Last Updated on February 2, 2024 by Editorial Team
Children are like molds of mud. If it falls into the right hands of expert potters, the outcome becomes impressive. The parents and the teachers are the potters who can give shape to the future of the children. But, in this era of technological advancements, other sources can also improve a child’s educational aspect. One of the common issues among children is centered around numerals.
Sometimes it becomes difficult for parents and teachers to make the children develop a fondness for mathematics. In such situations, apart from the books, resources like mobile phone apps or gaming apps can be of great help as these use an audio-visual method to teach children important things playfully. Researchers have developed apps that are significantly designed to improve a child’s number sense. so they can meet their learning goals.
Find below ten apps that you may consider for your child in order to get the stronghold of number sense.
Apps to practice and improve number sense
1. Number Sense Home Edition
The children get to attend mathematical problems and arithmetic reasoning in this app. By solving these problems, they develop higher accuracy rates in number sense, speedier problem-solving skills, and fluency in gauging the difficulty level or the tricks to solve a particular question.
Besides children, parents and teachers can also get help from it to familiarize them with it. The innovative methods the app uses improve the concentration of children and motivate them to take on more challenging problems. Thus, improvement continues. This app makes children experience mental challenges. Also, the app includes a wide range of topics.
App Link: App store
2. 123 Numbers- Count and Tracing
This app mainly helps children identify numbers and, thus, improve their number sense. This app includes a wide range of number tracing cards, puzzles, practice sets, etc., which ask the users to count, identify, and solve numerical problems. The app has number-matching games that children need to complete within a specific duration. Such games improve their fluency and confidence in mathematics.
The children can use this app even if unsupervised. Also, the app teaches children how to write numbers in addition to counting and identifying numbers. Thus, it gives an overall learning session to them.
App Link: Play Store | App Store
3. DragonBox Algebra 5+
DragonBox Algebra 5+ app is designed to introduce algebra in a fun and exciting way to children. Once the children use the app, they will find various puzzles. These puzzles involve children in collecting and balancing terms. Completing one level unlocks the other levels, and the problems also have clear instructions for the children.
What catches the children’s attention and attraction is that a dragon continues to grow with every level they complete. The dragon’s birth happens at the very first level. On successful completion of the following levels, the dragon grows. This motivates the children to solve with concentration.
App Link: Play store | App store
4. Numberita
Numberita is an educational app designed specifically for little children who are just learning to count and identify numbers. The puzzles in it use only numbers from 1 to 100. This small range of numbers makes it easier for the children to succeed in the game. Less chance of failure motivates them to play more. Through playing more, they learn more and sharpen their numerical skills.
The app has an imaginary cafe where friendly monsters come to have food. The user enables Numberita to feed the monsters. Such a setup gives the children a more realistic feeling. Parents can leave their children with this app without worrying about being unsupervised.
App Link: App store
5. Preschool Math
Children who use the Preschool Math app learn to recognize and pronounce numbers. As the app’s name suggests, it is meant for preschool children aged 3-5 years. Here again, numbers between 1 to 100 are used. Thus, the children learn to understand numbers in a fun, exciting, and yet, competitive way. Teachers and parents can also get involved in the learning sessions and help the children go through the experience. If a child is particularly having problems with numbers, this app can benefit them.
In this app, various characters come on the screen. These characters are designed cutely and colorfully, which grabs the children’s attraction. So, even if your kid does not find numbers interesting, they might get involved in this app for these attractive figures.
App Link: Play Store
6. Preschool Kids- Number and Math
The basics of this app are using graphics to teach children about numbers in a more exciting way. This app aims to eliminate the complexities of numerical operations and instill higher levels of confidence in children’s minds regarding number recognition. Once you install this app, you will find a graphical clock, activity cards with missing numbers, activities involving ascending and descending numbers, etc.
Your child will also get introduced to basic mathematical signs such as +, -, x, etc. Some puzzles ask the child to put these signs where they think it appropriate to solve a problem. The best thing about this app is that it enables a self-practice process for the children. The app will indicate if the child is putting in wrong answers. The graphical representations give the children a fun and wholesome experience.
