The aim of the Tappy Math(s) project is to design songs, videos and supporting materials to support children’s understanding of mathematical concepts. The songs were co-designed by teachers, researchers, musicians, and mathematics communicators and grounded in educational research.
The songs support four specific areas of mathematics:
Pattern is one of the six key areas of early mathematics identified by the National Centre for Excellence in the Teaching of Mathematics (NCETM). Important early patterning experiences include noticing, copying, continuing, creating, and spotting errors in repeating patterns
Research suggests that children benefit from encountering a range of pattern structures and representations, particularly repeating patterns before more complex growing patterns, and similarly benefit from opportunities to engage with patterns using different materials and modalities (Grenell et al., 2025).
This song introduces young children to a variety of repeating patterns through music, movement, and visual representation. The patterns are given as verbal, rhythmic and pitch-based sequences, while the accompanying video provides corresponding visual patterns that children can identify, continue, and recreate themselves. The song encourages active participation, helping children move beyond simply recognising patterns to predicting what comes next and even creating their own.
The design of the song is informed by research showing that patterning is a key foundation for later mathematical thinking (Clements et al., 1999; Grenell et al., 2025). Participatory and play-based approaches have been shown to support children’s developing understanding of pattern structure (Gripton, 2023). By combining repetition, rhythm, and visual representation, the song aims to make mathematical patterns more noticeable, memorable, and meaningful.
Research shows that young children often find shape recognition challenging, particularly when shapes are presented in non-standard orientations, unusual proportions, or embedded within other images. Many children learn to recognise only a single, prototypical example of a shape category, which can limit their understanding of the properties that define shapes (Verdine et al., 2016).
Rectangles can be particularly difficult because children frequently encounter competing labels such as “oblong” or “quadrilateral”, and because squares are a special case of rectangles with the same properties plus all four sides as equal.
Verdine et al. (2016) found that children aged between 25 and 30 months (aged 2 – nearly three) often struggled to identify rectangles consistently, while they were able to identify other shapes such as circles and stars. The research argues that children should be exposed to a greater variety of examples and encouraged to focus on defining properties rather than appearance alone.
This song aims to support children in recognising and naming rectangles by highlighting their key properties: four sides, four equal corners, and two matching pairs of sides. Through the lyrics and the visuals of the animated video, children encounter rectangles in different orientations, with different proportions, and with varying line thicknesses, helping them understand that these superficial elements do not alter a shape’s identity. The song also introduces the idea that squares are a special type of rectangle because they share the defining properties of rectangles while also having all sides equal.
The song draws on evidence that geometric understanding develops through repeated opportunities to explore, compare, discuss, and classify shapes according to their properties (Clements et al., 1999; Verdine et al., 2016). Musical repetition provides a playful way to reinforce shape vocabulary while encouraging children to attend to the particular features that make a rectangle a rectangle.
Understanding zero is an important but often challenging aspect of early mathematical development. Research suggests that children’s understanding of zero develops gradually and benefits from repeated experiences that present zero as a number and quantity in its own right, rather than simply as the absence of something (Cohrssen et al., 2025).
This song explores the many ways that children encounter the concept of zero. It introduces zero as a numeral, a spoken word, an empty set, a position before one on the number line, a score of nil, and a representation of a quantity of none. It also explores related vocabulary such as “nothing”, “empty”, “blank”, and “nil”, helping children connect different linguistic, visual, conceptual and symbolic representations of the same mathematical idea.
Research has shown that young children often encounter zero in negative contexts, such as having no sweets left or ‘losing’ all of something. The song deliberately presents zero more neutrally, encouraging children to see it as a meaningful quantity and an important part of the number system.
Cohrssen et al. (2025) recommend explicitly introducing the word “zero”, supporting numeral recognition, and helping children connect symbolic, verbal, and conceptual understandings of the number.
The song also incorporates gesture and sign language to highlight that mathematical ideas can be represented in multiple ways. By combining language, music, movement, and visual representation, the song aims to deepen children’s understanding of zero and support the development of a rich and meaningful mathematical concept.
