How to Do the Hokey Pokey

Last Updated: March 22, 2021 Approved

The Hokey-Pokey, or Hokey-Cokey as it is also known in the UK, is an old, but still popular group dance in many English-speaking countries. It is often used as a bonding exercise between infants, toddlers, or young campers, but it can be enjoyed by adults and children of any age. All you need to do is learn the song and accompanying dance moves and you'll be on your way to doing the Hokey Pokey in no time at all!

Part 1

Part 1 of 2:

Doing the Dance

1
Stand in a circle with the other dancers. This dance is traditionally done with everyone standing in a circle, with enough space between each person so that people can move around without bumping into one another. You should have about an arm's length between you and the people on either side of you.
- However, if you're performing the dance for an audience, then the dancers will all stand facing the front, in multiple staggered rows if necessary, so everyone can see your moves.
2
Put your right foot in. As the first lyrics go, "You put your right foot in". Simply place that right foot out in front of you and let it hang a few inches from the floor or just move it out in front of you and point your foot on the floor. You can keep your hands on your hips or at your sides. Most people like to sing the song along with doing the motions, so you can join the singing! This can get your energy up and make it easier to remember what moves to do next.

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3
Put your right foot out. As the next lyrics go, "You put your right foot out." Just take that foot and move it back to its starting position, next to your other foot.
4
Put your right foot in and shake it all about. As the next words go, "You put your right foot in and you shake it all about." Now, just put that right foot in again and shake it back and forth, up and down, or however you'd like to shake it. Just make sure to keep your balance!
5
Do the hokey pokey and turn yourself around. As the next lyrics go, "You do the hokey pokey and you turn yourself around..." Now, you can just place each arm out and up at your sides at a ninety degree angle, point the fingers of both hands and wiggle them up and down as you turn yourself around. This only takes a few seconds, so make sure to keep up with your fellow dancers!
6
Clap at the lyrics, "That's what it's all about!" After you're done turning yourself around, just clap once or twice at these lyrics. For a variation, you can clap your hands down on your knees instead.
- Congratulations! You've done one full cycle of the hokey pokey—now, you'll repeat these same motions with different parts of your body until the song is over.
7
Put your left foot in. Follow the lyrics, "You put your left foot in." Now, place your left foot in, a few feet out in front of you. You can either point it or let it hover a few feet above the ground; repeat whatever you did with your left foot.
8
Put your left foot out. Follow the lyrics, "You put your left foot out." Now, just move your left foot back to its original position.
9
Put your left foot in and shake it all about. Follow the lyrics, "You put your left foot in and you shake it all about." Now, just put your left foot back out in front of you and shake it around as much as you want!
10
Do the hokey pokey and turn yourself around. Follow the words, "You do the hokey pokey and you turn yourself around." Simply do the hokey pokey dance again and turn around in a circle, so that you're facing forward again once the words are over.
11
Clap at the lyrics, "That's what it's all about!" After you're done turning yourself around, just clap once or twice at these lyrics. For a variation, you can clap your hands down on your knees instead.
12
Put your right hand in. As the first words to the song go, "You put your right hand in..." Just dip down a bit and place your right hand in to the center of the circle or out in front of you. You can leave your other arm at your side or keep it up on your hip, depending on what you and the group decide. It's that simple.
13
Put your right hand out. As the song goes, "You put your right hand out..." Now, take that right hand and place it back at your side or out at your side. Just exaggerate the gesture a bit. Again, keep your left hand either at your side or on your hip, depending on where it was before.
14
Put your right hand in. As the song goes, "You put your right hand in..." Just do exactly what you did before with your right hand.
15
Shake it all about. Next, the song says, "And you shake it all about." This just means you shake that hand up and down, from side to side, or however you want to shake it. You can get a little crazy and really shake it up and down, depending on your energy level!
16
Do the hokey pokey and turn yourself around. Follow the words, "You do the hokey pokey and you turn yourself around" and do the hokey pokey and turn around again.
17
Clap at the lyrics, "That's what it's all about!" After you're done turning yourself around, just clap once or twice at these lyrics. For a variation, you can clap your hands down on your knees instead.
18
Put your left hand in. Follow the words, "You put your left hand in." Place your left hand out in front of you.
19
Put your left hand out. Follow the words, "You put your left hand out." Just move your left hand back "in" and either return it to its original position or let it hover above your left side a bit.
20
Put your left hand in and shake it all about. Follow the words, "You put your left hand in and you shake it all about." Simply place that hand back in and shake it however much you want to.
21
Do the hokey pokey and turn yourself around. Follow the words, "You do the hokey pokey and you turn yourself around" and do the hokey pokey and turn around again.
22
Clap at the lyrics, "That's what it's all about!" After you're done turning yourself around, just clap once or twice at these lyrics. For a variation, you can clap your hands down on your knees instead.
23
Put your whole self in. Follow the words, "You put your whole self in," and either jump around a foot into the center of the circle or lean your body forward. This is the final "body part" that you'll move during the hokey pokey, no matter what variations may come before it!
24
Put your whole self out. Follow the words, "You put your whole self out." Now, just either jump back to your original position or lean back to your starting position, depending on what you did to "put your whole self in."
25
Put your whole self in and shake it all about. Follow the words, "You put your whole self in and you shake it all about." Just move your body around from side to side, moving your hands up and down at your sides. You can lower and raise your body, shimmy, point your fingers, or really do anything you'd like to do in order to "shake it all about" once last time!
26
Do the hokey pokey and turn yourself around. Follow the words, "You do the hokey pokey and you turn yourself around" and do the hokey pokey and turn around again.
- There are some variations of the end of this dance that repeat the words "That's what it's all about" an extra time for a grand finale.
27
Clap at the lyrics, "That's what it's all about!" After you're done turning yourself around, just clap once or twice at these lyrics. For a variation, you can clap your hands down on your knees instead. Congratulations—you're all done! Repeat as many times as you'd like until the fun wears off!