App Link: Play Store
7. Zero Our Hero
The Zero Our Hero app mainly focuses on place value. The app’s games and activities are designed to teach children how to use place value through playing and performing fun place value activities. fun activities. The app has different levels. On reaching each level, the children get to solve different exercises. However, all these exercises are individual ones. Designed specifically for children of growing age, the activities in this app make them implement their existing skills and enable them to learn new skills.
Altogether, there are four levels. Each level has six exercises. So, when you install this app, you have 24 exercises ready for your kid. The app’s activities are self-marking. This means the child can understand whether they have correctly or incorrectly responded. So they do not have to check with their parents or teachers.
App Link: App store
8. Duck on the Run
The best way to grab a child’s attention is to give them something unique and amusing. And when it is maths, disguising it in colorful characters of a duck and a pig is sure to bring out the best in them. Duck on the Run uses this principle to make children involved in arithmetic practice.
In this app, the children solve problems similar to worksheets without realizing they are actually doing maths. There are many sub-levels under each level. Thus, it keeps the children glued to the tasks for longer durations. Developers and educationalists monitor the progress the children make while they play in this app. Thus, the app contributes to child development too.
App Link: Play store | App store
9. Kids Numbers and Math Lite
Let children immerse themselves in the world of mathematics with this fun app by Intellijoy! Be it counting, matching, or comparing numbers, kids learn all of this and much more by spending some time on this app. They even learn basic addition and subtraction operations in a simple, easy-to-understand format. The Lite version covers basic features, but if you want improved features like being able to adjust numbers as per the child’s current level, the paid version will be a better fit.
Overall, this app is a good choice for beginners who are taking their first steps to develop number sense. The clear instructions, colorful animations, and the provision of changing language settings make this app a must-try for all young children.
App Link: Play Store
10. Learning Numbers for Kids!
Here is yet another well-designed app meant for little aspirants to learn numbers and apply their knowledge through a variety of child-centric activities. Bini Games has carefully crafted this app to help kids get ready for preschool and beyond.
Some of the activities included in this app are ‘Catch the NumBlot,’ where kids catch the number cloud and transform it into paint to fill up the bucket, and ‘Super Number Draw,’ where kids trace different numbers and learn how to write them. Counting numbers and quantity-number matching are other activities offered in this app. Though the app is available as a free version with ads appearing in between, you can switch to the paid version so kids can enjoy an uninterrupted session of fun and learning.
App link: Playstore
11. Montessori Maths: Add and Subtract
Let us finish this list of apps to improve a kid’s number sense with something for kindergarten. Available in the App Store, this app focuses on teaching children basic mathematical functions like addition and subtraction. The children also learn carrying and borrowing activities, the base-10 number system, etc. The Montessori teaching system aims to make children learn efficiently instead of memorizing blindly. This app has successfully implemented that.
Through this app, the children learn to solve larger problems where they use their addition and subtraction skills. in the same way they do while solving addition and subtraction worksheets. Each activity has a specific time allocation. Solving in a time-bound way improves children’s proficiency and fluency.
App Link: App store
Wrapping up
When they were children, today’s parents might have heard that there is no knowledge greater than what you acquire from books and your surroundings. But, with time, the world has progressed a lot. To remain in the mainstream, we must also make our children familiar with technological advancements.
The apps help the children learn while playing. The audio-visual techniques allow them to remember more accurately. Install any of the above apps and open the world of numbers to your child.
An engineer, Maths expert, Online Tutor and animal rights activist. In more than 5+ years of my online teaching experience, I closely worked with many students struggling with dyscalculia and dyslexia. With the years passing, I learned that not much effort being put into the awareness of this learning disorder. Students with dyscalculia often misunderstood for having just a simple math fear. This is still an underresearched and understudied subject. I am also the founder of Smartynote -‘The notepad app for dyslexia’,