Let’s Play Some Clapping Games!
Clapping games are rhythmic, cooperative hand-clapping commonly played by two people. They are part of many cultures, passed down orally from generation to generation. They don’t require any equipment or props so you can have fun playing clapping games anywhere, anytime!
Clapping games activates various areas of the brain responsible for memory, logic and motor skills.
Here are some you might like to try together with your child!
Open Them, Shut Them
(Clap, open and close hands)
Words
Open, shut them, open, shut them,
Give a little clap, clap, clap.
Open, shut them, open, shut them,
Lay them gently in your lap.
Chocolate
(Each time you say “choco”, you clap each other’s palms. Each time you say “la”, you clap the back of each other’s hands. When you say “te”, you fist-bump your partner.
Words
Choco choco, la la
Choco choco, te te
Choco la, choco te
Choco la te
Peas Porridge Hot
(clap your knees then your hands with your partner. Clap in this way as you say the words)
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.
Miss Mary Mac
Two players sit opposite each other and clap in time to the rhyming words. Feel free to make up your own clapping variations.
Words
Miss Mary Mac, Mac, Mac
All dressed in black, black, black,
With silver buttons, buttons, buttons,
All down her back, back, back.
She asked her mother, mother, mother
For fifty cents, cents, cents
To see the elephants, elephants, elephants,
Jump over the fence, fence, fence.
They jumped so high, high, high
They reached the sky, sky, sky,
They never came back, back, back
‘Til the fourth of July, July, July.
Clap, Clap, Pause
(In this Clap pattern game, everyone can create a pattern and other copy it)
Words
Clap, clap, pause,
Clap, clap, pause.
Now it’s your turn,
Clap like me!
Name Clap
Clap once for each syllable (beat) in a child’s name (e.g., Mo-ham-ed)
Words
Let’s clap a name, nice and slow,
Listen close and here we go…
(Clap each syllable of the name)
That was ___!
Count and Clap
Clap while counting. Try clapping every number as you count (1-2-3-4-5 etc.)
Say a number and clap that many.
![Clapping Games [LTP1]](https://welcome-to-kindergarten.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Clapping-games-WTK-768x432.png)
