数鸭子 (Shǔ Yāzi): The Chinese Counting-Ducks Song for Kids

Quick answer: 数鸭子 (Shǔ Yāzi, "Counting Ducks") is a playful Chinese children's song about a flock of ducks swimming under a bridge — and the joke of the song is that no one can actually count them properly. It's a staple counting song in Chinese-speaking kindergartens.

The lyrics

Chinese	Pinyin	English
门前大桥下，	Ménqián dà qiáo xià,	In front of the door, under the big bridge,
游过一群鸭，	yóu guò yì qún yā,	Swims a flock of ducks,
快来快来数一数，	kuài lái kuài lái shǔ yi shǔ,	Come quick, come quick, count them,
二四六七八。	èr sì liù qī bā.	Two, four, six, seven, eight.
不用眼睛看，	Bú yòng yǎnjīng kàn,	No need to look with your eyes,
不用手指点，	bú yòng shǒuzhǐ diǎn,	No need to point with your finger,
哎呀我的天，	āiyā wǒ de tiān,	Oh my goodness,
数不清到底多少鸭。	shǔ bù qīng dàodǐ duōshao yā.	I just can't count how many ducks there are!

Where it comes from

数鸭子 is a modern Chinese children's song rather than an old folk rhyme, and it's been part of the standard early-childhood music repertoire in Chinese-speaking classrooms for decades. Its charm is in the setup: a child spots a flock of ducks swimming under a bridge and tries to count them, but the numbers come out jumbled and out of order ("二四六七八" — two, four, six, seven, eight) because the ducks simply won't hold still. By the second half of the song, the singer gives up entirely — "数不清到底多少鸭" ("I just can't count how many ducks there are!") — which is exactly the punchline kids find funny: the song is honest about the counting being impossible.

How to sing it with your baby

• Newborn–6 months: The bouncy, march-like rhythm makes this a good awake-time or play-time song rather than a sleep song — try it during tummy time, bouncing baby gently in time with the beat.
• 6–18 months: Hold up fingers (or point to bath-time rubber ducks, if you have them) while singing the numbers "二、四、六、七、八" — you're not trying to teach real counting yet, just pairing number-words with a visual.
• 18 months+: Once your toddler can count a few numbers themselves, ask them to actually count something nearby — toys, books, fingers — right after the song, and point out that the song's numbers are "silly" and don't go in order, a fun, concrete way to start noticing what real counting looks like.

Continue building your song list

This is one of the individual lullaby and nursery-rhyme posts on Twiglet Tales — see the full collection of Chinese lullabies and nursery rhymes for more songs at every stage, or continue with the Growth Roadmap for a staged plan beyond songs alone.