Games galore in Gryphon’s Garden

Nursery number favourites to 10 O-Z

Old Davy Jones

On my right hand what do I see?

Once I caught a fish alive!

One and one, it’s a mountain

One bubble, two bubbles

One duck, two ducks

One little brown bird

One man went to mow

One, two, kittens that mew

Over in the meadow

Seven little pigs went to market

Six ghosts lurking

Six little acorns

Six little ducks

Six little kittens

Six little pigs

Spanish counting song

Last updated: 11/7/2022 11:46 AM

The songs below are compiled, illustrated and sometimes adapted

by Dany Rosevear

Return to the ‘Singing games for children’ home

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Old Davy Jones O

Learn to count to ten and back again.

Old Davy Jones had one little sailor,

One little sailor boy.

He had one, he had two, he had three little sailors,

Four little, five little, six little sailors,

Seven little, eight little, nine little sailors,

Ten little sailor boys.

Old Davy Jones had ten little sailors,

Ten little sailor boys.

He had ten, he had nine, he had eight little sailors,

Seven little, six little, five little sailors,

Four little, three little, two little sailors,

One little sailor boy.

On my right hand what do I see? 🔊

How many fingers? Learn which is the left and right hand. This works well as a hand play

On my right hand what do I see?

Five little fingers all looking at me.

On my left hand what do I see?

Five more fingers all looking at me.

I put them together, then I see,

Ten little fingers looking at me!

Once I caught a fish alive!O

A nursery favourite that encourages counting to ten and will help to distinguish left from right.

One, two, three, four, five,

Once I caught a fish alive!

Six, seven, eight, nine, ten,

Then I let it go again.

Why did you let ir go?

Because he bit my finger so.

Which finger did he bite?

This little finger on the right.

Put one finger up in sequence for each number.

Throw fish away.

Throw out hands.

Shake finger.

One and one, it’s a mountain

A hand play, double numbers as you go.

From https://www.nsnh.bc.ca/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Mother-Goose-Sunshine-Song-Time-Songs-Rhymes-Booklet-1.pdf

1. Raise one finger on each hand, place tips together.

2.Show two fingers on each hand, place hands together and stretch out four fingers to make them walk.

3. Show three fingers on each hand, sweep face with them like cat cleaning whiskers.

4. Show four fingers on each hand, place hands together and wiggle fingers.

5. Show five fingers on each hand, cross wrist and flap hands moving upwards and away.

One and one,

It's a mountain.

Two and two,

It's a crab.

Three and three,

It’s a cat: ‘Meow!’

Four and four,

It’s an octopus.

Five and five,

It’s a butterfly,

Fly up through the sky -

And away!

One bubble, two bubbles 🔊

A simple action rhyme and number play to ten.

Music by Dany Rosevear.

1. Tap top of head. 2. Hop once. 3. Clap hands. 4. Slowly sit or crouch down .

One bubble, two bubbles, three bubbles, TOP!

Four bubbles, five bubbles, six bubbles, HOP!

Seven bubbles, eight bubbles, nine bubbles, POP!

Ten bubbles floating down, time to STOP!

One duck, two ducks 🔊

Or ‘Ten ducks’. A number action rhyme.

1. Raise one then a second finger, ‘splash’ hands. 2.Show two more fingers toch cheeks. 3. Raise two more fingers, hands on hips. 4. Raise two more fingers, move wiggling fingers downwards. 5. Raise last two fingers, flap elbows up and down, shake body then hands to cheek.

One duck, two ducks splashing in a pool,

Three ducks, four ducks find the water cool,

Five ducks, six ducks want to stay and play,

Seven ducks, eight ducks love a rainy day,

Nine ducks, ten ducks, all with wings outspread,

Shake their glossy feathers and waddle off to bed.

One little brown bird O

Become familiar with the concept of ‘one more’.

One little brown bird, up and up he flew,

Along came another one and that made two.

Two little brown birds sitting on a tree,

Along came another one and that made three.

Three little brown birds hopping on the floor,

Along came another one and that made four.

Four little brown birds flying round a hive,

Along came another one and that made five.

Five little brown birds pecking at some sticks,

Along came another one and that made six.

Six little brown birds flying up to heaven,

Along came another one and that made seven.

Seven little brown birds sitting on a gate,

Along came another one and that made eight.

Eight little brown birds perched upon a line,

Along came another one and that made nine.

Nine little brown birds saw old mother hen,

Home they flew together and that made ten.

One man went to mow O

Learn to count back from ten.

