The document provides several English rhymes and finger plays that can help young children learn numeracy skills. It includes rhymes for counting from 1 to 10, as well as rhymes involving addition, subtraction and colors. Actions are described to accompany the rhymes and reinforce the concepts. Reciting rhymes is presented as an engaging way for children to learn numbers and counting in a playful way.

1. English rhymes
for learning math
Comenius project
«English language integration
in the pre-school game lessons»

2. Counting rhymes and number rhymes provide an ideal way to help
your child develop numeracy skills from a young age. Encourage them
to perform actions to accompany the rhymes using their fingers,
teddies or even finger puppets.
Three Ducks
Watch the ducks and you will see,
They are waddling one, two three,
First the smallest leads the line,
Middle sized duck thinks second place is fine,
Biggest duck is third you see,
They are waddling one, two, three.

3. Counting and numbers
Rockets
Rockets shoot off into space,
Hurry up it’s quite a race!
Rockets make a big loud boom,
Heading up towards the moon!
Counting down before we go,
10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1, ZERO!
‘One banana, two banana’
One banana, two bananas,
Three bananas, more
Four bananas, five bananas,
Six bananas, more.
Seven bananas, eight bananas,
Nine bananas, more
Ten yellow bananas!

4. Two Little Feet
Two little feet go stamp, stamp, stamp
stamp
Two little hands go clap, clap, clap
clap
One little body stands up straight
stand straight
One little body goes round and round
turn
One little body sits quietly down.
sit

5. Beach Counting
One for the sun that shone in the sky.
Two for the ships that sailed on by.
Three for the castles I built on the sand.
Four for the seashells I held in my hand.
Five for the points on the starfish I saw.
Six for the crabs that scuttled ashore.
Seven for the waves that I managed to
beat.
Eight for the pebbles I perched on my feet.
Nine for the boats that bobbed on the sea.
Ten for my toes that were wiggling free.

6. Counting up to 5
Turtles
One baby turtle alone and new
Finds a friend, and then there are two.
Two baby turtles crawl down to the sea.
They find another, and then there are three.
Three baby turtles crawl along the shore.
They find another, and then there are four.
Four baby turtles go for a dive.
Up swims another, and then there are five.

7. I have a handful of fingers.
Yes I do.
I can count them.
Can you count them too?
1 2 3 4 5
5 fingers on my hand, that’s 5.
1 finger up, that makes one.
2 fingers up, making two is fun.
3 fingers up, standing tall.
4 fingers up, that’s the call.
5 fingers up that’s all.
I have a handful of fingers.
Yes I do.
5 fingers
1 2 3 4 5
Five Little Bees
One little bee blew and flew.
He met a friend, and that made two.
Two little bees, busy as could be--
Along came another and that made three.
Three little bees, wanted one more,
Found one soon and that made four.
Four little bees, going to the hive.
Spied their little brother, and that made five.
Five little bees working every hour--
Buzz away, bees, and find another flower.

8. Continue until one
‘Five Little Ducks’
Five Little ducks went swimming one
day,
Over the hills and far away
Mother duck said,
“Quack, quack, quack quack”
But only four little ducks cam back.
‘Five Currant Buns’
Five currant buns in a baker’s shop,
Big and round with a currant on the
top,
Along came a girl with a penny one
day,
Bought a currant bun and took it
away,
Four currant buns in a baker’s shop…

9. Five Fat Sausages
Five fat sausages sizzling in a pan,
All of a sudden one went BANG!
Four fat sausages sizzling in a pan,
All of a sudden one went BANG!
(Continue singing until the last sausage
goes BANG! This could be sang with more
sausages to develop subtraction further.)
Five Little Men in a Flying Saucer
Five little men in a flying saucer,
Flew around the world one day,
They looked left and right,
But they didn't like the sight
So one man flew away...WHOOSH.
Four little men in a flying saucer....
(continue singing until the last man has
flown away)
Monkeys on the Bed
Five Little monkeys jumping on the bed
One fell off and bumped his head
Mama called the doctor and the doctor said
“No more monkeys jumping on the bed”.
Four little monkeys jumping on the bed….

10. ‘Five Little Speckled Frogs’
Five little speckled frogs,
Sat on a speckled log,
Eating some most delicious bugs
Yum, Yum…
One jumped into the pool,
Where it was nice and cool,
Then there were four green speckled frogs
Glub, Glub,
Four little speckled frogs,
Sat on a speckled log
Eating some most delicious bugs,
Yum Yum…
One jumped into the pool,
Where it was nice and cool
Then there were three green speckled frogs,
Glub, Glub
(Continue until last verse ‘and then there were no
green speckled frogs’)

11. Ten Green Bottles
Ten green bottles hanging on the wall,
Ten green bottles hanging on the wall,
And if one green bottle should accidently fall,
There'll be nine green bottles hanging on the wall.
Nine green bottles hanging on the wall,
Nine green bottles hanging on the wall,
And if one green bottle should accidently fall,
There'll be eight green bottles hanging on the wall.
(Continue counting until only one green bottle is left)
One green bottle hanging on the wall,
One green bottle hanging on the wall,
And if that one green bottle should accidently fall,
There'll be no green bottles hanging on the wall.
No green bottles hanging on the wall.

