4:48 Hands up 2005

6:12 Slide #2

6:39 That's the way"

7:05 Milkshake
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Among African Americans "Shame Shame Shame" is a widely used name for "I Don't Want To Go To Mexico", and "Swing Swing Swing" is a name among some African Americans for the widely known [among African Americans children/teens title "I Am A Little First Grader" [or substitute your grade in school for "First Grader".] That hand clap rhyme is a variant of "I'm A Pretty Little Dutch Girl".

Also, depending on where you live, the rhyme given in this video as "Slide" is known by various other names including "Slide Slide Slippery Slide" and "Slide Baby", or "Numbers".
The "Hands Up 2005" is known by other names including "Concentration", or "Hands up to 85", and "That's The Way" is known as "ABC Hit It" , "Brick Wall Waterfall", "Bang Bang Choo Choo Train", and other names.  

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Edited by Azizi Powell

This pancocojams post features a YouTube video of

two young African American women from Newark, New Jersey demonstrating some hand clap rhymes.

This post presents selected online comments from that video's discussion thread .Those comments address the question "Do kids still play hand clap games since the 1990s?" By "children playing hand clap games" I mean play activities that children "self-initiate" and not play activities that are initiated in school music classrooms or in other adult led settings.

The content of this post is presented for historical and socio-cultural purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to Geneas and Atiyah for this video on 90s hand clap rhymes. Thanks also to eo onall those who are quoted in this post.
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Click https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m-NKrzvqz_I&t=0s for the video "90's hand games (part 2) II, published by Geneas. March 28, 2020

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PANCOCOJAMS EDITOR'S NOTE
In the introduction to this showcase video, Atiyah, one of the two young African American vloggers who co-host this video on 90s hand clap games, said that people may not be playing hand clap games anymore. A number of adults in that video's discussion thread agreed with her, but many children and teens shared that they still played hand clap games at home, at school, and elsewhere.

This pancocojams post is similar to the Mudcat folk music discussion thread entitled  Folklore: Do kids still do clapping rhymes? https://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=63097 . That discussion thread began on Sept. 20, 2003 and mostly addressed whether English speaking children in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia still played hand clapping games since the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s.

That Mudcat post was closed by Oct 4, 2014 by that forum's lead curator Joe Offer because it "was a magnet for spam".  I was very active on that discussion thread from 2006 through some of 2011, writing comments and serving as an unofficial hostess/moderator for the large number of "guests" (non-members) who published examples and other comments on that thread. One reason why I stopped posting on that discussion thread was that I started and was working on this pancocojams blog August 2011. 

This pancocojams post doesn't include any comments from that Mudcat discussion thread. 

Although that Mudcat thread didn't give any "official" answer to the question "Do kids still do clapping rhymes?", from reading that discussion thread, my sense is that the answer to that question was "Yes, children/teens in those English speaking countries that I listed still play hand clapping games, but probably fewer children/teens in those countries did so than those age groups did in the 1990s and before.

Most of the comments in that Mudcat discussion thread that affirmed that kids still played hand clapping games were written by children and teenager "guest" (non-members to that forum). Those commenters used present tense when they wrote about the hand clapping games.  

Here's my answer to the similar question that is asked in this pancocojams post; "Yes, children/teens in the United States (and maybe also in other English speaking countries) still play hand clapping games, but probably much fewer children/teens in that country do so than those age groups did in the 1990s and before".

I base this answer on my real life experiences (mostly in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and some of its surrounding communities) and from reading online comments about this subject from this showcased discussion thread and, mostly from discussion threads of other YouTube videos of children's hand clap rhymes. 

This pancocojams post also doesn't include any comments from Geneas and Atiyah's 2020 video "90s Hand Games (part 2). Most of those comments provided words or asked about the words to certain hand clap rhymes. As is the case with Part 1 of Geneas and Atiyah's 90s hand games video, a number of children, pre-teens, or teens used present tense when referring to certain hand games i.e "We say" instead of "We said".

Here are comments from that discussion thread that address the subject of this pancocojams post (with numbers added for referencing purposes only):

1. @cristiangomez4537, 2020
"New to the channel had to show my daughter some hand games this new generation man lol

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2. @CodeNameTY, 2020
"Zing zing like a washing machine 🎶😂 OMG this make me feel old kids don’t play anymore"
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"Zing zing like a washing machine" is one of the introductory phrases that is used for "Twee lee lee' ("Rockin Robin") hand clap games.

