Learning games for grade 1, age 6

Math ExpressAges 6+

A sum has to be seen to be understood — each wagon holds exactly ten crates, and a full wagon becomes a ten.

Magic AbacusAges 5+

Quick mental arithmetic is not magic but a path: from real beads under a finger, to faded beads, to an abacus held in the head.

Math GardenAges 4+

Numbers only mean something once a child can see them, so here adding is dropping fruit into a basket and taking away is lifting it out.

Little ReaderAges 6+

Reading starts with putting sounds together, so here your child builds every word with their own hands, one sound at a time.

ABC ZooAges 4+

The letters learnt properly from day one — the name and the sound kept apart, as the classroom teaches them — with a picture to remember each one by.

Little TalkerAges 4+

Practice in meeting English by ear and mouth first — listening, saying it back, chanting and answering a small conversation — on the words of the programme the child follows at school.

Little Dragon CodeAges 6+

Programming starts not with typing but with a way of thinking: break a job into steps, spot what repeats, and calmly track down the mistake.

Mind PlanetsAges 5+

Your child meets the kinds of thinking that children's intelligence tests use, as a trip between planets rather than an exam.

Logic GardenAges 4+

Reasoning need not wait for reading — children work things out with their eyes and hands, and understand it best when they explain it to someone else.

Key DanceAges 4+

A first go on a real keyboard should be pure fun, so here there is no such thing as a wrong key.

Tiny WorldAges 3+

Every five right answers add something to a world your child is building, and the questions keep pace with them as they go.

Little PuzzleAges 3+

The jigsaw a small child loves most has Mum, Grandma and themselves in it — and while they fit it together, they pick up the words their teacher uses for where things go.

Picture HuntAges 3+

Practice in looking carefully at a busy picture and naming what is in it, with the everyday words a child hears at home.

Little MarketAges 6+

Money only makes sense once you have counted out the change yourself, so here your child stands behind the stall.

Ready for School!Ages 5+

Helps a child start grade 1 with confidence in the life skills parents worry about most: looking after themselves, getting on at school, staying safe and asking a grown-up at the right moment.

Clock LabAges 5+

Time only makes sense when it is tied to your child's own day — school, dinner, bedtime.

Tiny BandAges 3+

Your child is a musician from the very first tap and learns to listen once they already love playing, rather than sitting through notes before they are allowed to play.

Little PainterAges 3+

Somewhere to colour, draw and show off a picture with nobody correcting it and no right answer — every picture a child makes is a good one.