Measures is one of the six key areas of early mathematics identified by the NCETM. Within this area, children begin to develop an understanding of time, duration, and speed. One particularly challenging idea is recognising that when measuring how long something takes, a smaller number of seconds or other measure of time can represent something happening faster. This can be counterintuitive because children often associate larger numbers with “more” or “better”.
This song explores ideas of tempo, duration, and timing through changes in musical speed and opportunities for movement. Children are encouraged to experience slower and faster tempos physically, helping them connect abstract mathematical ideas with embodied experiences. Research by Dogani and Papadopoulou (2024) found that young children naturally use movement, gesture, drawing, and discussion to express their understanding of tempo, often linking slow music with sleeping or resting and fast music with running and energetic movement.
A growing body of research suggests important links between rhythm and mathematical thinking.
Studies have found that rhythm-based activities may support mathematical skill development (Mertoğlu, 2010).
Research has also highlighted the value of rhythm as a pedagogical tool in early childhood classrooms (Matthews et al., 2014).
The song is additionally informed by work exploring how musical beat structures help children experience time as a sequence of regular intervals (Bamberger & diSessa, 2003). Through listening, singing, clapping, tapping, and moving, children can experience relationships between duration, repetition, and rate. These embodied experiences may support emerging mathematical understandings of timing, comparison, and proportional relationships. By combining musical tempo with physical movement, the song aims to make abstract ideas about time and speed more tangible and meaningful for young learners.
We have provided references to work that has informed the development of the Tappy Math(s) songs:
Alibali, M. W., & Nathan, M. J. (2012). Embodiment in Mathematics Teaching and Learning: Evidence From Learners’ and Teachers’ Gestures. Journal of the Learning Sciences, 21(2), 247–286. https://doi.org/10.1080/10508406.2011.611446
Arévalo Fuquen, J. A., & Cortes Olarte, A. P. (2019). The use of nursery rhymes to enhance the seven domains of early childhood development in an EFL classroom. http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12209/10410
Bamberger, J., & diSessa, A. (2003). Music as Embodied Mathematics: A Study of a Mutually Informing Affinity. International Journal of Computers for Mathematical Learning, 8(2), 123–160. https://doi.org/10.1023/B:IJCO.0000003872.84260.96
Bird, M. H. (2024). Mathematics for young children: An active thinking approach. Routledge.
Birken, M., & Coon, A. C. (2008). Discovering Patterns in Mathematics and Poetry. BRILL.
Birkett, E. E., & Talcott, J. B. (2012). Interval timing in children: Effects of auditory and visual pacing stimuli and relationships with reading and attention variables. PLOS ONE, 7(8), e42820. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0042820
Briggs, M. (2013). Teaching and Learning Early Years Mathematics: Subject and Pedagogic Knowledge (1st ed). Critical Publishing.
Clark, A., Henderson, P., & Gifford, S. (2020). Improving Mathematics in the Early Years and Key Stage 1. Guidance Report. Education Endowment Foundation. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED612298
Clarkson, P. C. (2020). Rhyming and Folk Tales: Resources to Mathematical Thinking. Australian Primary Mathematics Classroom, 11(4), 18–24. https://doi.org/10.3316/informit.152094665403717
Clements, D. H., Sarama, J., & DiBiase, A.-M. (Eds). (2003). Engaging young children in mathematics: Standards for pre-school and kindergarten mathematics education. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Clements, D. H., Swaminathan, S., Hannibal, M. A. Z., & Sarama, J. (1999). Young children’s concepts of shape. Journal for research in Mathematics Education, 192-212.
Clemson, D., & Clemson, W. (1994). Mathematics in the early years. Routledge.
Cohrssen, C., Fielding, J., & Bird, J. (2025). Informal assessment of preschool children’s concepts of zero. Early Childhood Education Journal, 53(3), 891-902. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10643-024-01634-8
Cotterill, T. (2019). Principles and practices of working with pupils with special educational needs and disability: A student guide (First published). Routledge.
