Stella Ella Ola - The Game

The Game

Standing or sitting in a circle, two or more participants place their right hands over their neighbour's left hands and sing the song. Every beat, a person claps their right hand onto the right hand of the person sitting on their left, who then claps their hand to their neighbour's hand, until the song reaches a certain number, at which point if the person's hand is slapped, they are considered "out" and must stand or sit in the center of the circle, unless they pull their hand away fast enough. (In this case, the person who was trying to slap their hand is out.) Counting to ten also works. When there are enough people in the center of the circle to start a new game, they do so, creating a nesting effect as the internal circles get smaller and smaller.

Since this is a very common game, many different rules exist depending on the conventions of its players. Some variations have the "out" person leave the circle and as the numbers decrease, the circle shrinks, until only two people are left. The last two then have a thumb war. The person who wins that round is declared the winner of the entire game. In Saskatoon the last two people will continue without a thumb-war. In some places, the last two remaining players play a modified game. One person slaps both their hands down, while the other slaps their hands up. They continue to alternate until the final count, where the person whose hands are on the bottom is out. In other versions, the person who got out in the final 3 will stand up and turn around. Then the final two will hold hands and alternate positions. At the end, the person who is turned around will say either top or bottom. The persons hand who is in that position wins. Another version is that the two final players grab each other's right hand just by the fingers and then hold their left hands out to the side. They move their linked right hands from side to side, hitting a left hand on each count. On the last count, if that left hand is hit, that child is out. If that child pulls their hand away, the other loses.