Hand Clap Game · Elementary Music · Grades 4–6
Full lyrics, how to teach the hand clap game, and a complete teaching guide for elementary music. Syncopa, low sol, and do-based pentatonic — all in one song. Every spelling covered.
All spellings
This song is famously hard to spell because the words are phonetic approximations of sounds rather than real words. All of these refer to the same song.
Complete lyrics
About this song
This handclap is popular on the east coast, particularly in the New York City and Long Island areas — it's been played there for at least 30 years. As soon as you start teaching it, the kids might burst into song, leap up, and begin the handclap! Even though it's best to introduce the song in grades 4–6 because of the complexity of the hand clap, you may still find younger students coming in to class and performing it perfectly, having learned it from their older siblings.
From a musical standpoint, the entire first half of the song (up until "itty bitty") is great for teaching syncopa (ti-ta-ti). The song is also an excellent vehicle for low sol — this note is introduced just under la, then jumps back to it from mi. And the song is fully do-based pentatonic (do, re, mi, low la, low sol), making it ideal for pentatonic analysis at the upper elementary level.
"As soon as you start teaching it, kids might burst into song and leap up to begin the handclap — they've learned it from their older siblings."
— Deborah Skydell Pasternack, The Singing ClassroomClapping directions are written on the score, but the pattern is easier to learn from the bunny animation. The "please don't show your ___ to me" ending is a favorite — students come up with endlessly creative body part answers, and the challenge of doing the handclap behind your back (for "front") is usually impossible but quite funny.
Teaching the hand game
The clapping pattern is the heart of this song — and it's tricky enough that most teachers who try to wing it end up teaching it slightly wrong. The bunny animation inside The Singing Classroom shows every move in exact detail, at normal speed and slowed down, so you can learn it correctly before class and teach it with total confidence.
Deborah's full demonstration also covers when to introduce the chant without hands first, how to sequence the tempo build-up so students earn the speed rather than rushing it, and how to use the syncopa in the first half as a rhythm teaching moment once the class knows the song well.
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By grade level
Focus on mastering the handclap pattern using the bunny animation, chanting the words in rhythm. Use the first half of the song to introduce syncopa (ti-ta-ti). Note that younger siblings may already know this song — lean into that!
Use the song to introduce or reinforce low sol and do-based pentatonic analysis. Play the melody on xylophones in two groups. Explore the "please don't show your ___ to me" ending and enjoy the creative body part suggestions.
Analyze the syncopa pattern and how it relates to what students already know. Explore the east coast origins (NYC/Long Island) and why so many spelling variations exist. Connect low sol to other songs in the repertoire.
What teachers say
"Every class begs to do Bobo Ski. The video on The Singing Classroom showed me the exact clapping pattern — I'd been teaching it slightly wrong for years. Game changer."
"I use this every year to open conversations about where songs come from. Kids are fascinated that nobody knows who wrote it — it just appeared on playgrounds."
"The cultural context Deborah provides in the video is something I couldn't find anywhere else. It gave me the language to talk about this song's history with confidence."
Explore the complete elementary music curriculum — 150+ folk songs, every one demonstrated on video.
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See teaching guide →Common questions
The words don't have a literal meaning — they are rhythmic sounds. This handclap is popular on the east coast, particularly in the New York City and Long Island areas, where it's been played for at least 30 years. Like many playground games, it spread through oral tradition, which is why so many spelling variations exist — everyone spelled it the way they heard it.
Because the song spread entirely through oral tradition — people heard the sounds and spelled them phonetically. Bobo Ski Watten Taten, Bobo Ski Waten Taten, Bo Bo See Otten Totten, Bobo Ski Rotten Totten — all refer to the same song. There is no single correct spelling.
Grades 4–6, because of the complexity of the hand clap. That said, you may find younger students already knowing the song perfectly — it spreads through oral tradition among siblings. The song itself can be enjoyed by younger grades even if the full handclap isn't introduced yet.
Yes — Bo Bo See Otten Totten, Bobo Ski Watten Taten, Bo Bo Ski Rotten Totten, and all the other spelling variations are the same song. The differences are purely in how different people transcribed the sounds they heard. The melody, rhythm, and clapping pattern are the same across all versions.
The real problem
Every teacher knows this feeling. You find a song, try it on Monday, and something goes sideways — the kids don't engage, you're not sure how to introduce it, the lesson loses momentum. It's not that the song was wrong. You just didn't have a clear picture of how it actually goes.
That's what makes The Singing Classroom different. Every song in the library — including this one — has a full video of Deborah teaching it with real students. You don't have to guess how to introduce it, how to structure the activity, or how to handle the tricky moments. You watch it. Then you teach it.
150+ songs. Every one demonstrated. No more hoping it works — you already know it will.
Watch Deborah demonstrate every move of the Bobo Ski Watten Taten clapping game — plus 150+ folk songs and singing games for elementary music.
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