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3. @geneas4309
"CodeName T-Y they don’t that’s why we are trying to bring it back 😂😂"

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SELECTED COMMENTS FROM THE DISCUSSION THREAD FOR 90s hand games!!!
These comments are all from the video "90’s hands games !!!!!" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7zEcsIfe6lU  published Geneas, Nov 4, 2018. In this video, two young African American women from Newark,New Jersey, Geneas and Atiyah, demonstrate a number of hand clap rhymes that they remember playing in the 1990s. Geneas and Atiyah also demonstrate "My Milkshake", a new hand clap rhyme that is based on the lyrics of the 2003 R & B song By Kelis.

In the introduction to this video, one of the two young African American women says "Y'all don't probably don't play hand games no more" [time stamp beginning beginning around .34]

Almost all of the comments in that video's discussion thread that lament that children no longer play hand clap games are from adults and most of the comments that affirm that children still play hand clap games are from children, pre-teens, and teenagers. 

These selected comments are only a sample of those comments from that particular discussion thread that affirm that some children in the 2000s are still playing hand clap games. Many of the comments from that discussion thread that aren't included in this post provide the words to a specific hand clap rhyme. Similar comments that lament that children aren't playing hand clap games or affirm that children are playing these games can be found elsewhere online.
 
Read my comment in the comment section below about how to find some pancocojams posts that provide the words and/or videos of specific hand clap rhymes.   

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COMMENTS
From https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7zEcsIfe6lU  "90's Hand Games" "90’s hands games !!!!!", published Geneas, Nov 4, 2018

1. @irislove5853, 2019
"Brang back memories ! Kids these days will never understand what we had to do to have fun outside 😂 ❤️"

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2. @bridgetkohl137, 2019
"Amen to that!"

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3. @aishaally3351, 2019
"You do realize kids still go for recess and we do these hand games...'

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4. @ramonablue2464, 2019
"Iris Love I’m 13 and I still do that Lmaooo"

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5. @danfran5771, 2019
"Ok boomer"

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6. @myleeanderson4762, 2020
"Well me and my sister are still doing these but I really wish I grew up in the 90s it would've been so much fun"

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7.@sonnyshufflebottom, 2020
"im 14 and i played all these games when i was younger lol"

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8. @there.9254, 2021
"my younger cousin who at the time is in grade 5 always came back and showed me these games their friends taught them.  many kids love these still, which is fun"

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9. @diamondcaves6969,2021
"I still play these since I always found them fun lol 😃"

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10. @sierrajohnson2393, 2021
"i’m 14 now & i still play these games"

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11. @miguelpadeiro762, 2021
"What? Kids played these games 10 years ago....you deny that and you deny my existance...and they also play it nowadays, just because you don't see it doesn't mean it doesn't happen"

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12. @muitoalemdorj3277, 2019
"Hi, I'm 18 years old and I'm from in California - USA, I playing a Slide hand with my brother today, He is 16 years old, And my sister loves playing too, she is 15 years old and she is a Study at School at morning"

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13. @astr00cats15, 2019
"Omg I’m 9 years old and my school does all of these handshakes"

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14. @user_alicia444, 2019
"I’m 10 years old and almost all of these hand games I know how to do the same way like in the 90’s 😂 I never knew about the new ones"
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In this video, the two co-hosts demonstrate a new way of playing two of these hand clap rhymes They also demonstrate the new hand clap rhyme "My Milkshake" that is based on Kelis' R&B song with that title.

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15. @wolfiie6599, 2019
"Alicia same here"

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16. @myleeanderson4762, 2020
"Lol same I'm 12 my sister is 11 and we still always do these"

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17. @mrs.massey2391, 2019
"Hey guys thanks for this video. I was just telling my daughters about hand games. This really brings back soooo many memories. Thanks 🙏"

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18. @kyliebartley8834, 2020
"I remember all of these. I still play slide with my friends (I'm 15)"

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19. @arivids1342, 2019
"I'm 10 and I know these in old version and not the new vesion"

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20. @a.shiaaa, 2019
"For Mama Mama at the end we say dont stop clapping til your hands get red"
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This comment refers to the hand clap game whose title is "Mama Mama Can't You See".

