Count on Me
Reading a number and putting it where it belongs
How it plays
Numbers drift around a screen divided into patches. Your child drags each number into the patch that matches it. It is Ps and Qs wearing numbers, which is deliberate: the same hands-on sorting, a different thing to learn.
What it's for
Reading a number and putting it where it belongs. It adapts as your child plays: after a few rounds that go well it steps up a little, and after a couple of hard ones it quietly steps back. The level number only ever goes up. You can also set it up on the first screen: “How fast they wander”, “How many of each”, “Keep them where I put them”.
There is no score to lose and no way to fail. A wrong move is met with a gentle nudge, and a level ends when it's won.
Away from the screen: Number pegs
About two minutes, with things most homes have.
- Write the numbers 1 to 5 on scraps of paper.
- Give your child a handful of pegs, spoons or blocks.
- Put the right number of things next to each number, and count them together.
Three questions to ask while they play
- What number is this one?
- How many fingers can you show me for that number?
- Which patch does it belong in?
Play together
Things to say or ask
- What number is that? Show me with your fingers.
- Is it more or less than five?
- You checked before you put it down. Good thinking.
Taking turns on one device: One player reads the number aloud; the other sorts it. Swap every number.
Talk-about cards: a question a day for a week, for the car or the dinner table. Print them, or read them from your phone.
If they find it hard
On the first screen, turn "How many of each" down, or tick "Keep them where I put them". Or try A Shape in its Place first: the same sorting, with shapes instead of numbers.
A sheet to print
One A4 page, in black and white or colour.
What it practises
- Reading numbers. Knowing numerals and what they're called.
AC9MFN01 (Mathematics, Foundation)
The codes are from the Early Years Learning Framework V2.0 (for children from birth to five) and the Australian Curriculum v9 (Foundation to Year 2). Each links to the official wording. Every skill, and the games for it.
What it costs, and what we collect
Nothing, and nothing. There is no account, no advertising and no tracking of any kind. Which games have been played is remembered on your own device and is never sent anywhere. The full version is here, and it's short.
Where it lives
Count on Me lives in The Bobbing Billabong — numbers and counting. It works on a phone, a tablet or a classroom screen, and once it's been opened it keeps working with no signal at all.
Updated