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There are lots of rhymes to develop number learning, but Sam Dixon hasfive imaginative ideas you may not have tried to link maths and music...

After 10...This activity uses the song ‘The Numbers after Ten’,which can be found on the Teach Nursery website. Letthe children listen to the song, then break it into a ‘questionand answer’ format, so that the teacher sings the first part of eachphrase and the children answer with the relevant number. Eventually thechildren should be able to join in with the whole song.

‘The Numbers after Ten’ can be used to play a game I call ‘The Number GetTogether’. Print out a set of number cards (also freely available online) so thatthe children can visualise each number as it appears in the song. Give one childthe number card that represents the 10 unit and nine children the other singledigits number cards. As the song is sung, the child with the initial ‘1’ (tens unit)must find the right partner to make the number 11, 12, 13, and so on. Thechildren who are watching should begin to see how the double digit number is formed, using the initial 10, plus the number that follows it.

Instrument carry onSelect two types of percussion instrument.Give half the class one type (say, a shaker),and another child a different one (perhapsa tambourine). Ask those with shakers toshake their instrument 10 times, countingas they go. Then ask the person with thetambourine to carry on up to a givennumber (e.g. 15). They must play five moresounds on the tambourine. This makes aclear distinction between 10 and 5, tomake 15 sounds altogether.

SAM DIXON TEACHES CLASS MUSIC FROM NURSERY TO Y5 AT BRIGHTON COLLEGE.

Want more early years songs? Thebacking track for ‘The Numbers AfterTen’ and other fun songs can be foundat songchest.com. For music specialisttraining, visit teachmusicbrighton.co.uk

Using a keyboard,ask the children

to sing anascending scale of

notes, singingnumbers as they

go. To get to 20 isimpossible, but

trying is a lot offun. Remember to

start really low!

“

Waltz or march? FEEL THE BEATExplain that some music is good to marchto. Play some marching music counting “1,2, 3, 4” and calling “left, right, left, right!”‘The Imperial March’ from Star Wars, JohnPhilip Sousa’s ‘March’, and ‘The BritishGrenadiers’ are all good examples.

LET’S DANCEExplain that other music is good fordancing: for example, a special dancecalled the waltz. To dance the waltz youhave to be good at counting to three.Use one of the children as a partner andstand opposite each other holding hands.As the music plays, demonstrate howhe/she can step and sway from left toright, counting to three on each side. Userecorded music with a steady beat, e.g.Dimitri Shostakovich’s ‘Waltz No.2’ or aValse Musette on Accordion. Say “Bomcha cha, Bom cha cha” and count in timewith the music as you dance.

WHICH IS WHICH?Tell the children that you are going tochoose a march or a waltz and they mustlisten and decide which it is. When themusic starts again they join in by eithermarching or waltzing round the room.

Sound stepping stonesl Make some card stepping stones that

each have one number written onthem, from 1–20. Lay them on thefloor in a random pattern.

l Play some recorded music for thechildren to dance around to. When themusic stops they must all jump onto astepping stone.

l Ask individual children what number theyhave landed on and to play that manysounds on a percussion instrument.

l Vary the music and demonstrate howthe children can move in differentways to reflect fast, slow, jerky,smooth, happy or sad.

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