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21. @bracefacezai5402, 2020
"We say if u stop u will get popped"
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"Popped" here means "hit" or "slap". This refers to the action one of the partners does to the other partner who stops doing that hand clap routine because she made a mistake and/or because the palms of her hands got red because of all that clapping. 

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22, @naturalforme, 2020
"PERIOD! 😂 “Play this game to your hands get red” "

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23. @tiarabattiste8910, 2020
"And it get faster and faster until your hands is burning"

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24. @nnekachidoka4996, 2021
"@bracefacezai5402  no they say if you stop you get a knock"

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25. @fayabner7478,2021
"We say eating cornbread under my bed"

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26. @yoursmartstudent7358, 2020
"I was born in 2011 and im nine so i know all of these hand Stuff whatever"

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27. @itsniya6608, 2020
"I’m only 12 I know most of these😂"

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28. @markerriacolbert9282, 2020
"We say that’s the way  Uh-huh I like it , boy uh-hu school mh-hm,parties uh-hu,cake uh-hm I like it

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29. @markerriacolbert9282, 2020
"Naw we say swing swing swing at the bottom of the sea hey hey I’m a little first grader pretty as can be be"

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30. @justjohnnay6990, 2020
"I’m 12 and I do all the old school ones💓shame shame shame is one of my favorites! I’ve never even seen the new version!"

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31. @mezoey3, 2020
"am seven7 7 and i play shame shame and mama cant you see  i only heard played it on 2nd grade since i was kinda new then and beucause i never heard of it even tho am a 2000's i play on my brother acount lol mama cant you see is really funny you should have come to my school ps 68 x 11

Edit 🤣between the lol and this 😅

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32. @quen_cutieortiz7367, 2020
"We still play this game still but different then how you guys play"

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33. @kevianajohnson4272, 2020
"now in our generation 6:46 is called brick wall water fall... it goes .... that’s the way uh huh uh huh... I like it uh huh uh huh.. you got the way.. I got the way... so peach punch in yo face...brick wall water fall girl you think you know it all but you don’t.. I do.. so walk away with that attitude.. wait.. come back.. I think you need a tictac.. not one.. not two.. but the whole six pack...... Or twelve pack however many it comes lol"

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34. @beatriceottley1311, 2020
"Born in the early 70's and played these hand games at recess, and when I got home from school, along with double dutch, hopscotch and many more. My 10 year old daughter wants to learn them so bad. Ms. Mary Mack and Shame Shame Shame was just a few of my favorites. Memories, Memories.:

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35. @chelsealoyd4472,2020, 2020
"I new version of mama mama can’t you see is momma momma can’t you see what the arm done to me took away my favorite jeans know I’m wearing arm jeans."

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36. @essiebray7710, 2020
"Double double this this??? We call it double double ice ice double double cream cream where I’m from"

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37. @2facedvampfairy272, 2020
"I remeber these form when I was younger and in only 12 but me and my sis forgot them and we just got in from doing a bunch on out front porch watching the sunset so we're trying to fine more"

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38. @shakeralynch149, 2020

"I'm 13 and ik all these,"
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"ik"= "i know"

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39. @jordandouglas7558, 2020
"I was born in 2009 and I do not know there was a new shame shame cuz the new shame shame shame sounds like ABC and looks like ABC it's like ABC easy as 123 my mama says do re mi with the abc baby you and me now

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40. @avacouzens9093, 2020
"I was born in 2009 and I know swing swing and all of these"

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41. @datballabrie1783, 2020
"I miss schools now there’s corona virus 10 and I remember these"

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42. @angiecorbin5405, 2021
"Adorable!! Haha hours of fun playing these games! Kids don’t play these anymore it’s weird! Thanks for bringing it back 🤩"

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43. @ayakdeng3040, 2021
"i am 9 and i played all of these"

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44. @sonjalott309, 2021
"Since of COVID, I’m doing online/virtual school so when you brought up ‘Miss Mary Mack’ it made me remember when me and my friend Avery would do that handshake at brick and mortar school 😢 🏫 😯"

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