Wallaby Hops to 20
Numbers to 20 on a number line, and counting on: where will Wallaby land?
How it plays
Wallaby stands on a number line. Ruby Roo says where she is and how many hops she'll take, and your child taps where she'll land. Then she hops, and each landing is counted aloud, so your child hears counting on. If the pick wasn't right, there's no telling-off: "Let's count the hops together," and she hops while Ruby Roo counts. To 10 first, then to 20; in Big Steps, to 100 in big hops of ten.
What it's for
Numbers to 20 on a number line, and counting on: where will Wallaby land?. 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.
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: Hopscotch number line
About two minutes, with things most homes have.
- Chalk a line of numbers 0 to 10 (or 20) on the path, a big step apart.
- Stand on a number and say "I'll hop two more. Where will I land?"
- Hop and count out loud as you land: "Five, six!" Then swap.
Three questions to ask while they play
- Wallaby is on 6 and hops 3. Where will she land?
- What number comes after 9?
- How many hops from 4 to 7?
Play together
Things to say or ask
- Where's Wallaby now? Let's count the hops together.
- Start at her number, and count on.
- Show me with your fingers: how many hops?
Taking turns on one device: One player hops their fingers along and counts aloud; the other taps where she'll land. Swap.
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
Counting on means starting from the number you're on, not from one. Saying the landing numbers aloud ("five, six, seven") is the trick. Or try Count on Me first: reading the numbers to 10 first.
A sheet to print
Print the Wallaby Hops to 20 sheet
One A4 page, in black and white or colour.
From two to eight
Big Steps: To 100 in big hops of ten. For seven- and eight-year-olds: AC9M1N01 (recognise, represent and order numbers to at least 120 using physical and virtual materials, numerals, number lines and charts).
Switch Tiny Steps or Big Steps on in Who's playing?, on the grown-ups' page.
What it practises
- Counting on. Starting from a number and counting on, on a number line to 20 (and, in Big Steps, to 100 in tens).
AC9MFN01 (Mathematics, Foundation); AC9MFN03 (Mathematics, Foundation); AC9M1N01 (Mathematics, Year 1) - Reading numbers. Knowing numerals and what they're called.
AC9MFN01 (Mathematics, Foundation)
The codes are from the Early Years Learning Framework V2.0 (for three- to five-year-olds) 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
Wallaby Hops to 20 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.