Elevator Playground Song
-snip-
Words for this rhyme:
"The first elevator says stop
The second elevator says stop
The third elevator says
keep on going until your hands get hot"
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Edited by Azizi Powell
Latest revision - April 21, 2026
This is Part I of two part series on the children's recreational rhyme "Elevator" (also known as "Alligator").
This post showcases video examples of "Elevator" ("Alligator") rhymes along with the words to those examples.
This post also presents an AI overview write-up about the rhyme "Elevator". (I believe that the rhyme "Alligator" is a folk processed form of the "Elevator" rhyme.)
That post also includes word only examples of these folk songs and recreational rhymes. .
The content of this post is presented for folkloric and recreational purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to all those who are featured in these showcases examples and thanks to the publishers of these examples on YouTube.
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Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2026/04/elevator-alligator-hand-clap-rhymes.html for the closely related pancocojams post entitled "Elevator" & "Alligator" Hand Clap Rhymes Examples & Comments From essiajay's 2025 Tik Tok Discussion Thread "Y'all Remember These Hand Games?"
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PANCOCOJAMS EDITOR'S NOTE
Although the mission of pancocojams is to showcases the music, dances, language practices, & customs of African Americans and of other people of Black descent throughout the world, this post doesn't mean to imply that only Black people play the hand game "Elevators" or its variant form "Alligators".
As documented online, children of any race or ethnicity* have performed these rhymes.
*In the United States, colloquially speaking "ethnicity" usually means "Latina"/"Latino" ("Hispanic").
I believe that "Elevators" (also known as "Alligators") hand clap rhyme and game originated in the United States among African American girls. However, that is just a guess since most hand clap/hand slap rhymes originated from that population and then extended to other populations of girls in the United States and then throughout much of the world.
As is the case with other pancocojams post on children's recreational rhymes, singing games, and chants, these examples are showcased for folkloric and socio-cultural purpose and because I like these genres of children's recreational activities.
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INFORMATION ABOUT THE ELEVATOR HAND CLAP RHYME AND GAME
From AI Overview (retrieved on April 20, 2026 as a result of my query for information about this rhyme)
"The Elevator Hand Game (also known as "Elevators")
is a popular two-player hand-clapping game often played on school playgrounds.
It involves players reciting a specific chant while performing a synchronized
series of claps, with the goal of continuing the sequence as fast as possible
without making a mistake.
How to Play
Players face each other and perform a standard hand-clapping
motion while reciting the lyrics:
Opening Chant:
Player 1: "Elevator one says stop."
Player 2: "Elevator two says stop."
Both/Player 1: "Elevator three says keep on going till
your palms get sweaty and hot!"
Counting Phase:
Players immediately begin counting upward (e.g., from 1 to
29 or higher) while maintaining the clapping rhythm.
The Objective:
The game continues until one player messes up the words or
the clapping pattern.
Experienced players often increase the speed with each round
to make it more challenging.
Variations
While the "palms get sweaty and hot" version is
most common, some regional variations exist:
Hips Variant: Some versions change the lyrics to "keep
on going until your hips get hot".
Counting Ranges: Different groups may have different
"milestone" numbers to reach, such as counting specifically from 30
to 54 after the first set.
For visual learners, you can find various demonstrations and
video tutorials of hand-clapping games on Upparent or by searching for
"Elevator hand clap" on platforms like YouTube and TikTok
-snip-
I like the concise information that AI Overview gives, but don't always take their word as gospel. For instance, I don't believe their (its?) statement is credible when they when they say that a certain version of a rhyme is the most widely chanted or a certain way that a rhyme is performed is the most common way of performing that rhyme. How do they know that? If they are only using information that's found online, that information is insufficient to reach those conclusions.
**
I believe that "Alligator" is a variant form of "Elevator" i.e. the rhyme "Alligator" developed as the result of folk processing such as accidentally mistaking the word "alligator" for "elevator" (or some other form of folk processing.)
**
"Alligator" is played the same way as "Elevator".
**
The "Elevator" and "Alligator" hand games almost certainly originated in the United States
The earliest example that I've come across for these children's recreational hand games is 2011 (as per the publishing date for the YouTube video given at the top of this pancocojams post). However, that rhyme could have been chanted and probably was chanted before that 2011 date
Like most hand games, in the United States, these hand games can be played by more than two people.(See Video #3 in this pancocojams post for one boy and two girls doing a hand clap routine for "Alligator".)
**
As as of the date of this pancocojams post (April 2026), I haven't come across any online videos of four or more people playing "Elevator" or "Alligator" as hand clapping games or as hand slapping circle elimination games (such as "Stella Ella Ola" or "Down By The Banks Of The Hanky Panky".)
ADDITIONAL VIDEO EXAMPLES OF THESE RHYMES
These examples are presented in no particular order and are numbered for referencing purposes only.
SHOWCASE VIDEO #2 - ELEVATOR! - The BEST Hand Clap :) | Fun Clapping Games for 2 players 👏
Podo Town English, May 11, 2023
Elevator one says STOP!
Elevator two says STOP!
Elevator three says,
Keep on going 'till your palms get sweaty and hot!
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SHOWCASE VIDEO #3 - alligator hand game lol
@the6ssssss, May 23, 2023
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SHOWCASE VIDEO #4- Hand Clap Game for 2 players - Elevator
@emmaellashow, September 26, 2024
Elevator one says stop
Elevator two says stop
Elevator three says keep on going till
your hands are red and stop
[The girls do a clapping exchange while counting
out loud to 20]
No person "wins" this clapping exchange. The tempo for this example is slower
than the tempo for other examples that I've come across of this rhyme.
That may be because these girls are young compared with the people in other videos that I've found
of this rhyme (or of the "Alligator" rhyme.
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This concludes Part I of this pancocojams series.
Thanks for visiting pancocojams.
Visitor comments are welcome.
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