Maths games for Class 1 and Class 2 (free, no app needed)
If you have a child in Class 1 or Class 2, the maths syllabus is more compact than most parents remember.
Class 1 in CBSE and ICSE is mostly: numbers up to 100, addition and subtraction within 20, basic shapes, comparing quantities, simple measurement, telling time to the hour. That is it. Class 2 adds: addition and subtraction up to 100 with regrouping (carrying), the multiplication tables of 2, 3, 4, 5, and 10, fractions as halves and quarters, money in rupee notes and coins, length in cm and m.
The trap that catches many parents is treating Class 1 and Class 2 maths as if it were a race to fluency in operations the child has not yet learnt. A six-year-old practising long addition with carrying is a six-year-old being pulled ahead of where their school is. That gets in the way more than it helps.
What helps is steady practice in exactly the operations the child is currently learning, with feedback they can read and a low cost of getting things wrong. One game on epotli matches this well. We use it at home with a Class 1 child and a Class 2 child.
MathBird, sized to your child's class
MathBird is the adaptive arithmetic game on epotli. The level persists between sessions and the operations grow with the level, so it sizes itself to wherever your child is on the curriculum.
- Level 1-2 is addition only, with operands suited to a Class 1 child. A child who has just started Class 1 should play here.
- Level 3-4 adds subtraction. The number ranges grow. This is the stretch zone for late Class 1 and most of Class 2.
- Level 5+ unlocks single-digit multiplication tables. This is for Class 2 children who are fluent on the earlier levels.
Each session is 10 questions at the child's current level. Hit 60% accuracy and the level goes up; miss it and stay where you are. Lifetime score and stars accumulate across sessions, so progress is always visible.
What MathBird does that a worksheet does not: it makes 10 sums feel like one play session. A child does the questions in roughly 90 seconds because each one is a tap, not a write. The same child would balk at writing 10 sums on paper.
The signal that the level system is working: your child opens the game on day five and remembers what level they were on without checking. That continuity is the long-term goal a Class 1 or Class 2 child can hold across a week.
A small caveat. The streak bonus rewards speed, and a child who is racing through to keep the streak can end a session with a higher score and lower accuracy than they had a week ago. If you notice the level going up while the questions are getting more wrong, slow them down. Suggest they read the equation aloud before tapping.
What about a worksheet?
Worksheets are not bad. They are a different tool for a different purpose. A worksheet is good for a child who needs to slow down and write out the working — the act of writing 14 + 7 = 21 in a notebook builds different motor and visual memory than tapping a bubble.
Our recommendation: worksheets at school, games at home. The school assigns the writing practice. You provide the speed-and-recognition practice that goes with it. They reinforce each other; neither is enough on its own.
A Class 1 weekly rhythm
- One short MathBird session most days, sitting at level 1 or 2.
- Total screen time: about 5 minutes per day.
If your child wants more, let them. If they want less on a given day, let them. The rhythm is more important than any single session.
A Class 2 weekly rhythm
- Two MathBird sessions most days, expect the level to rise over a month.
- Two minutes of mental maths conversation in the car or while cooking. "What is 3 sevens?" "What is half of 24?" These count.
For more on how the games are designed and what age range each one suits, the parents page lays it out per game.
What to skip
Apps that promise to "teach the entire Class 1 and Class 2 curriculum" in one product. Curriculum coverage is the school's job. Your job at home is to give the kid daily reps in the operations they are already learning, in a form they will actually open. One browser game that takes five minutes is more useful than a single app that takes 30 minutes and gets opened twice a month.