🚌 Bus Math

A math game you can watch happen

Bus Math turns little number problems into something children can see. A friendly city bus drives along its route through Math Town and pulls up at a bus stop. The doors slide open, some passengers climb down the steps and walk away along the pavement, and the people waiting in the bus shelter climb aboard one by one, each with a little +1 or −1 floating above the door. Then comes the question: how many people are on the bus now?

Because every number is a real person walking on or off the bus, the maths makes sense straight away. Adding is people getting on. Taking away is people getting off. Times tables are rows of seats with the same number of people in each row. It is the kind of everyday word problem children meet at school, played out right in front of them.

The game runs in any web browser on a computer, a Chromebook, a tablet or a phone, with nothing to download and no account.

Five things to practise

Count the people (ages 4 and up) is the gentlest start. Passengers sit two to a window, so children can point and count the faces, and a few more climb aboard at every stop. Get on: add within 10 (ages 5 and up) gives a short word problem such as "4 people are on the bus. 3 more get on. How many now?" while you watch the three new passengers get on. Get off: take away within 10 does the same with passengers getting off: "9 people are on the bus. 4 get off. How many are left?"

On and off within 20 (ages 6 and up) is a two-step problem: some people get off and then some get on, and this time the windows are dark, so the bus can only be worked out with numbers, not by counting faces. Equal rows: times tables (ages 7 and up) fills the bus row by row: "4 rows of seats, 5 people in each row. How many people?" Each row of passengers climbs aboard together and sits at its own window, with a small number badge above each window, which shows clearly why 4 × 5 is four fives.

How a bus stop works

As the bus pulls up, the white counter at the top of the picture shows how many people are on board. When the doors open the counter changes to a question mark, because that is now the puzzle. Watch the passengers get off and on, then read the question under the picture. The numbers in the question are in bold, and the name of the bus stop is shown too. Tap one of the four big answer buttons, or press the number keys 1 to 4 on a keyboard.

Get it right and there is a cheer, a burst of confetti and the full sum, such as 9 − 4 = 5. Get it wrong and the right answer lights up in green with the sum to remember, the counter shows the real number of passengers, and the bus simply carries on to the next stop. There is no clock and no rush: the question waits until your child is ready.

Questions read aloud

Children who are still learning to read can listen instead. With Read questions aloud switched on (it is on to start with), the browser's own speech voice reads each question as the bus finishes at the stop. Press the 🗣️ button to hear it again at any time. No sound files are downloaded and nothing is sent anywhere: the speech is made by your own device.

Route and Rush Hour

Route is a trip of 10 bus stops with a different problem at each one. Answer 5 right for one star, 8 for two stars and all 10 for three stars, in each of the five topics, for 15 stars in all. Stars unlock new buses: Red Rover at 4 stars, the Purple Express at 8 and the shiny Golden Coach at 12.

Rush Hour is for children who want a challenge. The bus keeps going from stop to stop and the passengers move a little faster. You have three hearts, and a wrong answer costs one. How many stops can you get right before the hearts run out? Your best Rush Hour is saved and shown above the game.

Why it works

Young children understand numbers best when they can see real things being added and taken away. Bus Math gives them a simple, repeating story (a bus stop, people off, people on) and changes only the numbers, so they can concentrate on the maths. Watching people get on builds the idea that adding makes more; watching them get off shows that taking away makes fewer; and two-step problems help children hold a number in their head while it changes twice. The equal-rows topic links times tables to a picture of groups, which is how multiplication is taught in most classrooms.

At the end of each Route, the results card lists any sums that were missed under Let's remember, which is a handy little list to talk through together.

Tips for grown-ups

Start with Count the people even if your child can already add: it is a quick confidence boost and shows how the game works. Encourage counting on, for example "6 on the bus... 7, 8, 9" as each new passenger climbs aboard, rather than counting everyone from one again. For take-away problems, ask "how many got off?" before your child answers. For the dark-window problems, try saying the sum out loud together. Little and often works best: one Route takes about five minutes.

Free, safe and made for every device

Bus Math is free to play with no download, no account, no chat, no adverts inside the game and nothing to buy. Stars and scores are saved only on your own device. See the Parents & Safety page for more.

More math and bus games

Find more number practice on the Math Games page, or fly through the right answer in Heli Math. Little ones can sing along in Wheels on the Bus, and older children can drive a real route in School Bus Driver 3D. Every bus game is on the Bus Games page.

Frequently asked questions