This is an Indonesian game from the island of Java. You need 5 kids or more to play it.

The lyrics to this song are partially nonsense and the English translation is loose.

Cublak-Cublak Suweng - Indonesian Children's Songs - Indonesia - Mama Lisa's World: Children's Songs and Rhymes from Around the World - Intro Image

Notes

*"lousy" as in "having lice".

"It's Javanese traditional song from Indonesia." –Ira

Game Instructions

You need an object (something like a coin, rock or pebble) to play the game. Choose who's "It". That person should sit in the middle of the other players with her eyes closed and put her head down on the ground so she can't see. The other players put their open hands on the back of the one in the center.

Then the kids sing this song. One of the kids has the object and touches each of the other kids hands with it. On the 2nd to last line that kid finally places the object in one of the kid's hands. They all close their hands to hide whether they have the object or not.

At the end of the song the kid in the center has to guess which kid has the object. If that kid guesses who has it, the one who had the object has to go to the center of the circle. If the kid in the center guesses incorrectly, she has to stay in the center for another round.

Comments

We welcome help fine-tuning the English translation. –Mama Lisa

Watch
The first video shows how to play this game.
Please let us know if you think this video has been taken down by YouTube.
Thanks!

Thanks and Acknowledgements

Many thanks to Ira Rahmawati W for contributing this song. Loose translation by Lisa Yannucci. Illustration by Lila.

ꦩꦠꦸꦂꦤꦸꦮꦸꦤ꧀
(Matur nuwun)