Who stole the cookie from the cookie jar?

The game begins with the children sitting or standing, arranged in an inward-facing circle.

Some variations on the theme include the use by teachers of the song as a lesson in keeping with a beat and improvisation.

The song may be repeated ad infinitum or it may end - if it is being performed as part of a game, where members of the group are eliminated by failing to keep up with the prescribed beat or eliminated as a result of being chosen as one of the accused, sometimes finishing with "We all stole/took the cookie/cookies from the cookie jar".

The song is played three times in the original live action version of Barney & Friends in the episodes "Caring Means Sharing", "Grandparents Are Grand!

", Kathy's Nana took the cookies from the jar while Barney, the kids, and Derek's Grandpa were listening to a radio play and put them into bags for them to take home.

In "Any Way You Slice It", close to the end of the episode, Juan admitted to eating the cookies when he was hungry because he thought his brother Carlos didn't want them and apologized for it, but promised to ask first in future.