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What you'll learn

  • Find one more than a number to 10 by adding one
  • Find one less than a number to 10 by taking one away
  • Each counting number is one more than the number before
  • The number after is one more, the number before is one less
  • One less than 1 is zero, which means none at all
  • Fix a group that has one too many or one too few

Chapter by chapter

  1. One more: add one to find the next number Free to try

    Reception maths · 1 Reception maths · 2

  2. One less: take one away to find the number before

    Reception maths · 1 Reception maths · 2

  3. The number staircase: each number is one more than the number before

    Reception maths · 2 Reception maths · 1

  4. Number track: the number after is one more, the number before is one less

    Reception maths · 1

  5. Fix it: add or take away one to match a number, and one more or one less stories

    Reception maths · 1 Reception maths · 2

  6. Big challenge: one more and one less to 10 (10 questions) (10 questions)

See every Maths chapter in the chapter library

What the chapters cover in the national curriculum in England:

  1. Reception maths: Understand the 'one more than or one less than' relationship between consecutive numbers
  2. Reception maths: Have a deep understanding of numbers to 10, including the composition of each number

About this adventure

One More One Less is an interactive maths game that teaches children aged 4–6 to find one more and one less than any number from 0 to 10, following the Reception (EYFS) maths guidance.

Pip the squirrel guides players through short, spoken activities. They add one acorn at a time to a tray laid out like a ten frame, take frogs away one by one, and build towers of cubes from 1 to 10 to see the staircase pattern: each counting number is one more than the number before. On a number track they find the number after (one more) and the number before (one less), even when fog hides the numbers.

Children predict first, then watch the answer happen, so the idea is seen as well as said. They also meet zero as one less than 1 and finish with a 10-question challenge.

Questions and answers

What does one more and one less mean?

One more is the number you get when you add one, which is the next counting number. One less is the number you get when you take one away, which is the number just before. For example, one more than 5 is 6 and one less than 5 is 4.

How do you teach one more and one less to Reception children?

Start with real objects: add one or take one away and count again so children see the number change. Cube towers built into a staircase and a number track from 0 to 10 then show that the number after is one more and the number before is one less.

What is one less than 1?

One less than 1 is 0, or zero, which means none at all. Young children often find this tricky, so the game shows a last frog jumping off the log, leaving nothing behind, and a frog hopping back to the zero stone.

What age is the One More One Less game for?

The game is made for children aged 4 to 6, matching the Reception year of the Early Years Foundation Stage in England. Year 1 children can also use it as a quick refresher before working with one more and one less beyond 10.

What is in the One More One Less game and how long does it take?

The game has a counting warm-up, five spoken chapters and a 10-question Big Challenge, and takes about 25 minutes to play through. Chapters can be played in any order and in short sessions, which suits young children.

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