Picking Who is "IT"


We used to pick who would be it by making fists and turning them sideways.  You would then say the rhyme and hit the other persons fist as well as yours using your chin as the substitute for the fist that you were using. Each fist would be hit once you would say the word and hit the fist at the same time. One word for each fist. At the end the person whose fist was hit last is out.  They're totally out when both fists are hit.  Some of the rhymes
were:

engine,engine,number.nine gong down chicago line if the train falls off the track
do you want your money back {you would pick yes or no and the word would be
spelled out.  no would be n-o spells no you don't get your money back or
y-e-s-spells yes and you shall have you money back}

or

my mother and your mother were at the store your mother punched my mother
in the nose. what color was the blood {name any color and spell it out then
say the color} was the color of the blood.

or
 
two horses in one stable and one jumped out.

or

scout scout you're out.

Contributed by Martha Wiltsie

OR

When we wanted to pick who was going to be "it" in a tag game, everyone put one foot in a circle and one person pointed and repeated the following rhyme:
Blue shoe, blue shoe,
How old are you?
(The person told his or her age, and the one saying the rhyme counted
ahead that many shoes, and the ending one was out.  The rhyme continued
until one person was chosen.)

We would put both fists out in front of us, and he would hit each fist, one at a time while saying the following rhyme.  The fist he would hit would be out, but you had another fist left, so you could still win. The winner was the one who had the only fist left up.
One potato, two potato, three potato, four.
Five potato, six potato, seven potato, more.
(Then the person would remove the fist on the word "more" and the game
would begin again.)

Contributed by Nicki Platt

OR

Everyone usually put one foot in and touched it to everyone else.  Then
someone would begin counting by singing the tune.

Tunes were:

You would count each foot by each syllable you said of a word.  Like after
you say bubblegum you should have tapped 3 feet.

 1   2   3   4   5   6  7  8  9  10 11  12  13 14 15  16  17
Bub-ble-gum bub-ble-gum in a dish how man-y piec-es do you wish. (Whoever
you landed on here got to pick a #)  You should have tapped about 17 feet or
gone around the circle to touch 17 feet at the end of this part)

Then you went around the circle counting each foot to the number the person said

Then after you get to the number they picked you keep going and say

"and you are not it you dir-ty dir-ty dish rag you" "Not be-cause your
dir-ty not be-cause your clean, just be-cause you kissed a boy be-hind a
mag-a zine.

Whoever you landed on when you said "zine" could either be "it" or if you
wanted to keep going that person would just be out and you would keep doing
the same tune until one person was left then they would be "it"  (Obviously
that takes longer)

or

"skunk in the barn-yard
 pew-wee
 who could of done it
 not me"

You can stop here or add "my mama' or "dirty dishrag"
Everyone always varied these to there own liking anyway.
 

Contributed by Julianne Brewer

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