Cousins, S., & Minns, H. (2023). Supporting Early Learning through Rhymes and Stories. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003358633
De Mello, G., Ibrahim, M. N. A., Arumugam, N., Husin@Ma’mor, M. S., Omar, N. H., & Sathiyasenan, S. D. (2022). Nursery Rhymes: Its Effectiveness in Teaching of English among Pre-Schoolers. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 12(6), Pages 1914-1924. https://doi.org/10.6007/IJARBSS/v12-i6/14124
Dogani, K., & Papadopoulou, E. (2024). Preschool children’s understanding of the musical concept of tempo by engaging in strategies from mathematical generalisation. Early Years, 44(2), 386-403. https://doi.org/10.1080/09575146.2022.2155623
Featherstone, S., & Featherstone, S. (2012). The little book of maths songs and games. A & C Black.
Gordon, R., & Ramani, G. B. (2021). Integrating Embodied Cognition and Information Processing: A Combined Model of the Role of Gesture in Children’s Mathematical Environments. Frontiers in Psychology, 12. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.650286
Grenell, A., Hine, E., & Fyfe, E. R. (2025). Repeating and growing patterns in early mathematics textbooks. Journal of Curriculum Studies, 57(3), 287–302. https://doi.org/10.1080/00220272.2024.2319659
Gripton, C. (2023). Developing mathematical patterning in ECE classrooms: Participatory research with teachers of 3–5-year-olds. European Early Childhood Education Research Journal, 31(3), 326–342. https://doi.org/10.1080/1350293X.2022.2108097
Hall, J. D. (2021). Mathematics and Poetic Meter. In R. Tubbs, A. Jenkins, & N. Engelhardt (Eds), The Palgrave Handbook of Literature and Mathematics (pp. 189–205). Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-55478-1_11
Hamilton, C. (2021). Investigating the relationship between empirical evidence and teacher practice in the use of songs in early years settings and primary school education in the UK. [Http://purl.org/dc/dcmitype/Text, University of Oxford]. https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:3920ab71-5f2d-4752-b301-c19ad7ada708
Hamilton, C., & Murphy, V. A. (2024a). Folk pedagogy? Investigating how and why UK early years and primary teachers use songs with young learners. Education 3-13, 52(8), 1488–1509. https://doi.org/10.1080/03004279.2023.2168132
Hamilton, C., & Murphy, V. A. (2024b). Folk pedagogy? Investigating how and why UK early years and primary teachers use songs with young learners. Education 3-13, 52(8), 1488–1509. https://doi.org/10.1080/03004279.2023.2168132
Hodgen, J., Barclay, N., Foster, C., Gilmore, C., Marks, R., & Sims, V. (2020). Improving Mathematics in the Early Years and Key Stage 1: Guidance Report. Education Endowment Foundation. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED612298.pdf
Holmes, S. (2017). The impact of participation in music on learning mathematics. (pp. 1–282) [Doctoral, UCL (University College London)]. University College London. https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1541236/
Kroupová, I. (2015). Linguistic (and Methodological) Aspects of English Nursery Rhymes [Masarykova univerzita, Pedagogická fakulta]. https://is.muni.cz/th/104133/pedf_m/
Ladybird favourite nursery rhymes. (2018). Ladybird Books Limited.
Lesser, L. M. (2014). Mathematical lyrics: Noteworthy endeavours in education. Journal of Mathematics and the Arts, 8(1–2), 46–53. https://doi.org/10.1080/17513472.2014.950833
MacCuish, I. (2010). 100 Best-Loved Nursery Rhymes. Miles Kelly Publishing.
Mageed, I. A. (2024). Do You Speak The Mighty Triad? (Poetry, Mathematics and Music) Innovative Teaching of Mathematics. Arts and Humanities. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202412.2084.v1
Mastrokalou, N., & Hatziharistos, D. (2007). Rhythmic Ability in Children and the Effects of Age, Sex, and Tempo. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 104(3), 901–912. https://doi.org/10.2466/pms.104.3.901-912
Matthews, D. R., Ubbes, V. A., & Freysinger, V. J. (2014). A qualitative investigation of early childhood teachers’ experiences of rhythm as pedagogy. Journal of Early Childhood Research. https://doi.org/10.1177/1476718X14523745
Mertoglu, E. (2010). A study on the relationship between the rhythm and mathematics skills of 5–6 year old children. Gifted Education International, 26(1), 26-34.
