Dotty’s Counting Garden

Dotty the ladybug gardener needs help counting her garden. She shows a number as a big digit and as dots, and your child taps exactly that many daisies, butterflies or snails. Each tap puts a number bubble on the item, “1, 2, 3…”, so counting becomes something children can see and touch. It is a calm way to practice one-to-one counting and number recognition, made for little kids. Free to play, with no ads in the game and no sign-up.

How to play

1. Look at Dotty’s card: the big number and the dots show how many.
2. Tap the garden friends one by one to count them. Tap again to un-count.
3. Tap the green check when you think you have the right number.
4. In “How many?” rounds, count them all and pick the matching number.
5. Earn stars and invite new garden friends to count.

Controls

• Tap or click a garden friend to count it. Tap it again to take the count back.
• Tap the green Check button when you think you have the right number. In “How many?” rounds, tap the number card that matches.
• Keyboard: Tab or the arrow keys move between items, Space or Enter counts. In “How many?” rounds, number keys pick an answer (0 means 10).

Tips and strategy

• Point and say each number out loud while you tap. The bubbles on the items help you keep track.
• Compare the dots on Dotty’s card with the dots that fill in as you count. When every spot is filled, you have counted enough.
• Counted too many? Just tap one again to un-count it. Nothing is lost.
• In “How many?” rounds, count every item first, then look for the number card with the same digit and the same dots.
• A right answer on the first try gives 2 stars, a right answer after a hint gives 1 star.
• Save your stars to invite new garden friends: butterflies, snails, strawberries, mushrooms, frogs and bumblebees.

Game modes and difficulty

Pick numbers 1–5 for the youngest players or 1–10 for children who already count further. A garden walk has 5 rounds that alternate between “Tap this many” and “How many are there?”, and the numbers grow gently from round to round. There is no timer and no way to fail. Your best walk is saved for each range on this device.

History and background

Touching each object while saying one number is how children learn that the last number tells “how many”. Teachers use dot cards and ten-frames for the same reason: a small group of dots can be recognised at a glance. Dotty’s Counting Garden brings these classroom ideas into a short, friendly game.

Dotty and her garden are drawn in code, with no photos or downloads. Sound is off until you turn it on. When it is on, each count plays a rising note and, if your browser has a voice for your language, says the number out loud.

Frequently asked questions