Game
You stand in a circle and one girl starts and she walks around the inside of the circle. Then she jumps in front of the person when it says “she jumped in fron of me.” Then the next girl goes into the middle and the one who ones in the middle replaces her stop in the circle. “Little Sally Walker walkin down the street. She didn’t know what to do so she jumped in front of me. She said go girl do your thang do your thang do your thang. Go girl do your thang do your thang stop.”
Analysis:
Vienna first played this game in the 2nd grade. She went to Page Private School in Beverly Hills. What you would do is you got a group of people, at least five or six minimum, and you would get into a circle. Then whoever wanted to start would go in the middle and then walk around the inner circle and “strut” while you walk around. Once it says “jumped in front of me” then that person stops and jumps in front of someone and does some kind of dance and then once it’s over, the person she jumped in front of goes into the circle and the other girl takes her place. You continue until the whole circle has been in the middle. She enjoyed playing this because recess there was never really enough time, and this was fun. To her, the best part is that the more people in the group, the longer it would last. Also, there wasn’t a set amount of people; more kids could join during the game if they wanted.
I had never heard of this recess game until I collected it from Vienna. It seems more associated with western culture, especially because of the language used. Vienna said most of her classmates were African-Americanshe was the only white girl in her group of friends. Myself growing up, I never heard of the word thang. It wasnt until I came to the United States and listened to rap music that I began hearing it. I believe this type of slang is most commonly used among African-Americans. I also asked what kinds of dances the girls would do to do their thang. She said they did it with attitude and confidence. I asked for further explanation and she said, Let me put it this wayabout half of our dances were banned by the principle. I’m not sure how risqué these dances could have been, considering they were in the second grade, so it may have just been inappropriate for their age group.
I think this game was especially common among her group of friends because it enabled them to express themselves. Young children are often insecure and unsure of themselves. By taking them out of their normal environment and letting them play with their peers, they are more likely to be themselves. Furthermore, the game was never the exact same. Girls would do their dances differently every time, providing exciting entertainment that consistently amused young children.