دبين تنين
A maths song with two dancing teddies.
Lyrics
دبين تنين عم ينطوا
نطو نطو نطو نط
دبين تنين عم بي نطوا
نطو نطو نطو
تلات دبب عم بي نطوا
نطو نطو نطو نط
تلات دبب عم بي نطوا
نطو نطو نطو
Instructions
In a standing circle, get two children (the teddies) to come into the middle.
Ask the class how many teddies are in the middle.
Sing the song. The teddies jump each time the word ‘نطو’ is sung.
After the first verse add or remove teddies. Ask the children how many are in the middle and sing it again.
There is time in the backing track after each verse (16 beats) to do this. Or you can pause the music (or not use the backing track).
The song is useful for getting children to get their word order with numbers correct (i.e. ‘دب واحد’, ’دبين’, and ‘تلات دبب’). With ‘دب واحد’ the class will also have to sing ‘عم بينط’.
The backing track only states the number of teddies in the first verse (after this it is left silent).
To make it about addition or subtraction, remove and add different numbers of teddies.
Another way to play is with a large sheet or rug, and toy teddies. Get the children to hold the edges of the sheet all together. Put the toys on top, and get the children to bounce them up in the air on the word ‘نطو’.
You can change the word ‘دبين’ to other animals (with a relevant verb instead of jumping).