What it is
Math Ninja has two doors, and Otto the octopus, in his ninja headband, says what to do. Number Basics is ten levels of practice, from counting to ten up to times tables and division, with pictures that carry the idea: ten-frames of dots for small sums, rows of dots for multiplication, groups for sharing. Ninja Tricks teaches twenty real mental-arithmetic shortcuts, the kind adults use without noticing: rounding to a friendly number, making tens, adding 9 by adding 10 and sliding back, doubling and halving, the 11 rule. Each trick is taught three ways: watch a worked example unfold, do one together step by step, then five on your own. A wrong answer gets a hint and a second go, never a game over.
How to play
On a laptop or desktop
Type the answer and press Enter. In a lesson, Space skips ahead through the worked example.
On a tablet or phone
Tap the digits on the number pad, then the green check. Tap a step to hurry the demonstration.
What children learn
- Number sense and place value through visuals
- Times tables and division facts
- Twenty mental-math strategies, each with the reasoning behind it
- Confidence: every problem has a gentle path to the answer
Tips for parents
Do the Watch phase together once and say the steps out loud. The tricks stick when a child can explain why they work, not just that they do. The Solo phase has a peek button that shows the steps at the cost of a star.
Questions parents ask
Which tricks are included?
Friendly numbers, left-to-right adding, making tens, plus 9, doubles plus one, add-up-to-subtract, shifting both numbers, all-from-9-last-from-10, minus 9, dropping to a ten, double and halve, the 11 rule, times 5, times 9, double-double for times 4, times 15, squaring numbers ending in 5, dividing by 5, halving twice for dividing by 4, and chunking.
Is it suitable for a six-year-old?
Number Basics is. The tricks assume comfort with two-digit numbers and are best from about eight.
Are the problems the same every time?
No. Every problem is generated fresh, but always with numbers where the trick actually applies, so the child sees the pattern rather than memorizing an answer.
