Here's a knee bouncer or hand clapping game which takes inspiration from all those energetic, adventurous grannies out there.
Clap hands on knees to the strong beat of the rhyme - on the chorus sweep your hands up, down and round in a circle.
With a baby or small toddler, you can knee bounce baby through the first half of the rhyme, then stand up, whooshing baby up in the air then down, then turn in a circle where you stand to swing baby round the world. Bigger toddlers and children can do more complex actions themselves - sewing, jumping up, driving a car/boat/space ship, but will love to join hands with you and be swung round the world at full arm stretch - make sure you've got plenty of space!
Granny in the kitchen doing a bit of stitchin' Thinking she would rather do a little bit of hitchin' Up jumps granny with her boots and her pack, Waves down a car and we jump in the back - We're going up, going down, going round the world, We're going up, going down, going round the world. Granny in the kitchen... Up jumps granny with her hat and her coat Waves to a sailor and we jump on her boat We're sailing up, sailing down, sailing round the world, We're sailing up, sailing down, sailing round the world. Granny in the kitchen... Up jumps granny with her eyes on the stars Waves to a space ship and we're off to Mars, We're zooming up, zooming down, zooming round the world, We're zooming up, zooming down, zooming round the world.
Words: adapted from the traditional first line by Sheena Roberts © Playsongs Publications Ltd