Overview

The informant grew up in Long Island, New York and remembers playing this game throughout elementary school and middle school. It was usually played in big groups at social school gatherings (like field trips, recess, etc). 

The Game

2+ players sit in a circle with their right hand on top of the left hand of the person on their right. They chant a rhyming song and clap their hands in a wave around the circle. Whomever has their hand clapped on the last word of the song is eliminated, and players continue until there’s only one person left standing. 

The chant: “Quack diddly oso quack quack quack, from San Diego, eggo eggo waffle, Dolora, Dolora, potatoes on the floor-a, go 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10”

Collector’s Thoughts

I also played this game as a kid, but I remember a different variation. Instead of “potatoes on the floor-a” we said “I’ll kick you out the door-a”. I’m sure there’s so many other iterations of this game, and I hope to find more of them!

Annotation

For another version of this game, see: https://journeys.dartmouth.edu/folklorearchive/2019/06/03/quack-diddly-oso-clapping-hand-game/