Games with Songs

The Farmer in the Dell

The farmer in the dell,
The farmer in the dell
Heigh ho, the Derry O!
The farmer in the dell.

2. The farmer takes a wife...
3. The farmer take the child...
4. The child takes a nurse...
5. The nurse takes the dog...
6. The dog takes the cat...
7. The cat takes the rat...
8. The rat takes the cheese...
9. The cheese stands alone...
Students form a circle and the "farmer"
stand in the middle. Children are
chosen as the song progresses. At the
end, the cheese becomes the farmer.

A-Tisket, A-Tasket

A-tisket, a-tasket, a green and yellow basket,
I wrote a letter to my love and on the way I dropped it.
I dropped it, I dropped it, on the way I dropped it.
A little boy picked it up and put it in his pocket.

Students are in a circle and one student is skipping outside the circle with a piece of paper or handkerchief. He/she drops it when the group says "I dropped it". The chosen child runs after the first child to get back to the empty space following the outside of the circle.

London Bridge
Chorus:
London Bridge is falling down, falling down, falling down,
London Bridge is falling down, my fair lady.
(Sing chorus after each verse as well as beginning.)
Take the key and lock her (him) up, lock her up, lock her up,
Take the key and lock her up, my fair lady. (Chorus)

2. Build it up with iron bars...
3. Iron bars will bend and break...
4. Build it up with silver and gold...

Two children (They secretly decide who is silver and who is gold.) form the arch that other children will go under. The bridge falls on the words "my fair lady". They gently sway until the end of the song. They ask the prisoner if they want silver or gold. They stand behind the right child. Game continues until all children are prisoners. A tug of war between silver and gold ends the game.

Another option is to just have the prisoner replaces the "silver or gold" person in the bridge. Song continues.
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