Montague-Smith, A., Price, A., & Montague-Smith, A. (2012). Mathematics in early years education (3rd ed). Routledge.
Mullen, G. (2017). More Than Words: Using Nursery Rhymes and Songs to Support Domains of Child Development. Journal of Childhood Studies, 42, 42. https://doi.org/10.18357/jcs.v42i2.17841
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Murphy, V., & Evangelou, M. (Eds). (2016). Early childhood education in English for speakers of other languages. British Council.
Music in the Early Years | Joanna Glover, Susan Young | Taylor & Franc. (n.d.-a). Retrieved 18 January 2026, from https://www-taylorfrancis-com.ezp.lib.cam.ac.uk/books/mono/10.4324/9780203030387/music-early-years-susan-young-joanna-glover
National Centre for Excellence in the Teaching of Mathematics (NCETM). (n.d.). Early years. Retrieved June 16, 2026, from https://www.ncetm.org.uk/in-the-classroom/early-years
Perry, B., MacDonald, A., & Gervasoni, A. (Eds). (2015). Mathematics and transition to school: International perspectives. Springer.
Puspitasari, D., & Maulida, C. (2019). Research Report Integrated Mathematics and English in Counting Songs: A Way to Boost Young Laerners’ Interest in Learning Numeracy [Research]. http://repository.uingusdur.ac.id/446/
Rees, J. (2019). Exploring maths through stories and rhymes: Active learning in the early years. Routledge.
Rhyming and Folk Tales: Resources to Mathematical Thinking. (n.d.). Australian Primary Mathematics Classroom. Retrieved 19 April 2026, from https://search.informit.org/doi/abs/10.3316/informit.152094665403717
Sala, G., & Gobet, F. (2020). Cognitive and academic benefits of music training with children: A multilevel meta-analysis. Memory & Cognition, 48(8), 1429–1441. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13421-020-01060-2
Sayakhan, N. I., & Bradley, D. H. (2019). A Nursery Rhymes as a Vehicle for Teaching English as a Foreign Language. Raparin Journal of Humanities (RJH), 6(1), 44–55. https://doi.org/10.26750/paper
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Swanson, H., & Trninic, D. (2021). Stepping out of rhythm: an embodied artifact for noticing rate of change. Educational Technology Research and Development, 69(4), 2037-2057. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11423-020-09933-8
The Impact of Rhymes and Songs in the Teaching and Learning of Numeracy in Kindergarten. (2020). Journal of Education and Practice. https://doi.org/10.7176/JEP/11-20-14
There were 10 in the bed: And other counting nursery rhymes. (2015). Bonney Press.
Thompson, F. I. (Ed.). (2001). Teaching and learning early number (Reprinted). Open Univ. Press.
Tisdell, C. C. (2019). An Arts-Integrated Approach to Learning Mathematics through Music: A Case Study of the Song “e is a Magic Number”. International Journal of Innovation in Science and Mathematics Education, 27(7). https://doi.org/10.30722/IJISME.27.07.005
Various. (2023). The Nursery Rhymes of England. Good Press.
Verdine, B. N., Lucca, K. R., Golinkoff, R. M., Hirsh-Pasek, K., & Newcombe, N. S. (2016). The shape of things: The origin of young children’s knowledge of the names and properties of geometric forms. Journal of Cognition and Development, 17(1), 142–161. https://doi.org/10.1080/15248372.2015.1016610
Vuust, P., Brattico, E., Seppänen, M., Näätänen, R., & Tervaniemi, M. (2012). The sound of music: Differentiating musicians using a fast, musical multi-feature mismatch negativity paradigm. Neuropsychologia, 50(7), 1432–1443. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2012.02.028
Way, J., & Ginns, P. (2024). Embodied Learning in Early Mathematics Education: Translating Research into Principles to Inform Teaching. Education Sciences, 14(7). https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci14070696