Dino Kids

A free math app for preschoolers: thinking math, numbers to 10 and math games

Math for a three-year-old doesn't start with sums. It starts with spotting a pattern, sorting things into groups, telling big from small. Dino Kids has both halves: 28 Thinking math lessons for ages 3–6, and 40 school-readiness lessons up to ten — shapes, numbers, comparing, adding and taking away. Finished lessons earn tickets to Playtime, with mazes, number joins and flag flip cards.

  • Free
  • No advertising
  • No in-app purchases
  • No account needed
Get it on the App Store Get it on Google Play

iPad and iPhone (iOS 15 and later) · Android phones and tablets (7.0 and later) · Rated 4+

The Math map on iPad: a colour per unit — shapes, numbers 0 to 10, comparing, adding and taking away up to 10; the first two lessons have three stars and the dinosaur stands at the next one
  • 40math lessons in 5 stages
  • 28Thinking math lessons, 6 units
  • 300mazes, number joins and flip-card levels
  • 193national flags in Flip cards

School-readiness math up to ten

The Math tile follows Vietnam's Grade 1 curriculum and its school-readiness syllabus, in five stages from easy to hard — enough to start school on familiar ground.

  1. Shapes. Square, circle, triangle, rectangle: naming them, counting them, putting two pieces together to make one.
  2. Numbers 0 to 10. Recognising numerals, matching groups to numbers, colouring by number, finding the missing number in a row.
  3. Comparing. More, fewer, the same, then the >, < and = signs.
  4. Adding and taking away within ten. One small step at a time: up to 3, then 4, 5… up to 10, including zero and "how many make".
  5. Putting it all together. Matching sums to answers, writing a sum from a picture, filling in the missing number.

Young children count rather than add in their heads, so every digit in a sum has that many objects drawn right under it; in a take-away, the part removed is faded and crossed through. The Math subject also has a Write numbers tile for tracing 0 to 9 in stroke order.

Wondering what school will actually expect? Read Is my child ready for kindergarten? 7 parent worries.

Thinking math for ages 3–6

Thinking math isn't fast mental arithmetic. It is the kind of thinking that comes before sums: seeing a pattern, grouping, placing things in space, comparing sizes, working out what comes next. Your child taps Math, then Thinking math. It runs separately from the counting lessons, so nobody has to finish numbers first.

  • Patterns: what comes next, the missing piece, number rows that go up or down evenly within 20.
  • Sorting: the odd one out, the exact match, everything that flies or lives in water.
  • Position and space: on, under, in, out, next to; left and right as your child sees the screen.
  • Sizes: biggest, smallest, longest, small to big, and which one is heavier.
  • Order and thinking: egg, chick, hen; "the hen goes with corn, so what goes with the dog?"
  • Big challenge: two mixed review lessons and a final quiz.

Each unit opens with Learn: five picture pages, read aloud, with the answer already drawn in. Three Practice lessons go from level 1 (two-colour patterns, three choices) to level 3 (three-item patterns, four choices), then a Quiz with a gold trophy. No trophy yet? The lesson still counts as done and the next one opens.

Why these skills matter, and simple ways to play thinking math at home: Thinking math for ages 3–6.

Playtime: finish a lesson, earn a ticket

Tickets only come after lessons — a Math lesson, a Thinking math lesson, a finished colouring picture — so play never crowds out the learning.

  1. One ticket, one round. For mazes, number joins and flip cards, one ticket is one puzzle; the round ends by itself and your child goes back to learning.
  2. Nothing pulls your child away. A small "You got a play ticket!" note shows in the corner for about three seconds, then fades. To play, your child goes back home and taps the Playtime banner.
  3. You set the rule. How many lessons earn a ticket, or free play — your choice. Tickets don't expire, and each child has their own.

Step by step: Play tickets in Dino Kids; all seven games: Dino Kids Playtime.

The Playtime screen on iPad with the Dino companion, seven games, the sticker bag and badges

Mazes, number joins and flip cards with 193 flags

Three brain games in Playtime, 100 levels each, growing with your child.

  • Maze: a finger finds the way to the goal; every maze has exactly one way out, and they grow as your child does.
  • Join the numbers: 100 pictures, each number read aloud in the app's language — Vietnamese, Japanese, English, Korean or Chinese. The first stage runs 1 to 10, then comes 11 to 20.
  • Flip cards over 193 national flags: find a matching pair and hear the country's name — memory practice and a first look at the world.
The number-join map on iPad: the 1–10 stage with umbrella, leaf, star, heart and crown, then the 11–20 stage

Mistakes are fine: the app helps, it doesn't punish

Your child can't read yet, so every question has pictures and is read aloud — in Vietnamese, Japanese, English, Korean or Chinese, whichever language you set for the app.

A first wrong answer just sends the card back. After a second, the app fades some of the wrong choices. After a third, it shows the answer and moves on. Your child never gets zero stars, and there are no crosses and no red. To see how far your child has come, open Settings → Learning report, where Thinking math has its own section.

Questions parents ask

Is this math app really free?

Yes. Dino Kids is free on the App Store and Google Play, with no subscription, no in-app purchases and no advertising. Nothing in Math, Thinking math or Playtime waits behind a payment.

Can a three-year-old do Thinking math?

Yes. Thinking math is made for ages 3–6. Level 1 practice suits three-year-olds: two-colour patterns, three choices, familiar animals; level 3 is for 5–6-year-olds. Every question has pictures and is read aloud, so a child who can't read yet can still work alone.

What does the Math tile follow?

Vietnam's Grade 1 curriculum and its school-readiness syllabus: shapes, numbers 0 to 10, comparing, adding and taking away within ten, and a review stage. It is a place to get familiar with numbers before school, not a class that runs ahead of the curriculum.

Does the math app work offline?

Yes, once the lessons are downloaded. The first Math lesson and the first Thinking math lesson come with the app; the others, with their voices, download on their own when the device is online, and after that they work offline. Playtime never needs a connection.

Won't Playtime make my child just want to play?

Tickets only come after lessons, each ticket opens one short round, and every round ends on its own. You decide how many lessons earn a ticket, or whether your child can simply play freely. The ticket note fades after a few seconds, so it never pulls your child out of a lesson.

In the same app

Math is one tile. The same app also has:

Download it and hand it to your child

Free, no advertising, no in-app purchases. Download it and your child can start straight away, no account needed.

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