This is an admirable game for very little children. Their dramatic tendency should be given full rein in impersonating the soft movements of the kitty and mousie before the chase begins.
Kitty White so slyly comes, To catch the Mousie Gray; But mousie hears her softly creep; And quickly runs away.
Run, run, run, little mouse, Run all around the house; For Kitty White is coming near, And she will catch the mouse, I fear.
Kit-ty White so sly-ly comes To catch the Mous-ie Gray; But mous-ie hears her soft-ly creep And quick-ly runs a-way. Run, run, run, lit-tle mouse, Run all a-round the house; For Kit-ty White is com-ing near, And she will catch the mouse, I fear. ]
One player is chosen for the mouse and stands in the center, and another for Kitty White, who stands outside of the circle. The other players join hands in a ring and move around, while singing the first four lines. Meanwhile Kitty White is creeping around outside of the circle, peeping in at little Mousie Gray. When the fourth line is reached, "And quickly runs away," the circle stops moving and drops hands while the mouse runs out and in through the circle, chased by Kitty White. For the last four lines, while the chase is going on, the players in the circle stand in place and clap their hands while singing "Run, run," etc.
When the mousie is caught, both return to the circle, and another mouse and kitty are chosen.
This is a game for small children. The players join hands and form a ring. They dance around in a circle in time to the music, singing to the air of "Mulberry bush":--
The leaves are green, the nuts are brown; They hang so high they will not come down; Leave them alone till frosty weather; Then they will all come down together.
As the last words are sung, the children all stoop suddenly to the ground, to represent the falling nuts. This is more interesting if the time be rapid and if the players jump before stooping, which may lead to their tumbling over as the nuts do when they fall from the trees.
Let the feet go tramp! tramp! tramp! Let the hands go clap! clap! clap! Let the finger beckon thee. Come, dear friend, and skip with me. La, la la la, la la la, etc.
[Illustration music: Let the Feet Go Tramp