Playing with Ducks

Jan 2022

‘Playing with Ducks’ is a collaboration with Victoria de Rijke in which we explore ways of documenting young children’s games and songs about ducks. It forms part of the DlalA: Decolonising play through the digital in Sub-Saharan Africa network. One of the core intentions of the network is to archive Sub-Saharan African play. In relation to this, Victoria and I wanted to find a means by which the archival material could be created by children and also be stored in a manner that could be interacted with by children and their families.

To this end, we made an open-end digital play space on Roblox that can be accessed here. The intention is that children can explore the Roblox space and seek out 9 zones related to songs and games about ducks for young children in the UK. Each zone has some key objects or themes from the song/game that can be interacted with. This accompanying webpage is designed to share the songs, music and rules of games that relate to each zone. We hope that the webpage might be used as a resource by adults to encourage singing and game play offline, while children might be interested to explore these within a gaming world.

Our idea is to extend this idea to include examples from children in Sub-Saharan Africa too. The website could archive children’s drawings related to duck songs and games, links to YouTube etc. It is also possible to archive children’s drawings of games directly in the Roblox space too, as a form of digital exhibition.

Zone 1. The Duck Song

A duck walked up to a lemonade stand
And he said to the man, running the stand
"Hey! (Bum bum bum) Got any grapes?"
The man said
"No we just sell lemonade. But it's cold
And it's fresh
And it's all home-made. Can I get you
Glass?"
The duck said,
"I'll pass".

Then he waddled away.
(Waddle waddle)
'Til the very next day.
(Bum bum bum bum ba-bada-dum)

When the duck walked up to the lemonade stand
And he said to the man running the stand,
"Hey! (Bum bum bum) Got any grapes?
The man said,
"No, like I said yesterday
We just sell lemonade OK?
Why not give it a try?"
The duck said,
"Goodbye."good day

Then he waddled away.
(Waddle waddle)
Then he waddled away.
(Waddle waddle)
Then he waddled away
(Waddle waddle)
'Til the very next day.
(Bum bum bum bum ba-ba-dum)

When the duck walked up to the lemonade stand
And he said to the man running the stand,
"Hey! (bum bum bum) Got any grapes?
The man said,
Look, this is getting old.
I mean, lemonade's all we've ever sold.
Why not give it a go?"
The duck said,
"How 'bout, no."

Then he waddled away
(Waddle waddle)
Then he waddled away.
(Waddle waddle waddle)
Then he waddled away
(Waddle waddle)
'Til the very next day.
(Bum bum bum bum ba-ba-dum)

When the duck walked up to the lemonade stand
And he said to the man running the stand,
"Hey! (Bum bum bum) Got any grapes?"
The man said,
"THAT'S IT!
If you don't stay away, duck,
I'll glue you to a tree and leave you there all day, stuck
So don't get to close!"
The duck said,
"Adios."

Then he waddled away.
(Waddle waddle)
Then he waddled away.
(Waddle waddle waddle)
Then he waddled away
(Waddle waddle)
'Til the very next day.
(Bum bum bum bum ba-ba-dum)

When the duck walked up to the lemonade stand
And he said to the man that was running the stand,
"Hey! (Bum bum bum) got any glue?"
"What"
"Got any glue?"
"No, why would I– oh!"
And one more question for you;
"Got any grapes?"
(Bum bum bum, bum bum bum)

And the man just stopped.
Then he started to smile.
He started to laugh.
He laughed for a while.
He said,
"Come on duck, let's walk to the store.
I'll buy you some grapes
So you won't have to ask anymore."

So they walked to the store
And the man bought some grapes.
He gave one to the duck and the duck said,
"Hmmm..No thanks. But you know what sounds good?
It would make my day.
Do you think this store
Do you think this store
Do you think this store has any lemonade?"

Then he waddled away.
(Waddle waddle)
Then he waddled away.
(Waddle waddle waddle)
Then he waddled away
(Waddle waddle)

Zone 2. Five Little Ducks

Five little ducks went out one day
Over the hills and far away
Mother duck said, "Quack, quack, quack, quack"
Only four little ducks came back

Four little ducks went out one day
Over the hills and far away
Mother duck said, "Quack, quack, quack, quack"
Only three little ducks came back

Three little ducks went out one day
Over the hills and far away
Mother duck said, "Quack, quack, quack, quack"
Only two little ducks came back

Two little ducks went out one day
Over the hills and far away
Mother duck said, "Quack, quack, quack, quack"
Only one little duck came back

One little duck went out one day
Over the hills and far away
Mother duck said, "Quack, quack, quack, quack"
None of those ducks came back

Mother duck, she went out one day
Over the hills and far away
Mother duck said, "Quack, quack, quack, quack"
And all of those little ducks came back

Zone 3: Little Baby Ducklings

Little baby ducklings – dash, dash, dash.
Jumped in the duck pond – splash, splash, splash!
When their Mother called them – quack, quack, quack!
Little baby ducklings – swam right back.

Zone 4: Old Mac Donald Had A Farm

Old Mac Donald had a farm –E, I, E, I, O.
And on this farm he had a duck – E, I, E, I, O.
With a quack, quack, here and a quack, quack there.
Here a quack, there a quack, everywhere a quack, quack.
Old Mac Donald had a farm – E, I, E, I, O.

Zone 5: Little Baby Ducklings
Little baby ducklings, all brand new,
Fat ones, skinny ones, short ones, too.
But the biggest duck, with feathers on his back,
He led the others with a quack, quack, quack.
Quack, quack, quack,
Quack, quack, quack,
He led the others with a quack, quack, quack.

Zone 6: Quack Quack by Dr. Seuss

Can you find the blue and black ducks in the maze?

We have two ducks. One blue. One black.
And when our blue duck goes quack, "quack, quack,"
Our black duck quickly quack quacks back.
The quacks Blue quacks makes her quite a quacker;
But Black is a quicker quacker backer.

Images by Dr Seuss

Zone 7: I’m a Duck

(sung to the tune of"Frere Jacques")

I'm a duck, I'm a duck,
Watch me waddle, watch me waddle.
Hear me when I talk,
Hear me when I talk.
Quack, quack, quack; quack, quack, quack.

Zone 8: All the little ducks go upside down

All the little ducks go upside down,
Upside down, upside down,
All the little ducks go upside down,
When they dabble at the bottom of the pond.

All their little tails go wiggle, waggle, wiggle…

All their little wings go flap, flap, flap…

All their little feet go paddle, paddle, paddle…

All their little beaks go quack, quack, quack…

All the little ducks fall fast asleep…
When they snuggle up to mother in the pond.

Zone 9: Duck, Duck, Goose