Mental mathThe Number Factory
The builder beaver gets pupils to make numbers with flats, rods and cubes. Ten cubes trade automatically for a rod, so pupils see what each digit stands for, including zero.
Start the game
The game opens full page, with no ads and no sign-up.
- Level
- Grades 2–4
- Way of playing
- Solo or whole class
- Suggested time
- 15 to 20 min
- Game languages
- Arabic · French · English · Spanish
- Price
- Free
What pupils practice
- Understand the value of a digit from its place.
- Read and write numbers up to 999, especially those with a zero.
- Break a number apart into hundreds, tens and ones.
- Find a number on a number line.
How to play
- Choose an activity: Build, Write, Break apart, Number line or Mix.
- In “Build”, the pupil adds or removes flats, rods and cubes.
- In “Write”, digits appear under each column, so a forgotten zero shows immediately.
- The results separate four types of mistake: zero, place, breaking apart and reading the line.
In the classroom
Start with a number without a zero, then follow it with its “trap”: 75, then 705. Ask pupils what changes and why.
Dictation mode, when an English voice is available on the device, practices going from spoken to written numbers.
Useful settings
- Three number ranges: up to 99, up to 999, and “with zeros”.
- You can type your own list of numbers (408, 690, 805…).
- On the number line, jumps range from 1 to 100.
