The Preschooler

The Name Game

“The Name Game” is a children’s song written and sung by Shirley Ellis in 1964.  Today, in 2011, my kids still get a kick out of hearing me sing the song to whatever names they can shout in my direction.

Since they have enjoyed this simple game so much, I have tried to think of ways to use it as an educational tool.  Rhyming was the obvious answer.  I simply sing the song, but pause at obvious points and let my children shout out the “word” that comes next.

For example, the song is sung like this if you are using the name “Josh”:

Josh-Josh, bo-bosh, banana-fanna fo-fosh, fee, fi, mo-mosh, Josh. (You can watch a video of Shirley Ellis singing the song at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5MJLi5_dyn0.)

For the rhyming game we sing at home, I would sing just the first part of the song and stop at “fo” with a dramatic pause afterwards.  My kids would shout out “fosh” in order to fill in the blank.

It is a very simple game that can be played anywhere.  Sometimes my kids enjoy just listening to me sing the song to various names, and at other times they prefer to fill in the blanks.  Either way, they are listening to the rhymes and having fun doing it.

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Written by Laura on March 28, 2011