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Ten green bottles

Nursery rhyme

Ten green bottles

What to do with this activity?

"Ten green bottles" is a counting song that's fun to sing. Here is a version on Youtube by MyVoxSongs and here are the words for the first verse:

Ten green bottles sitting on the wall,
Ten green bottles sitting on the wall,
And if one green bottle should accidentally fall,
There’d be nine green bottles sitting on the wall.

With each verse the number becomes smaller until in the final verse there are zero green bottles hanging on the wall. 

  • Why am I doing this?

    Maths is more than working with numbers. It also consists of shape and space, patterns, measuring – things you do and come across in everyday life. When children begin to learn formal maths at school, they are building on a foundation of early numeracy learning from home. Even though they may not even be aware of it, parents and children engage in numeracy activity as part of their everyday lives.

  • How can I do more?

    Always teach numbers in a natural way through everyday activities and play. Count steps on a stairs, food in your shopping trolley or cows in a field.  Compare things when talking big or small, long or short, older or younger and faster or slower: “You carry the small box and I’ll take the big one.” Use the words – up and down, over and under, near or far, more or less when talking to your child. Talk about the shapes of everyday things. Ask your child what shapes they can see around the room they’re in.

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