Sing along (with lyrics)
Top 10 clapping and hand-game rhymes
Hand-clapping rhymes pass from child to child on playgrounds and need no equipment. They build rhythm, memory and cooperation. Most have no one author and many versions.
Chosen from folklore collections and playground-rhyme studies and checked on Wikipedia, Oct 2026. Checked 2026-10-25. Nobody paid to be here. The buy links are plain search links, not affiliate links, so Peabody earns nothing from them.
Pat-a-Cake
Traditional · Ages 0-5
The first clapping rhyme; a baby learns patterns through touch.
Buy: Apple Music · Spotify
Words
Pat-a-cake, pat-a-cake, baker's man, Bake me a cake as fast as you can; Pat it and prick it and mark it with B, And put it in the oven for baby and me.
Miss Mary Mack
Traditional · Ages 5-10
The classic pair clapping game with 'all dressed in black, black, black'.
Buy: Apple Music · Spotify
Down Down Baby
Traditional · Ages 6-11
A fast clapping rhyme with a chorus of 'sweet, sweet'.
Buy: Apple Music · Spotify
Pease Porridge Hot
Traditional · Ages 3-9
Clapping with a partner at a steady beat.
Buy: Apple Music · Spotify
Words
Pease porridge hot, Pease porridge cold, Pease porridge in the pot, Nine days old. Some like it hot, Some like it cold, Some like it in the pot, Nine days old.
Brown Girl in the Ring
Traditional Caribbean · Ages 5-11
A circle game from Jamaica; one player in the middle shows her moves.
Buy: Apple Music · Spotify
Ring Around the Rosie
Traditional · Ages 1-5
Not clapping but a classic hand-in-hand circle game.
Buy: Apple Music · Spotify
Words
Ring around the rosie, A pocket full of posies, Ashes, ashes, We all fall down.
Itsy Bitsy Spider
Traditional · Ages 1-6
A finger-play with hand motions.
Buy: Apple Music · Spotify
Words
The itsy bitsy spider climbed up the waterspout. Down came the rain and washed the spider out. Out came the sun and dried up all the rain, And the itsy bitsy spider climbed up the spout again.
Hot Cross Buns
Traditional · Ages 3-8
Clap the beats in a pattern; also plays on a recorder.
Buy: Apple Music · Spotify
Words
Hot cross buns! Hot cross buns! One a penny, two a penny, Hot cross buns!
This Little Piggy
Traditional · Ages 0-4
Toe-wiggling rhyme.
Buy: Apple Music · Spotify
Words
This little piggy went to market, This little piggy stayed home, This little piggy had roast beef, This little piggy had none, And this little piggy cried "Wee, wee, wee!" All the way home.
Eeny, Meeny, Miny, Moe
Traditional · Ages 4-9
A counting-out rhyme used to pick who is 'it'.
Watch for: Older versions of this rhyme contain a slur; use a modern wording or another counting-out rhyme.
Buy: Apple Music · Spotify
More lists
Top 16 classroom and transition songs
Teachers use short songs to move children from one thing to another: lining up, cleaning up, gathering on the carpet, saying goodbye.
Top 52 nursery rhymes with lyrics
These are the rhymes most English-speaking children meet before they can read, in the forms that are in the public domain.
Top 25 folk songs kids should know with lyrics
American and English folk songs get passed from person to person, so there are many versions.
Top 20 lullabies with lyrics
Lullabies work because they are slow, soft and repeated.
Top 18 campfire songs
Campfire songs are easy to learn by ear, repeat a lot, and often have actions.
Top 20 holiday songs in the public domain
These Christmas, Hanukkah, Halloween, Thanksgiving and New Year songs are old enough to sing, copy and print for classrooms and family songbooks without asking anyone.
Top 18 patriotic songs with lyrics
These songs turn up at school assemblies, ball games, parades and holidays.
Top 19 songs for learning ABCs, counting, days, months and more
Songs stick in memory because of rhythm and rhyme.