American Song · Hand Claps & Body Percussion · Grades PreK–4
Full lyrics, hand clap and body percussion activity, form awareness, and a complete teaching guide. A fast-paced American clapping game that builds coordination and musical form understanding from PreK through 4th grade.
Complete lyrics
About this song
Double Double This This is one of those playground games that children already know — or quickly feel they already know — which is part of its charm. The repetitive structure (double, this, that) creates a clear form that students can analyze: the song has an ABAB structure at the phrase level, with each repetition slightly varying the relationship between "this" and "that."
The clapping and body percussion mechanics reinforce the 4/4 meter in a physical, tactile way. The movement from "double" (both hands quick) to "this" and "that" (single, directed taps) creates coordination challenge that scales with age — younger students enjoy the basic pattern while older students can work on increasing speed and precision.
The bunny animations in The Singing Classroom show the exact hand and body motions, making it easy to learn and teach without prior knowledge of the game.
Teaching guide
Say and sing the words first without any hand movements. The text pattern is simple enough that most students can memorize it in one hearing. Repeat until the words are automatic.
Introduce the double clap for "double" and the directed taps for "this" and "that." Use the bunny animations to demonstrate. Start slowly — the coordination challenge is real, especially for the quick transition between double claps and directed taps.
Once students can do the motions solo, pair them up. Partner versions add another coordination layer — now "this" and "that" involve reaching toward your partner. The 4/4 meter provides the scaffolding for the interaction.
For grades 2–4, analyze the structure: "What repeats? What changes? What's the pattern?" Students will notice the ABAB relationship between "this" and "that." Connect this to larger concepts of musical form (verse, chorus, binary, ternary).
More songs for elementary music
Full lyrics and hand clap game with a freezing contest.
See teaching guide →Step-by-step guide to the full clapping pattern.
See teaching guide →Bilingual partner clapping game with accelerando.
See teaching guide →Common questions
The exact motions are shown in the bunny animations inside The Singing Classroom — they're difficult to describe in text without ambiguity. The general principle: "double" signals a quick double tap or clap, while "this" and "that" direct your hands to specific locations (your own body parts, your partner's hands, etc.). The specific sequence varies by version; the Singing Classroom uses one standardized version shown in the animations.
Musical form refers to the overall structure and organization of a piece — how sections repeat, contrast, and relate to each other. Common forms include ABA (verse-chorus-verse), AB (binary), ABAB, and rondo. Double Double This This has a clear, analyzable structure that makes it an excellent introductory example for teaching form awareness in elementary music.
Listed for PreK through 4th grade. PreK and K enjoy the basic clapping pattern and the energetic delivery. Grades 1–2 can work on coordinating the full motion sequence. Grades 3–4 can add the partner version, increase speed, and analyze the form. The song is simple enough to be fun for very young students but engaging enough to hold older students' interest.
The real problem
Every teacher knows this feeling. You find a song, try it on Monday, and something goes sideways — the kids don't engage, you're not sure how to introduce it, the lesson loses momentum. It's not that the song was wrong. You just didn't have a clear picture of how it actually goes.
That's what makes The Singing Classroom different. Every song in the library, including this one, is demonstrated on video, either by Deborah walking you through how to teach it or by the bunnies animation of the game, and many songs have both. You don't have to guess how to introduce it, how to structure the activity, or how to handle the tricky moments. You watch it. Then you teach it.
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