Children's Folklore

Little do the children realize that in trying to escape from one tradition, they are plunging headlong into another. Some of these have been on one set of lips after another for half a century of more.

-The Lore and Language of Schoolchildren

 

 

The Children's Lore genre features hundreds of examples of children's games, rhymes and handclap songs. Having so many examples makes cross referencing the variations in songs or games easy to do. Another interesting feature of this genre is that examples were collected from young children, college students and even adults advanced in years. Having this span of ages in the collection is useful for studying the change and development in children's lore over time. Below are various examples of different items of lore.

 

Games

Over the Milkhouse Game Red Light Green Light and Line Game
Dot Game

 

Rhymes and Handclap Songs

Miss Mary Mack

Sister Sue
 
Starter Games

Starter games are brief rhymes repeated to determine who will be "it" or chosen to lead the game about to be played.

 

Eeny Meeny Inka Binka
Engine Number 9
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