In the United States, public schools have become an extraordinary force in the folklife of children. On school playgrounds children have been brought together in large numbers. Physical education teachers have taught organized sports which the children have taken out to their neighborhoods. In classrooms a counter culture has developed, characterized by children's organized efforts to subvert the educational process. Fights, friendships and flirtations (some of the performances of children's folklife) often preoccupy students to the detriment of the learning process.

To counter children's counter culture, public schools have offered activities throughout the year that are designed to answer children's social needs. Among these are birthday parties, religious and secular celebrations, and innovations such as field days and "school breakings" (elaborate commencement days). Such events frequently have incorporated folk traditions and in time have become traditions in their own right, anticipated and practiced for each year.