About the Song
Isn’t learning through games and songs fun? Of course it is! Especially for the little ones of the house. Getting to know a new language through songs and games is certainly way more attractive than just doing it by plain memorization. This is the main reason why the singing game “Who took the cookie?” is so successful when learning English as a second language: it’s catchy, it is fun, and it’s really entertaining for kids!
This example of song games in English for kids consists mainly on a very simple song, which talks about an unknown person, which belongs in a group of people, who took a cookie from the jar. The rest of the players in the game are trying to identify this person asking each one of them who took the cookie. As the game advances, the person who asks the question is also the one that makes a guess of who took the cookie from the jar, saying the name of this person.
Then, the accused of taking the cookie can give some different answers to this question, depending if they are guilty or not. They can verify if it’s them they’re being referring to by asking “Who, me?”, and then plainly denying the accusation by saying “Not me!”. After this, the question is redirected to another person by asking “Then who?”, and then the game starts again with a new suspect!
In this video for kids, we can see our group of friends playing this fun game. One of the friends took a cookie from the cookie jar, and they’re trying to figure out who was it by gathering and deciphering all the clues.
The first suspect is Cowy, but she quickly denies everything! Then, it’s Billy’s turn, the guys ask her if he took the cookie, but it wasn’t him! So he says “Not me!”. After, it comes Lisa’s turn, but it appears as if she wasn’t the one who grabbed the cookie either! Now, It’s Elliot’s turn! However…Elliot seems a bit suspicious, and after a couple of questions he admits that he was the one who took the cookie! Finally, the mystery is solved and it can start all over again with a new cookie in a jar.
Since this song is so much fun, and the game for kids is even better, encourage your little one to play it both with family, and also with friends, and all while speaking in English. This game will help your little one work on his or her vocabulary in English at the same time they get to practice asking and answering questions in English.
This is a great way for kids to also practice their speaking skills more while having lots of fun. If you are up for it, you can print some cards for your little one to play the game with his or her friends or with family. The way to play it is first learning the song in English. Then, print and cut cards for all the friends, all cards but one need to read “Not me!”, the one card that remains will have a cookie. Shuffle the cards and hand out one for each person. Then start chanting the song and asking who took the cookie jar, naming one person at a time, just like in the song, until you find the person with the cookie card.
Now, let’s have fun with this simple song in English for kids and the game!
Who took the cookie from the cookie jar?
Cowy took the cookie from the cookie jar.
Who, me?
Yes, you!
Not me!
Then who?
Billy!
Who took the cookie from the cookie jar?
Billy took the cookie from the cookie jar.
Who, me?
Yes, you!
Not me!
Then who?
Lisa!
Who took the cookie from the cookie jar?
Lisa took the cookie from the cookie jar.
Who, me?
Yes, you!
Not me!
Then who?
Elliot!
Elliot?
Elliot…
Who took the cookie from the cookie jar?
Elliot took the cookie from the cookie jar!
