The aim is to investigate how digital play with animations may contribute to children’s (six-year-olds) learning of combinatorics, in this case how three toy bears can be arranged in a row on a sofa (i.e. permutations for n = 3). English (2005) showed that a well-organised and meaningful context facilitates young children’s possibilities to explore combinatorial situations. This study builds on Palmér & van Bommel (2020) who investigated the role of and connection between systematization, representation and digital artefacts in children’s work with combinatorial tasks. Their study showed that the use of digital artefacts may enhance children’s understanding of combinatorial problems. This study builds on designs for learning (Kress & Selander 2010), including multimodal theories. A central model is the Learning Design Sequence (LDS) model. The study is qualitative in nature, combining the LDS model with multimodal analysis. Activities, in three different classrooms, where the children worked in pairs with the combinatoric task with paper/pens and with creating digital animations were video documented. Video-documentations (150 minutes) from three pairs of children were analysed qualitatively according to the LDS model focusing on the children’s understanding of the mathematical content. The study conforms to the ethical regulations for research in Sweden. All participating teachers, children, and guardians approved their participation. Creating digital animations enhanced the children’s understanding of combinatorics. The digital animations were more systematic with more permutations than the paper and pencil documentation. The study contributes with implications for how digital play with animations can be integrated in early mathematics education.