Akka bakka bonka rakka facts for kids

Akka bakka bonka rakka is a Norwegian nursery rhyme of mostly nonsense words used to select or point out a participant in children's games, such as who will be "it" in a game like hide-and-seek (Norwegian: gjemsel) or tag (Norwegian: sisten).

It is classified as a counting rhyme in Nora Kobberstad's Norsk Lekebok (Book of Norwegian Games) from 1901.

There are different versions of the rhyme. The following version was recorded in Elverum in the early 1920s by Sigurd Nergaard:

Akka bakka,

banka ranka,

etla metla, sang dang,

fil i fang, isa, bisa, topp!

In 1936, it was included in a collection of children's rhymes published by Rikka Deinboll:

Akka bakka bonka rakka

etla metla sjong dong

fili fong

issa bissa topp

Finn Myrvang reproduced it in 1964 in a version from Andøya:

Akka bakka bonka rakka, issa bissa topp.

Sjong dong filifong, stékk om stein - stå!

A later version, published by the Children's Book Club (Bokklubbens barn), has the following form:

Akka bakka

bonka rakka,

etla metla

sjong dong,

filifjong

issa bissa topp