Part 2

Part 2 of 2:

Mastering the Hokey Pokey

1
Learn the song. If you really want to be an expert at the Hokey Pokey, then you should know the song before you begin the dance. This will help you get oriented with what to do next with your body, and it will also just help you have more fun when you're doing the dance! Though the words change slightly depending on where and with whom you're singing them, here's what you should know:
- You put your right foot in
  
  You put your right foot out
  
  You put your right foot in
  
  And you shake it all about
  
  You do the hokey pokey
  
  And you turn yourself around
  
  That's what it's all about!
  
  You put your left foot in
  
  You put your left foot out
  
  You put your left foot in
  
  And you shake it all about
  
  You do the hokey pokey
  
  And you turn yourself around
  
  That's what it's all about!
  
  You put your right hand in
  
  You put your right hand out
  
  You put your right hand in
  
  And you shake it all about
  
  You do the hokey pokey
  
  And you turn yourself around
  
  That's what it's all about!
  
  You put your left hand in
  
  You put your left hand out
  
  You put your left hand in
  
  And you shake it all about
  
  You do the hokey pokey
  
  And you turn yourself around
  
  That's what it's all about!
  
  You put your whole self in
  
  You put your whole self out
  
  You put your whole self in
  
  And you shake it all about
  
  You do the hokey pokey
  
  And you turn yourself around
  
  That's what it's all about!
2
Add variations. Though the version here only uses the arms, feet, and whole body, you can add as many variations to this dance as you'd like, as long as you still end with the whole body. Once you finish the arms and legs, you can also add other body parts, such as putting the nose, shoulders, knees, elbows, or even your bottom into the mix!
- You should also note that, in some versions of the song, the arms go in before the feet. It's all up to you!
- In some versions of the song, the lyrics for the lines that say, "You put your [body part] out," actually go, "You take your [body part] out," instead.

Community Q&A

Question

Why is this an article?

Community Answer

Some people may not know how to do the hokey pokey, and they may want to learn before having to do it in front of other people.
Question

How do you put your nose in?

Community Answer

Move your nose around and put your head in a little. Do it how you want. Shake it up!
Question

How do you do this in a mosh pit?

Chloe Palmer

Community Answer

You'd have to get the majority of the people in the mosh pit to agree to do it otherwise it wouldn't work. If everyone is down to do it, get the DJ to play the song and do it!

Warnings

When performing the moves concerning legs, keep your balance. It takes more balance than you think to shake your leg while standing on the other one. Also, be careful not to kick. You will only injure other dancers.

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