Number Ninja
Adding and taking away, by finding the pair that works
How it plays
A target appears — make seven, say. Your child taps one number, then hunts for its partner. Get the pair right and both clear away. Get it wrong and nothing happens except a friendly nudge; no points are ever taken away.
What it's for
Adding and taking away, by finding the pair that works. 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: “What are we doing?”.
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: Pairs in a bag
About two minutes, with things most homes have.
- Put 7 pegs or blocks in a bag or under a tea towel.
- Take some out and count them.
- How many are still hiding? Check together, then try a new number.
Three questions to ask while they play
- What number are we making?
- If you have 3, how many more do you need?
- Is there another pair that makes it too?
Play together
Things to say or ask
- Which two numbers go together? How do you know?
- Try it on your fingers.
- You found a pair I didn't see!
Taking turns on one device: One player picks the first number, the other finds its partner. Swap each pair.
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, choose "Adding up" before "Taking away". Or try Ten in the Den first: pairs that make ten, with dots to count.
A sheet to print
One A4 page, in black and white or colour.
What it practises
- Adding and taking away. Number facts within 20, both ways.
AC9M1N04 (Mathematics, Year 1); AC9M2A02 (Mathematics, Year 2)
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
Number Ninja 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