I think this one was a jump rope song.

Cinderella, dressed in yella
Went upstairs to kiss her fella
Made a mistake
Kissed a snake
How many doctors did it take?
1, 2, 3, 4...

Great thread, OP!

We did Miss Susie and the Place on Mars one all the time when we were kids. Also, Great Green Gobs of Greasy Grimy Gopher Guts and Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory of the Burning of the School...

We also did a thing with dandlions, where we'd say: "Mama had a baby and its head [here you pop off the seed head] popped off!". Always made me kinda queasy, but I did it anyway. Poor babies!

Anonymous wrote:Here's an innocuous one. Do kids still use this?

Say, say, oh playmate,
Come out and play with me.
Bring out your dollies three.
Climb up my apple tree.
Slide down my rainbow
Into my cellar door.
And we'll be jolly friends
Forevermore!

But then there's the evil version:

Oh rotten enemy,
Come out and fight with me.
And bring your soldiers three,
Clime up my poison tree.
Slide down my razor blade
into my dungeon door
And we'll be rotten enemies
Forevermore more more more more.

Here's an innocuous one. Do kids still use this?

Say, say, oh playmate,
Come out and play with me.
Bring out your dollies three.
Climb up my apple tree.
Slide down my rainbow
Into my cellar door.
And we'll be jolly friends
Forevermore!

I remember the miss Susie one from the late 80s early 90s, althiugh there were def some more bad words implied in the one I learned!!

And the always PC:

China man, had a wife
Gave him so much trouble in life
Rolled her up to the top of a hill
Rolled her down like a rolling pin

Chickolaichi Chickolora
Bungalora
Piggy-Wiggy Whack-Whack

Poka Moka
Hit him in the Polk
Chickolai, Chickolai chi chai cho.

In came the doctor, in came the nurse, in came the lady with the alligator purse

"Measles!" said the doctor
"Mumps!" said the nurse
"Nonsense!" said the lady with the alligator purse

"Penicillin" said the doctor
"Castor oil" said the nurse
"Pizza!" said the lady with the alligator purse

So they all had a party* and then out went the doctor, out went the nurse, out went the lady with the alligator purse.

(My kid learned this from his grandma, but he didn't quite get it right, and there were several verses of "so they all had a puppy!")

We had one that went something like:

Ms Susie had a baby
She named him Tiny Tim
She put him in the bathtub to see if he could swim
He drank up all the water
He ate up all the soap
He tried to eat the bathtub but it wouldn't fit down his throat
Ms. Susie called the doctor, Ms. Susie called the nurse
Ms. Susie call the lady with the alligator purse

And it went on from there about doctor saying measles, nurse saying mumps then Ms. Susie kicked the doctor, hit the nurse, and paid the lady with the alligator purse, but I can't remember the precise words for the rest of it.

For counting, We did:

Engine engine number 9
Going down Chicago Line
If the train should jump the track
Do you want your money back?

My mother told me to pick the very best one and you are not it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When picking who would go first for a two-player game, the two players would chant:

My mother and your mother
hanging out the clothes
My mother punched your mother
right in the nose

What color was the blood?

Then the one player would shout out a color, and we would spell that eeny-meeni-miney-moe fashion to pick who went first.

This was in a Catholic elementary school in the midwest in the early 70s.

Yes! I remember that one too (also from the Midwest 70s/80s). And also this one:

Miss Susie had a steamboat, the steamboat had a bell,
Miss Susie went to heaven, The steamboat went to...
Hello operator, please give me number nine,
And if you disconnect me, I'll chop off your...
Behind the fridgerator, there was a piece of glass,
Miss Susie sat upon it, and broke her little...
Ask me no more questions, tell me no more lies,
The boys are in the bathroom, they're zipping up their...
Flies are in the meadow, bees are in the park,
Miss Susie and her boyfriend, are kissing in the dark!

I remember both of these from Catholic school in the late '70s.

Here's the one I hate (DD learned it at private school this year)
There's a place on mars
where the women smoke cigars
and the men wear bikinis
and the children drink martinis.
Every breath you take is enough to kill a snake.
when the snake is dead, you put roses on his head
when the roses die, you put diamonds in his eyes
when the diamonds crack, you put mustard on his back
when the mustard fades, you call the king of spades
when the king of spades comes he says
"Freeze! Freeze! American cheese! Please don't show your butt to me!"

Miss Mary Mack, Mack, Mack
all dressed in black, black, black
with silver buttons, buttons, buttons
all down her back, back, back
(plus a lot more that I can't remember...)

She asked her mother, mother, mother
For fifty cents, cents, cents
To watch the elephant, elephant, elephant
Jump over the fence, fence, fence

It jumped so high, high, high
It reached the sky, sky, sky
And never came back, back, back
'til the 4th of July, -ly, -ly.

My two-year-old sang this to me a few days ago--obviously she learned it at daycare (although *I* was always taught the cow, not elephant, jumped over the fence). It was cute to see the rhymes contuing to the next generation! Oh, and that inflation has not affected the price of watching an animal jump the fence.

Anonymous wrote:When picking who would go first for a two-player game, the two players would chant:

My mother and your mother
hanging out the clothes
My mother punched your mother
right in the nose

What color was the blood?

Then the one player would shout out a color, and we would spell that eeny-meeni-miney-moe fashion to pick who went first.

This was in a Catholic elementary school in the midwest in the early 70s.

Yes! I remember that one too (also from the Midwest 70s/80s). And also this one:

Miss Susie had a steamboat, the steamboat had a bell,
Miss Susie went to heaven, The steamboat went to...
Hello operator, please give me number nine,
And if you disconnect me, I'll chop off your...
Behind the fridgerator, there was a piece of glass,
Miss Susie sat upon it, and broke her little...
Ask me no more questions, tell me no more lies,
The boys are in the bathroom, they're zipping up their...
Flies are in the meadow, bees are in the park,
Miss Susie and her boyfriend, are kissing in the dark!

When picking who would go first for a two-player game, the two players would chant:

My mother and your mother
hanging out the clothes
My mother punched your mother
right in the nose

What color was the blood?

Then the one player would shout out a color, and we would spell that eeny-meeni-miney-moe fashion to pick who went first.

This was in a Catholic elementary school in the midwest in the early 70s.

The Eenie, Meenie, Miney, Moe thread got me thinking about some of the stuff we used to sing/chant on the playground--clapping songs, jump rope songs, and the counting stuff you used to figure out who was "it". Was just wondering--do kids use these same rhymes or have they changed? My kids aren't elementary age yet, so no experience. Do girls even still play clapping games or is that hopelessly old-fashioned? Which ones were popular in your area when you were a kid?

Anyone else remember these gems?

Lincoln, Lincoln, I've been thinkin'
what the heck have you been drinkin'
looks like water
tastes like wine
oh my God, it's turpentine

Miss Mary Mack, Mack, Mack
all dressed in black, black, black
with silver buttons, buttons, buttons
all down her back, back, back
(plus a lot more that I can't remember...)

Wasn't there also something about a dirty, dirty, dishrag and a blue shoe?