Learning the days of the week is one of the first abstract time-concepts children tackle. Unlike counting, which children can anchor to objects they can touch, the days of the week are invisible — you can't hold Monday in your hand. That's exactly why songs work so well here: the rhythm acts as a memory scaffold, turning an abstract sequence into a singable pattern.
Cognitive development research shows that preschoolers typically learn the days of the week between ages 3 and 5, but most children don't reach reliable recall until closer to age 6 or 7. A dedicated song repeated daily accelerates this significantly — studies on mnemonic music learning suggest children who sing calendar sequences daily outperform non-singing peers by several months in rote recall.
Here are the most popular days-of-the-week songs for children, organized by age-appropriateness and teaching purpose.
The Addams Family Days of the Week (Most Popular Version)
The most widely used version in UK, US, and Australian classrooms uses the iconic Addams Family theme tune (two snaps). The lyrics go: 'Days of the week (snap snap) / Days of the week (snap snap) / Days of the week, days of the week, days of the week (snap snap) / There's Sunday and there's Monday / There's Tuesday and there's Wednesday / There's Thursday and there's Friday / And then there's Saturday.' The snap rhythm makes the song hard to forget. Even children who can't yet sequence the days reliably will nail the snaps — and the rhythm carries the sequence into long-term memory.
Best age: 3–7. The snap action keeps preschoolers physically engaged. Use in Monday-morning circle time as a consistent weekly opener.
Frère Jacques (Brother John) Tune Version
Another classroom staple sung to the same tune as Brother John (Frère Jacques): 'Monday morning, Monday morning, start the week, start the week / Tuesday comes along next, Tuesday comes along next, middle week, middle week.' Different teachers use different words, but the tune stays consistent. The advantage of using a tune children already know is that they only have to learn the new words — the melody is already in memory.
Best age: 2–5. Works especially well for nursery and Reception-age children who already know Frère Jacques from lullaby sessions.
The Days of the Week Chant (No Tune, Just Rhythm)
For teachers who want a call-and-response format without committing to a specific tune: 'What day is today? (clap clap) / MONDAY! (clap clap) / What comes after Monday? (clap clap) / TUESDAY! (clap clap).' This version works well mid-week when you want to reinforce knowledge rather than teach from scratch. The question-and-answer structure forces children to actively retrieve, not just passively chant.
Best age: 4–8. The retrieval format is more cognitively demanding than pure repetition and more appropriate for children who already know the sequence but need to consolidate it.
Sing It Backwards (Advanced Variation)
Once children have mastered forward order, singing backwards — Sunday, Saturday, Friday, Thursday, Wednesday, Tuesday, Monday — dramatically deepens their understanding of the sequence. This isn't just a party trick: backwards recall demonstrates true conceptual understanding versus rote memory. Use the Addams Family tune backwards. Best for ages 5–7, after at least a few weeks of forward practice.
How to Teach Days of the Week With Songs: Step-by-Step
Consistency matters more than the song choice. Pick one version and use it daily for at least 3 weeks before switching. Preschool research on calendar routine shows it takes about 15–20 repetitions for a new weekly song to become automatically retrieved — which at once-a-day is about three weeks.
- •Week 1: Sing the whole song slowly, pointing to a visual calendar as you name each day
- •Week 2: Ask children to fill in the last word of each line (Monday... Tuesday...)
- •Week 3: Point to 'today' on the calendar and ask what day it is before starting the song
- •Week 4+: Have children lead the song; introduce the backwards variation
- •Daily: Always tie the song to a physical calendar — abstract without visual anchor slows retention
- •Anchor it to a specific routine time (morning circle, after breakfast) — consistency deepens recall faster than variety
Why the Addams Family Tune Works So Well
Music psychologists note that distinctive rhythms with built-in motor actions (like snapping) are encoded in procedural memory, which is separate from semantic memory. This means even children who 'forget' the words still remember the snap positions — and the snaps cue the words back. The same principle explains why adults who learned the ABC song can still sing it 30 years later.
This overlaps with the music and math connection — both the weekly cycle and numeracy share the same sequential, ordinal structure that rhythmic music encodes best.
Days of the Week Songs by Language
For bilingual classrooms and households, days-of-the-week songs exist in Spanish (Lunes, Martes, Miércoles...), French (Lundi, Mardi, Mercredi...), and Mandarin. The Addams Family tune works equally well with Spanish day names — the syllable structure happens to align almost perfectly. This is a powerful tool for children learning their heritage language alongside English.
- •Spanish: Lunes, martes, miércoles, jueves, viernes, sábado, domingo
- •French: Lundi, mardi, mercredi, jeudi, vendredi, samedi, dimanche
- •Mandarin: Xīngqīyī, xīngqī'èr, xīngqīsān... (requires tonal adaptation)
- •Both-language version: Sing the English version, then immediately repeat in the second language — the dual-encoding multiplies retention