Children's Program
odd: label: Introduction
content: The 1981 Festival, after a hiatus in 1980, returned to presenting a substantial program of children's folklore, featuring Washington, D.C. area school groups teaching and learning children's games, and adult craftspeople making dolls and quilts.

In any elementary school playground during recess, children are running, playing tag, throwing balls, jumping rope, hopping hopscotch, playing jacks, hitting, hiding, clapping hands, and singing. To adult spectators, this buzzing beehive of activity may seem chaotic, but the chaos appears only to them. The rules of the games are obscured by the noise and the action; boundaries, forbidden areas, and "it" figures - structures rigorously adhered to by the children. The shared knowledge of these games and the lore that accompanies them binds this community of children together. Friends teach the games to other friends, who discover them as new and original. Most children would probably be surprised to know that their parents played the same games, and their parents would probably be surprised to know that many of these games are several hundred years old.

Why is the folklore of the community of children important? Primarily because it is important to the children themselves. The games allow them to direct and to be in control of their lives. In these games they test limits and boundaries, obey or disobey authority figures, and hone their physical skills to the utmost. After playing these games the children can return to their adult -directed lives with the pleasure of having been in charge of themselves. Adults too can learn from this childlore, and appreciate the richness of that lore that has been handed down from child to child from one playground to another. Once upon a time, we all, as children, exchanged this lore, too.

Jean Alexander served as Children's Program Coordinator.
label: Participants
content: Rosie Lee Allen, quilt-maker, Homer, Louisiana

Amidon Elementary School, children's games, Washington, D.C.

Pauline Becker, doll maker, Elkins, West Virginia

Bowen Elementary School, children's folk art, Washington, D.C.

Brent Elementary School, children's games, Washington, D.C.

Brightwood Elementary School, children's games, Hispanic American games, Washington, D.C.

Bunker Hill Elementary School, children's games, Washington, D.C.

Burroughs Elementary School, children's games, Washington, D.C.

Clark Elementary School, children's games, Washington, D.C.

Cooke Elementary School, children's games, Washington, D.C.

The Drama, Drum, and Dance Ensemble, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Joanne Erlebacher, Listening Horn Productions, Arlington, Virginia

Girl Scout Troop #2776, Hispanic American games, Washington, D.C.

Glebe Elementary School, children's folk art, Arlington, Virginia

Marcy Grace, Listening Horn Productions, Potomac, Maryland

Chere Katz, Listening Horn Productions, Rockville, Maryland

Robert Kenyatta, The Drama, Drum, and Dance Ensemble, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Kingman Boys' Club, children's games, Washington, D.C.

Langdon Elementary School, children's games, Washington, D.C.

Model Secondary School for the Deaf, children's games, Washington, D.C.

Marilyn Porter, The Drama, Drum, and Dance Ensemble, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Shepherd Elementary School, children's games, Washington, D.C.

Slowe Elementary School, children's games, Washington, D.C.

Stevens Elementary School, children's games, Washington, D.C.

Rev. Daniel Womack, storyteller, Roanoke, Virginia

Woodridge Regional Library, children's games, Washington, D.C.

Edna Faye Young, 1942-, doll maker, Westminster, Maryland
name: label: Collection Creator
content: Smithsonian Institution. Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage
setName: label: See more items in
content: Smithsonian Folklife Festival records: 1981 Festival of American Folklife
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections
identifier: label: Identifier
content: CFCH.SFF.1981, Series 5
objectType: label: Type
content: Archival materials