Page in Japanese

Numbers + How many... do you have?

Target Language: How many + Numbers 1 to 12
You can find this song in the Teacher's Set
And in the new curriculum Level.

Important: Do you the numbers 1 to 12 song before doing this song. If you don't it will be far too fast for your kids, do the numbers 1 to 12 song first and you'll be amazed at how easy this song becomes!

How to teach...


Put the kids in a circle with the teacher in the middle.


The students do an arm-in-arm folkdance whilst singing "How many... do you have?".


On the counting part the teacher points to one student for 1, to the next student along for 2 etc. The child who you are pointing to at the end of the numbers section comes to the middle.

Everyone does the arm-in-arm folkdance for the next "How many... do you have?" chorus, then the new child in the middle chooses somewhere to start and points to each person in turn as you count the numbers.

Mr Rabbit Magic!

Here's a nice magic trick you can use with this game. I'm not very good at it, but the kids love it!

Also have a look at the Mr Monkey Magic Corner!

Recommended Games

The recommended game for this theme is the "How many?" game.

Or the Around the World game using the quiz cards above.


There are lots of other ideas for teaching numbers on the site. A few songs / themes to have a look at are:


How old are you?
What time is it?
Hip Hop Numbers
Do you have any pets? ( Numbers Mix)
How much?
Rocket Launch.
Numbers Song 13 to 32

Plus several games, including:

Animals Card Game
Mingle ( the kids ask a question that has a number for an answer, you shout out the answer and they get into groups of that number)
Timebomb
Bargaining Game

You might also want to have a look at Will Jasprizza's hints and tips for teaching numbers.

Or try simple things like giving the kids telephone numbers and they have to write them down ( try telling them it's Tom Cruise's phone number!). Or tell them the combination to a secret safe you have with a prize inside.

1 -> 12 -> 31 -> 60

It's also a good idea to start teaching numbers 1-12 first rather than just 1-10.
Eleven ( most kids will know "Seven Eleven") and twelve tend to be tough to learn, but introducing them early helps a lot, plus it means the next set of numbers are thirTEEN, fourTEEN, fifTEEN i.e. really simple. But the main reason is that you can quickly flip to telling the time.

Then the next set of numbers you want to try is up to 31. One reason is it helps teach the dates ( if needed), and all the kids will know 31 thanks to the ice cream flavours!

A good activity for teens or twenties is to get the kids to get people's shoe sizes. Teach them "What's your shoe size?" and get them to ask classmates, parents, teachers in the staff room, or get them to go to other classes and ask the kids there. They can then do things like calculating the average shoe size of each grade or other activities that link with their maths lessons.

Next is up to 60, so you can do times like 12:50 or 9:45.

Then it's pretty much up to you, but for big numbers a cool activity is to get pictures and prices for yachts or helicopters or diamond rings, the kids have a lot of fun listening as you say the price, then trying to adapt it to their own currency!


Also have a look at the Online Numbers Game

Readers' Comments

  Lovely. - Monica

The Rabbit Magic is sooooooo cooooooool! - Alexandra

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