12. ‘Ten in a Bed’
There were ten in the bed,
And the little one said ‘roll over, roll over’,
So they all rolled over and one fell out.
There were nine in the bed,
And the little one said ‘roll over, roll over’
So they all rolled over and one fell out……’
(Continue until one in the bed)

13. Counting up to 10
I Can Count
I can count, want to see?
Here’s my fingers- one, two, three (Holdup
fingers as you count)
Four and five, this hand is done.
Now I’ll count the other one.
Six, seven, eight and nine (Hold up fingers
on other hand)
Just one more, I’m doing fine.
The last little finger is number ten.
Now I’ll count them all again.
One, two, three, four, five, six, seven,
eight, nine, ten!
Ten Fingers
I have ten fingers (hold up both hands, fingers
spread)
And they all belong to me, (point to self)
I can make them do things-
Would you like to see?
I can shut them up tight (make fists)
I can open them wide (open hands)
I can put them together (place palms together)
I can make them all hide (put hands behind
back)
I can make them jump high (hands over head)
I can make them jump low (touch floor)
I can fold them quietly (fold hands in lap)
And hold them just so.

14. One, Two
I go to school
Three, Four
I play outdoor
Five, Six
I read my books
Seven, Eight
I am never late
Nine, Ten
I sleep by then
One for the money,
And two for the show,
Three to make ready,
And four to go.

15. ‘One, Two Buckle My Shoe’
One, two buckle my shoe
Three, four knock on the door
Five, six pick up sticks
Nine, ten a big fat hen…..
‘Round and round the garden’
Round and round the garden,
Like a teddy bear,
One step, two steps,
And tickle you under there!

16. Finger plays
Finger plays and rhymes come to life during circle and large group times
as preschool children show word meaning through simple actions and
finger movement
Five Fat Peas
Five fat peas in a pod pressed
(Child holds hand in a fist)
One grew, two grew, so did the rest.
(put thumb and fingers up one by one)
They grew and grew
(raise hand in the air very slowly)
And did not stop,
Until one day
The pod went POP!
(Child claps hands together)
Here is a Beehive
Here is the beehive, where are the
bees?
(clench fist and bring out fingers quickly
one by one)
Hidden away were nobody sees
Watch and you will see them come
out of their hives,
One, two, three, four, five,
Buzz, buzz, buzz.

17. Point to the Right
(Use both arms to point for all the movements.)
Point to the right of me.
Point to the left of me.
Point up above me.
Point down below.
Right, left, up.
(Increase speed in pointing )
And down so slow.
(Decrease speed.)

18. Rhyme to help children write numbers
Number 1 is big and tall, stand him up so he won’t fall.
Number 2 goes backwards and along, please make sure you don’t go wrong.
Two little curls for number 3, one for you and one for me.
Number 4 goes down and across, give him a stick so he’s the boss.
Number 5 is a funny chap, down fat tummy and give him a hat.
Number 6 looks like a curl in your hair, twiddle it around to show that it’s there,
Number 7 starts with a hat, then goes down just like that,
Number eight makes an ‘S’ then go back to join it up.
Number 9 is like a ball on a stick, start with a ‘C’ then go up and down quick
Number 10, that’s a lot of fun, write 1 and a nought and now it’s all done!

19. Counting in Two’s
‘Two, four, six, eight
Meet me by the garden gate
If I’m late, don’t wait.
Two, four, six, eight’

20. Working in Twos
I'm the shoe brush
I'm the shoe
Polish one and polish two
Brush, brush, brush.
I'm the dustpan
I'm the broom
We can see a dusty room
Sweep, sweep, sweep
I'm the candle
I'm the wick
It's getting dark now
Light up the wick, tsk, task, task.
I'm the letter
I'm the stamp
We stick together if we're damp.
Sequence for reciting is: first child, second child, both together.

21. Learning colors
If You're Wearing Red Today
If you're wearing red today,
Red today, red today,
If you're wearing red today,
Stand up and say "Hoo-ray!"
(Repeat: for other colors)

22. There you can find lot of nursery rhymes:
• http://www.teachingyourchild.org.uk/number-songs.htm
• http://www.preschoolrainbow.org/preschool-rhymes.htm#Rhym
• http://www.kidsfront.com/rhymes/number_rhymes.html
• http://
learnenglishkids.britishcouncil.org/en/parents/articles/learning