This song is great fun to sing especially on coach journeys when you have plenty of time.

It can be made simpler for young children by just having the word ‘Woof!’ after ‘dog’ or add more words to get everyone in a tizz such as. ‘an old tin can, a frying pan’

There are plenty of more ideas at the Mudcat website.

Put one finger up in sequence for each number.

Count back from the number beginning each subsequent verse.

One man went to mow,

Went to mow a meadow.

One man and his dog, Spot,

a bottle of pop,

a sausage roll,

Old Mother Riley and her cow,

Went to mow a meadow.

Two men went to mow,

Went to mow a meadow.

Two men, one man and his dog, Spot,

a bottle of pop,

a sausage roll,

Old Mother Riley and her cow,

Went to mow a meadow.

Continue up to ten.

One, two, kittens that mew

A traditional counting rhyme to ten.

From the Ladybird book of ‘Number rhymes’ 1976.

Raise corresponding finger for each number and make appropriate noises!

One, two, kittens that mew,

Two, three, birds on a tree,

Three, four, shells on the shore,

Four, five, bees from the hive,

Five, six, the cow that licks,

Six, seven, rooks in the heaven,

Seven, eight, sheep at the gate,

Eight, nine, clothes on a line,

Nine, ten, little black hen.

Over in the meadow O

Learn to count to ten or to count back from ten by singing the same song in reverse order.

There are many different versions of this great traditional song; most of the verses here I remember singing to young children in the 1970s.

Children can use fingers to count and mime the actions. Encourage children to make up their own rhymes with versions that correspond with the topic of the day.

Over in the meadow in the sand in the sun,

Lived an old mother turtle and her little turtle one.

“Dig” said the mother,

“I dig” said the one.

So he dug all day long in the sand in the sun.

Over in the meadow where the stream runs blue,

Lived an old mother fishy and her little fish two.

“Swim” said the mother,

“We swim” said the two.

So they swam all day long where the stream runs blue.

Over in the meadow in a hole in a tree,

Lived an old mother owl and her little owls three.

“Wink” said the mother,

“We wink” said the three.

So they winked all day long in the hole in the tree.

Over in the meadow by the old barn door,

Lived an old mother rat and her little ratties four.

"Gnaw," said the mother,

"We gnaw," said the four,

So they gnawed all day long by the old barn door.

Over in the meadow in a snug beehive,

Lived an old mother bee and her little bees five.

“Buzz” said the mother,

“We buzz” said the five.

So they buzzed all day long in the snug beehive.

Over in the meadow in a nest built of sticks,

Lived a black mother crow and her little crows six.

"Caw!" said the mother;

"We caw!" said the six

So they cawed all day long in their nest built of sticks.

Over in the meadow where the grass grows even,

Lived an old mother frog and her little frogs seven.

"Jump," said the mother,

"We jump," said the seven,

So they jumped all day long where the grass grows even.

Over in the meadow by an old mossy gate,

Lived an old mother lizard and her little lizards eight.

"Bask," said the mother,

"We bask," said the eight,

So they basked all day long by the old mossy gate.

Over in the meadow by an old scotch pine,

Lived an old mother duck and her little ducklings nine.

"Quack," said the mother,

"We quack," said the nine,

So they quacked all day long by the old scotch pine.

Over in the meadow in a warm cosy den,

Lived an old mother fox and her little foxes ten.

“Sleep” said the mother,

“We sleep” said the ten.

So they slept all day long in their warm cosy den.

Seven little pigs 🔊

A subtraction song. You can also change the number of pigs and how many fall down / run away each time and sing ‘So how many went to town.

Use fingers to represent each pig. Fold fingers down and make runaway pig wiggle away.

Seven little pigs went to market,

One of them fell down,

One of them, he ran away,

And five pigs got to town.

Five little pigs went to market,

One of them fell down,

One of them, he ran away,

And three pigs got to town.

Three little pigs went to market,

One of them fell down,

One of them, he ran away,

And one pig got to town.

Six little acorns O

A song for autumn. Learn to subtract from six.

1. Hold up fingers to show the number of acorns. Make hands move like the wind.

2. As above

3. Show empty hands. Wiggle finger upwards and point to self.

Six little acorns in an old oak tree,

The autumn winds began to blow and down came three.

Three little acorns in an old oak tree,

The autumn winds began to blow and down came three.

No little acorns in an old oak tree,

But underneath I saw one sprout, just for me!

Six little ducksO

Where are they going?

Start with a count to six using fingers.