Count It is where number learning starts. A handful of apples, stars or chicks appears on the board, and the question is simply: how many?
What your child is learning
Counting looks easy to an adult, but it is several skills at once. A child has to say the number names in order, touch or look at each object exactly once, and understand that the last number said is the answer to "how many". That final idea is the one that takes longest to settle, and this game gives plenty of practice at it.
How to help
Encourage pointing. Touching the screen beside each picture while saying the number aloud stops objects being skipped or counted twice. With larger groups, suggest counting one row and then the next.
Ask "how many?" again after the count. If your child counts to six and then starts counting again when you ask, they are still learning that six is the total. Repeat it back to them: "Yes, six stars."
Notice small groups. Many children can recognise two or three objects without counting. That is a useful skill in its own right, so praise it.
If a wrong number is tapped, nothing bad happens. The choice fades and your child can try again. Count together the second time.
Taking it further
Count real things afterwards: stairs, spoons, toy cars. The more varied the objects, the better the idea of number takes hold.
Like every activity here, Count It belongs to a small set of HTML5 games that open in the browser with nothing to install, so it works on a tablet at the kitchen table as well as on a laptop.