Choreographed Games Buying A Lock
( Choreographed, Dancing, Physical Contest, Singing and Song )
Oh here we all go to buy us a lock
What kind of a lock shall it be
Well buy a broom handle if that will not do
With a poker well try it alone.
But if neither the broom nor the poker will do
Well open it then with a stone.
This game is suitable for very little children. They stand in a long line or rank side by side holding hands. While repeating the verse one end of the line winds in under the raised arms of the last two players at the opposite end but instead of passing entirely through as in many other winding games the player next to the last only turns far enough to face in three quarters of a circle or so that the players will eventually when all have so turned be brought into single file one standing behind the other. In this position the arms are dropped over the shoulder so that the players own left arm crosses his chest with the clasped hands (his own left and his neighbors right) resting on his right shoulder. Each player should clasp his neighbors hands at the start so that the palm of his own left hand faces forward and the palm of his own right hand faces backward.
When the whole line has been “locked” in this way the players unwind in reverse order still repeating the verse.
When players are familiar with the winding and unwinding process the game may be played in circle formation instead of line formation that is it will start with all of the players facing inward as they clasp hands to form a circle and the locking or winding will bring them facing in single file around the circle.