The twelve games
- Tray Memory (working memory): Look at the pictures on the tray, then say which one was there.
- Who Went Away? (working memory): One picture walks away. Which one?
- Copy the Colours (working memory): Golu lights up colours in order. Tap them back in the same order.
- Sort, Then Switch (flexibility): Sort shapes by colour. Then the rule changes to shape.
- Golu Says (self-control): Tap only when Golu says. If he does not say it, wait.
- I Spy (attention): Find every picture that belongs to the group.
- Spot the Different One (attention): Two rows look the same, except one picture. Find it.
- Tap and Count (number sense): Tap exactly the number Golu asks for, counting aloud.
- Small to Big (logic): Tap the smallest first, then bigger and bigger.
- What Comes Next? (patterns): Look at the pattern and pick the next shape.
- Which Does Not Belong? (logic): Find the one that is not part of the group, and hear why.
- Rocket Countdown (number sense): Tap the numbers from big to small, then blast off.
The science in one paragraph
Executive function, the set of skills for holding things in mind, resisting the first impulse and switching rules, grows fastest between ages 3 and 6 and predicts school success better than early reading does. The Harvard Center on the Developing Child lists exactly these activities as everyday ways to build it: imaginary play, matching and sorting with rule changes, songs that add on, freeze games and backwards counting. Our games put them on a screen slowly, with a grown-up in the loop and a real-world version at the bottom of every page.
How to use this page at home
Say it, then find it
Play for a few minutes, then look for the same thing away from the screen: brain games for kids on the shelf, in the kitchen, on the way to school. A child learns a word properly when they meet it twice, once on the screen and once in their hand.
Ten minutes is enough
Short and happy beats long and tired. Stop while your child still wants more, and come back tomorrow: the same page on five short days teaches far more than one long sitting. Nothing here is scored, so there is no reason to push.
Use both languages
Tap the language button at the top to hear the words in your home language first and the second language after. Hearing the same picture named in two languages is one of the few things research agrees builds attention as well as vocabulary.