A teen numbers game: counting to 20 with a hedgehog

What your child learns: ten and some more

The numbers 11 to 19 are where counting often gets bumpy. The names are tricky, and there are many things to keep track of.

US kindergarten standards ask children to see each of these numbers as ten ones and some further ones, like 18 is 10 and 8. The game builds exactly that picture.

In Ten and more, the first ten frame is already full. Your child drags acorns into the second frame to make the number asked. In Count the orchard, apples lie in rows of ten, and the voice says, "Fourteen apples! Ten in the first row and four more."

Other screens show the same idea from new sides: two ten frames, a number line, and a row of stones with gaps to fill. Each one says it again: ten, and some more.

Why we made this game

Children who count to ten with ease often ask, "What comes after ten?" Then the names get tricky: eleven and twelve do not sound like ten and one or ten and two.

We wanted to answer that question with something they can see. A full frame of ten stays on screen, so children can count on from ten instead of starting at one again.

Counting on from a given number is another kindergarten goal. So is counting up to 20 things, and the hedgehog's number line practices both.

The orchard sets the scene: apples, pears, acorns and chestnuts. These are things a child might gather and count on an autumn walk.

What children love about it

The hedgehog is the hero. On the number line, your child taps stones to walk it from 10 to 20, one step at a time.

It also practices one more and one less: one stone forward, one stone back. In the counting by twos round, it skips every other stone all the way to twenty.

The quiz has a cozy ending. Every right answer is a leaf for the hedgehog's nest. The leaves fly in one by one while counting, and with eight or more the hedgehog curls up for its long winter sleep.

The number book brings teen numbers into real life: eleven players on the field for a soccer team, twelve months in a year, fourteen days in two weeks. Hedgehog facts are tucked in too, like how it rolls into a prickly ball.

• Missing numbers: drag the right numbers onto empty stones
• Frames to match: draw a line from each number to its counters
• Number memory with ten frames full of counters

How to play it together

Before playing, show ten with both hands and say, "That is one ten." Then add a toe or a toy and say, "Ten and one makes eleven."

During the ten frame rounds, let your child count out loud from ten: "Eleven, twelve, thirteen." If they start again at one, point to the full frame and say, "We already know this is ten."

After playing, count stairs or cars and keep going past ten. Fingers help too, so let your child use them.

If a round feels hard, go back to Counting 1 to 10 for a while. There is no rush, and every child learns at their own speed.