Hodgy Podgy (also known as Hodgey Podgey and the Hodgy Podgy Word Game) is a simple yet very fun rhythm game.  A group of people stand in a circle, with everyone facing the center.  Choose a person who will start the round.  He or she starts to clap a relatively slow rhythm (slap both legs on the first beat, then clap hands on second beat, thumbs-up on left hand for third beat, and thumbs-up on right hand on fourth beat, and repeat the four beat cycle).  Everyone in the circle matches the rhythm set by the leader.  To start each round, the leader says (while clapping to the rhythm, one beat per word), “Hodgy podgy, hodgy podgy, hodgy podgy, hodgy podgy!”

The leader starts a sentence by saying any word on the one beat (for example, he or she could say the word “Big” as he or she slaps their legs on beat one).  The next person in the circle must continue the story by adding the next word in the sentence by the first beat of the next rhythm cycle (for example, the 2nd person could say “dogs,” so the sentence is now “Big dogs..”). The third person in the circle must continue the story by adding the 3rd word in the sentence at the right time (for example, the person could say the word “eat,” making the current sentence “Big dogs eat..”).  The next person in line must continue the sentence.  Each word must make logical and grammatical sense when added to the sentence.  If a person wants to end the sentence, he or she says a punctuation word, such as “period” or “exclamation point” or “question mark.”  At this point, the next person in the circle starts the new sentence.

An example of a sample round of play would look like this (assuming there are 6 players in the circle):

• Player 1 (while clapping a 4 beat rhythm): “Hodgy podgy, hodgy podgy, hodgy podgy, hodgy podgy!”
• Player 1 starts sentence on beat one: “Big..”
• Player 2 continues sentence on beat one of next cycle: “..dogs..”
• Player 3 continues sentence on beat one of next cycle: “..eat..”
• Player 4 continues sentence on beat one of next cycle:
• “..yummy..”
• Player 5 continues sentence on beat one of next cycle: “..food..”
• Player 6 continues sentence on beat one of next cycle: “..when..”
• Player 1 continues sentence on beat one of next cycle: “..they..”
• Player 2 continues sentence on beat one of next cycle: “..are..”
• Player 3 continues sentence on beat one of next cycle: “..hungry..”
• Player 4 ends sentence on beat one of next cycle by saying: “..PERIOD..”
• Player 5 starts new sentence on beat one of next cycle: “They..”
• Player 6 continues sentence on beat one of next cycle: “..are..”
• Player 1 continues sentence on beat one of next cycle: “..very..”
• Player 2 continues sentence on beat one of next cycle: “..smelly..”
• Player 3 ends sentence on beat one of next cycle by saying: “..EXCLAMATION POINT..”
• Player 4 starts new sentence on beat one of next cycle by saying: “Bob..”

And the game continues, as players create silly stories together, word by word.

When a player makes a mistake (is unable to continue the sentence in time, or says something logically or gramatically correct) the round ends and he becomes the person who starts the next round.  This game offers lots of entertainment and is a little educational too!