Text Little Sally Walker is an interactive song/game that involves a group of people. Everyone arranges into a circle with at least one person in the center. The person (or people, depending how large your group is) in the center starts walking/skipping around the circle while everyone sings: “Little Sally Walker, walking down the street. She didn’t know what to do so she stopped in front of me, she said, hey girl, do your thing, do your thing, do your thing. Hey girl, do your thing, do your thing, do your thing, now switch!” When the song reaches “stopped in front of me,” the person in the middle will stop in front of any member of the circle and face them. This center person will then do a dance move, and the person on the edge will mirror this move, all while the group continues to sing, “hey girl, do your thing, do your thing, do your thing. Hey girl, do your thing, do your thing, do your thing, now switch!” The person from the circle now switches positions with the person in the middle, and becomes the new “Little Sally Walker” and the cycle continues.
Context This song/activity was a tradition at my childhood summer camp that I encountered in my first summer there in 2008, and repeated every year until my most recent summer (now working as a counselor) in 2022. Little Sally Walker always occurred on the first day of camp, once all the campers had arrived and it was the first official “icebreaker” of the 2-week overnight session.
Interpretation While I’m sure this jingle has deeper historical origins than I’m aware of, it seems to express values around interaction and engagement with others. As it requires nothing more than a group of people, it is able to be done anywhere. In the context of my camp, it was also a successful way of passing time or distracting campers until an event or activity starts.
