Walk a frog across a grid of numbers to the flag. Make an exact total, count up by 2s or 5s, stay on even numbers or find the cheapest road. Six levels, a daily set and printable worksheets.
A number path puzzle is a small grid of numbers with a frog on one cell and a flag on another. The child walks from the frog to the flag one step at a time, moving to a cell that shares a side with the one before, and never stepping on the same cell twice. What the walk has to achieve changes from level to level: reach an exact total, climb by 2s, stay on even numbers, or find the cheapest road. The game builds adding a row of small numbers, skip counting, odd and even numbers, and the habit of planning a few steps ahead before moving. Puzzles of this kind appear in children's maths contests and in grade 1 and 2 workbooks, because they need little reading and reward trying, checking and trying again. The game counts toward the skill we call number paths, inside the maths group of skills.
Level 1, Starter, is a 3 by 3 grid with numbers 1 to 3. The child adds up every number on the walk, including the first and the last, to make a total. Exactly one walk fits the total. Level 2, Count up, is a 4 by 4 grid where each cell must be 2 more than the one before, or 5 more, and only one walk follows the rule from the frog to the flag. Level 3, Even road, is a 4 by 4 grid where odd cells are off limits and the child finds the shortest even walk, which always takes a detour of at least two extra cells compared with a straight run. Level 4, Exact total, is 4 by 4 with two to four rocks in the way and numbers 1 to 5, and exactly one walk of 6 or more cells hits the total. Level 5, Cheapest road, is 5 by 5, and the walk with the smallest total is a long winding road of small numbers, not the short way through big ones. Level 6, Brain-buster, is 5 by 5 with rocks and numbers 1 to 6: the child must hit the exact total in exactly 9 to 17 cells, and only one walk does both.
Each board is made from a seed, then every possible walk from the frog to the flag is tried by depth-first search, a method that follows one route to its end and then backs up to try the next. A board with no rocks has 12 walks corner to corner on a 3 by 3 grid, 184 on a 4 by 4 grid and 8512 on a 5 by 5 grid, and rocks remove many of them. Every level keeps a board only when exactly one walk is right, so the answer is certain and a lucky guess is not enough. Level 1 keeps a board when exactly one walk is right and at least one walk is wrong. The check on your child's answer follows the same rules: the walk must start at the frog, end at the flag, move only to neighbouring cells, avoid rocks and repeats, and meet the level's goal. The tests run this brute-force search on 500 boards at every level. Each cell also carries a small letter, because the tap buttons name a cell by letter and number, such as B:4.
The game moves up a level after 3 right answers in a row and down after 2 wrong answers in a row, and you or your child can pick a level yourselves. A wrong answer gets a gentle Try again, never a buzzer. Each day there is a set of 5 boards, the same for everyone with the same date on their device. To print, choose a level, 4, 6 or 8 boards and Letter or A4. On paper the child draws the walk with a pencil. Every print makes new boards, and the answer key with one short reason per board is on the last page. Stars and progress are saved in this browser only. This game does not teach written addition with carrying, it has no timer by default, and it does not replace a teacher. It gives one kind of puzzle, done many times, in short sessions.
Level 1 is meant for a 6 year old on the first day: a 3 by 3 grid with numbers 1, 2 and 3. Levels 5 and 6 are hard for a 7 or 8 year old. The levels adjust on their own, so a younger or older child settles at a comfortable one within about 10 puzzles.
Yes. The child adds every number on the walk, the frog's cell and the flag's cell included. The answer sentence after each puzzle writes the sum out, for example 2 + 3 + 1 + 3 = 9, so you can see it counted.
On every level, 1 to 6, the search proves exactly one walk is right. Tests try every walk on 500 boards per level and compare the result with the game's own check.
Rocks. A walk cannot step on them. They appear on levels 4 and 6, where they cut down the number of possible walks so that one total is reached in only one way.
Each cell has a small letter in its corner, and its button shows that letter and the number, for example A:3. Tap the buttons in the order of the walk. Tap a step in your row to remove it.
Yes. Pick a level, 4, 6 or 8 puzzles and Letter or A4. The grids print in black and white, the frog and flag are marked on their cells, and the last page is the answer key with the walk for each puzzle.
No. Stars, levels and streaks are saved in this browser on this device. The page counts visits with Google Analytics, never answers or scores.