Black Snake Game from Black Sheep

Submitted by Caryn Mears, Kennewick, Washington

Idea posted July 17, 2006

BLACK SNAKE GAME (adapted from "Black Sheep, Black Sheep")

Students sit in a circle. Students sing the song while they pat their legs, or alternate clapping their hands and clapping their neighbor's hands. After the song, one student in the circle begins to play a "Ta Ta Ti-Ti Ta" rhythm on a hand drum while other students begin to pass the snake around the circle. A third student is sitting outside the circle with his back turned, so he cannot see. He is holding a percussion instrument (like a guiro or cabasa or vibra-slap). When the spirit moves him, he strikes by playing the instrument once. The person holding the snake when the sound strikes is the next person to sit out of the circle and play the instrument. The snake is given to the person to the right of the person who was struck, and the drum is passed on also.