Miss Mary Mack Lyrics
Today it is one of the best-known hand-clapping games in American playgrounds. In 1888 it was already being chanted by children in Pennsylvania, as a rhyme for picking who was "it".
Miss Mary Mack
Miss Mary Mack, dressed in black,
Silver buttons on her back.
I love coffee, I love tea,
I love the boys, and the boys love me.
I'll tell ma when she comes home.
The boys won't leave the girls alone.
Printed from https://nurseryrhymes.co/miss-mary-mack/
- Type
- Counting Rhymes
- Tune
- Chanted rhyme
- Best for ages
- 4 to 10 years
Hand Motions and Actions
| When you sing | Do this |
|---|---|
| Miss Mary Mack, dressed in black | Facing a partner, clap your own hands, then both of your partner's. |
| Silver buttons on her back | Cross your arms and pat your shoulders, then clap again. |
| I love coffee, I love tea | Keep the clapping pattern going, one clap per beat. |
What Does Miss Mary Mack Mean?
Mary Mack is dressed all in black with silver buttons down her back. The rest of the rhyme is playground chatter: a girl who loves coffee and tea, and the boys who will not leave the girls alone. Like most clapping rhymes, the sense matters much less than the beat.
History and Origin
Henry Carrington Bolton printed this version in The Counting-Out Rhymes of Children in 1888, from West Chester, Pennsylvania. In the twentieth century the rhyme turned into a hand-clapping game and grew new verses, most famously about Mary asking her mother for fifty cents to see an elephant jump a fence. Folklorists who study children's games still find new versions on playgrounds today.
Learning Activities
- Clap pattern: clap your own hands, then your partner's, then your own, then cross over. Speed up each round.
- Counting out: use it the old way: point to one child per beat, and whoever gets the last word is "it".
- Make up a verse: ask children what else Mary Mack might wear, and fit it into the rhythm.