How to play
Gems float up out of an open treasure chest, one at a time, so your child can count them. A parrot then swoops in and carries some of them off, and three hexagon buttons appear: tap how many gems are left. Easy rounds start with three to five gems and steal one or two; harder rounds go up to ten gems and steal as many as five. Each correct answer lights up one of the ten gold coins along the bottom of the screen, and filling all ten wins the round.
What your child will learn
- Build subtraction fluency
- Understand take-away concepts
- Recognize subtraction as inverse of addition
Skills practiced
- Number sense
- Mental math
- Problem solving
Why this age range
Aimed at preschoolers (ages 4–5) because take-away subtraction within ten is a kindergarten-readiness skill. The game's gentle pace and lack of timing pressure suit the developmental window. Older children solve every problem instantly and lose interest within minutes.
Curriculum standards
- CCSS.MATH.1.OA.C.6
- CCSS.MATH.2.OA.B.2
Notes for parents
Subtraction is conceptually harder than addition for most preschoolers, partly because "taking away" is a directional action while addition is symmetric. Watching the parrot lift individual gems away — and being able to count the ones still floating above the chest — gives the abstract operation a concrete shape. If your child struggles, slow down: put three real coins or buttons on the table, take one away, and count what's left. That fifteen-second analog moment is often enough to unlock the rest.