Count down from 10 to 1

💡 How it plays and why it helps

Rocket launches end with ten, nine, eight, and children love to shout the countdown. Count down from 10 to 1 asks a Kindergarten child for one step of it at a time. Two rows of boxes are shown. The top row holds objects such as carrots or dolphins, with its number beside it, and the bottom row has one fewer, leaving an extra empty box. Your child types how many are in the bottom row. Five pictures make a round, read aloud, and every answer is checked and explained: one fewer than 4 makes 3.

Counting down is the counting sequence read backward. The number before is also one fewer, a first look at taking away one. The hint shows the shortcut. Start from the top number and go back one.

Some children type the next number up instead, because counting forward is the habit. Point to the extra empty box and ask, "Is the bottom row longer or shorter?" Praise the step backward: "You went back one."