The Hokey Pokey

The Hokey Pokey is a song and a dance that first become popular in the U.S. in the 1950’s as a novelty (for fun; not serious) dance for adults. Since then, it’s become a song and dance that children are taught at home or at school for fun.

There are many versions of this song and dance. You can use or add almost any body part. The most popular body parts to use are foot/leg, hand/arm, elbow (the part of your arm that joins the bottom and top of your arm together), hip (the part of your body between your legs and your waist), head, and whole self (entire person).

You can hear the song here. (That version uses backside, a polite and and old-fashioned term for the part of your body that you sit on.) Or, you can watch a group of children sing and dance it with their teachers below or here.

~ Lucy

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9 Responses to The Hokey Pokey

  1. Kaz says:

    Dear Lucy,
    Thank you very much for that nice gift on Shrovetide for our ESL family!
    Kaz in Poland

  2. Elisângelo says:

    Hello lucy, how do you do?

    So, it was really good of you to put some post with a such funny entertaiment. Although is focused on childhood entertaiment distraction this is really friendly to our ears which gives a tum of will to pay attention and listen to the music and try to figure out what they are singing. I confess that unfortunately by the quality of the sound I got into a hot water try to understand what they`re singin…. nevertheless I was cheerful cause there was the lyric written down on the web page.

    Thanks a lot for the entertaiment time!

    ah! I was about to forget it: please… don`t put us on in this year`s video podcast, we all are very curious to see you on the little screen.

    best regards to all of you!

  3. elcomandant says:

    Very fanny Lucy.
    I’m love to see the children dancing and singing meanwhile they are learning.
    I whish all of people were like children. I’m sure world would be better, rather better.
    Thanks Lucy.
    Regards.

  4. emiliano says:

    I love the song and the cartoons, also I think it is such a good way to teach the children all the different parts of their bodies, word pronunciation, and more important the way of teaching them to be participants of an even among other children and adults leaving their shy out and feeling themselves desinhibited to sing and dance among
    their fellows in public.
    Good, very good, I love it in many ways. Here, spaniards use feel so ridiculous if we have to do funny things facing other people that it should be good accustom children
    in these amusing activities from the schools.
    Some times we are fascinated how English people do funny or amusing acts without any sense of ridiculous and may be just because you are much more desinhibited than
    we are, and it is really a pity that we have such a big sense of ridiculous in many ways, even doing something as speak other lenguages because we are afraid of doing
    it badly or somebody may laugh about it.
    Millions of spaniards are doing big effords to learn English but very few speak anything along all their lifes…..sense of ridiculous is enormous.
    Good for the song, good for the teachers, good for the children moving the arms, the legs, the head and laughing aloud all together without feeling themselves the less
    inhibet among their fellows.
    Good for you Lucy as I know nothing about it all and it is really very nice.

  5. Vera Surkova says:

    In Russia we call this song “Boogi Woogi” (???? ????) 🙂

  6. That´s dont look me strange. I remember hearing this back in an older esl podcast.

  7. nhiha says:

    I’m from Vietnam.Thanks for providing Hokey Pokey video clips which I can know about American culture more.I love dancing and this is a dance style that I’ve seen first time.You all great job,please continue.I’m really like your English training program.

  8. aleš says:

    I thought all time, than The Hokey Pokey is traditionary ice-creme in New Zealand. In the Czech republic we call this song ” Boogi Woogi” too:-))))

  9. Bruce Lee says:

    I figure out this song. When I was a middle school student, we went to membership training.
    On the first day MT started, we experienced Hockey Pockey with classmates.
    It was remembered as fun & happy dancing.

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