History:

A Ram Sam Sam is a well-known children’s song and game whose origins extend to
Morocco, having been brought to Israel by immigrants in the 1950’s. Many variants of the
song exist in association with lyrics and actions that accompany the song. As the words have
no meaning, the song can easily be transmitted to children who speak languages other than
English. This, along with its catchy tune could have resulted to its worldwide popularity. It is
typically sung using actions and could be arranged into a round.

Instructions:

Individually, sing the song using actions to the class, and then do so all together. It’s fairly
simple so they should be able to pick it up quickly. Each repetition of the full song should
increase in tempo until it gets absurdly fast. The song can also be split into 4 parts and sung
as a round. Actions include:

A Ram Sam Sam: tap hands on lap on “Ram”, “Sam”, “Sam”

Guli Guli: Spin hand over hand in a circle

A rafi A rafi: Place both hands together and imitate as if you’re sleeping, right and left side
of your head