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We are an international research-informed collaboration co-designing new mathematical songs for children aged 3-6. Each song comes with a full set of resources to support teaching and learning.

All the songs and accompanying materials are freely available from tappymathematics.com. Please share with anyone interested in helping young children develop confidence and enjoyment in mathematics.

tappymathematics.com

Tappy Math(s)

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The themes of zero are also reflected musically; each line of the verse starts one note higher than the previous one, and at the end of the verse it loops back round to the starting note, reflecting the circular shape of the zero symbol.

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Our song was further inspired by the book ‘Zero is the leaves on the tree’, which presents many different examples of zero in everyday life. The lyrics communicate different words for zero and nothing, and the different nuances of meaning that each one has.

A screenshot from an animated song video showing a page in an open book with a number line going from zero to three and extending off each end of the page. The lyric at the bottom of the screen is “that goes before one”. In the corner there is an inset of a woman showing the gestures to the song.

The research we used on the topic of zero suggested that many children do not know the word ‘zero’ and that, although they may understand the concept, they don’t necessarily have the words to describe it.

A screenshot from an animated song video showing a page in an open book with the words Empty, Nil, Nought, Zero, Nothing, Blank. The words are spread across the page, with Zero larger and central. The lyric at the bottom of the screen is “Empty is”. In the corner there is an inset of a woman showing the gestures to the song.

‘Nothing has a name’ started with gestures and the many ways that British sign language has to communicate the idea of zero or nothing.

A screenshot from an animated song video showing a book opening up. The title of the book is Nothing has a name: a song about zero. On the front cover is the numeral zero and pictures of a piggy bank, an envelope and a basketball. The edge of the first page is just visible, with a section of a numberline showing 4 going off the edge of the page. In the corner there is an inset of a woman showing the gestures to the song.

In creating the Tappy Math(s) songs, we used a different starting point for each of the four songs: concept-led, research-led, gesture-led and music-led. This range of approaches allowed us to optimise each song for the mathematical concept it communicates, leading to four very different songs.

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How can you describe what isn’t there? ‘Nothing has a name’ is a song that introduces some of the words we use for the concept of zero. Created by Tappy Math(s) to support children aged 3 to 6 in early mathematical thinking.

A screenshot from an animated song video showing a page in an open book with an empty bag, an empty bucket, an empty chair and the word Empty. The lyric at the bottom of the screen is “Empty is”. In the corner there is an inset of a woman showing the gestures to the song.

Sam Hartburn @samhartburn.bsky.social · 04/07/2026

Ayliean is excellent at all these things and more!

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Reposted by Sam Hartburn

Big MathsJam @bigmathsjam.bsky.social · 03/07/2026

For this year's MathsJam UK Gathering, the early-bird cutoff is a number of tickets - the first 101 people to book will get a discount, so don't miss out! The Graph of Doom is already looking quite steep, and more than half the early-bird spaces are gone already...

A graph showing bookings for MathsJam 2026. The graph has a line for 'Attending' which goes up steeply from 0 at -160 days to just over 50 at -135 days, and a line for 'Remote' that's still fairly low. There is a faint diagonal line which the 'Attending' line is currently above.

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Reposted by Sam Hartburn

Spoken Nerd @fotsn.bsky.social · 03/07/2026

TICKETS ON SALE NOW! Join us for one night only at the Cambridge Theatre in London's West End! Steve, Helen and Matt will be there alongside an out of this world line-up that we cant wait to reveal in the months ahead! Tickets can be found at fotsn.com/tickets

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All the songs are freely available from tappymathematics.com

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Created by Tappy Math(s) to support children aged 3 to 6 in early mathematical thinking. Please share with anyone interested in helping young children develop confidence and enjoyment in mathematics.

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The chorus deliberately has a very different musical feel, with the rectangle properties listed in a catchy call-and-response form.

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By repeating the lyrics about the properties of the rectangle in each verse, the song makes it clear that they apply to all three examples (and the many other examples shown on screen), allowing children to see how the properties can be generalised from one specific rectangle to all rectangles.

A screenshot from an animated song video showing a rectangle with the corners highlighted and a dot in one corner. The lyric at the bottom of the screen is “Corner corner corner corner”. In the corner there is an inset of a woman showing the gestures to the song.

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The verses of the song feature three different examples of rectangles: one long and thin, one tilted and one square.

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One of the shapes highlighted in the research was a rectangle, so we decided to create a song that focuses on the properties of rectangles and highlights how those properties are still present when a rectangle is shown in different ways.

A screenshot from an animated song video showing a square with an arrow pointing at each corner. The lyric at the bottom of the screen is “EQUAL!”. In the corner there is an inset of a woman showing the gestures to the song.

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‘A pair and a pair’ started with a research paper about the difficulties children experience identifying shapes when those shapes are not presented in the canonical form that they’re used to seeing.

A screenshot from an animated song video showing seven rectangles of different dimensions. Each rectangle has four lines outside it highlighting the number of sides, and the biggest rectangle, in the centre of the screen, has the number 4 inside it. The lyric at the bottom of the screen is “FOUR!”. In the corner there is an inset of a woman showing the gestures to the song.

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