MULBERRY BUSH – Playground Games for Kids

6 to 60 players or more. Indoors / out of doors.

Here we go round the mulberry bush,
The mulberry bush, the mulberry bush,
Here we go round the mulberry bush,
So early in the morning!
This is the way we wash our clothes,
We wash our clothes, we wash our clothes,
This is the way we wash our clothes,
So early Monday morning.

This is the way we iron our clothes,
We iron our clothes, we iron our clothes,
This is the way we iron our clothes,
So early Tuesday morning.

This is the way we scrub the floor,
We scrub the floor, we scrub the floor,
This the way we scrub the floor,
So early Wednesday morning.

This is the way we mend our clothes,
We mend our clothes, we mend our clothes,
This the way we mend our clothes,
So early Thursday morning.

This is the way we sweep the house,
We sweep the house, we sweep the house,
This is the way we sweep the house,
So early Friday morning.

Thus we play when our work is done,
Our work is done, our work is done,
Thus we play when our work is done,
So early Saturday morning.

The players stand in a circle clasping hands, and circle around, singing the first verse. In the second and alternate verses the action indicated by the lines is given in pantomime. In all verses the players spin around rapidly, each in her own place, on the repetition of the refrain, “So early in the morning.”

This is one of the oldest traditional games, and probably one of the most widely known. It is considered to have originated as a marriage dance around a sacred tree or bush, our mistletoe custom having come from the same source.

 

Excerpt from the book:
GAMES FOR THE PLAYGROUND, HOME, SCHOOL AND GYMNASIUM BY JESSIE H. BANCROFT
New York, THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 1922

 

 

 

Save