Number 0 Game: A Fun Way for Kids to Practice Number Zero

Zero is a strange little number. Kids can count “one, two, three” long before they understand that a number can mean nothing at all. The written 0 also looks a lot like the letter O, and in a row of numbers it hides among look-alikes like 6, 8 and 9. The Number 0 Game turns all of that into a sweet ice cream adventure.

That is why we made the Number 0 Game. Lexy runs the ice cream stop at the Train Town station, and three empty waffle cones are waiting on the counter. Each cone shows a number or a picture. Kids tap the cone with the number 0, the train car with zero balls, or the empty basket, and a scoop of ice cream flies out of the tub and plops right on top.

Every finished tower goes to a hungry passenger in the train window. It is number 0 practice that feels like a trip to the ice cream shop, and every child finishes with stars.

How to Play the Number 0 Game

1. Listen to Lexy. She reads every direction out loud, so even pre-readers can play.
2. Round 1: Bunny wants ice cream! Tap the cone with the number 0. Watch out for 8, 6 and 9. Lexy’s tip: zero is one round line, like an egg.
3. Round 2: Panda wants ice cream! Find the train car with zero balls and skip the cars with one, two or three balls, because zero means none.
4. Round 3: Puppy wants ice cream! Find the empty basket, box, jar or nest and skip the full ones, because empty means zero.
5. Tap a cone, or drag the scoop onto it all by yourself. Three right answers stack a tall ice cream tower for the passenger in the train window.
6. A wrong tap gets a kind hint, like “Eight has two circles. Zero has just one round line,” and the numbers and pictures a child mixed up come back for one more try.
7. Go for 3 in a Row!, 5 in a Row! and 10 in a Row!, beat your High Score, and try for a Perfect Game. Every child finishes with stars.

What Kids Learn

The Number 0 Game helps kids recognize the written number 0 and connect it to the idea of none, an empty set (Common Core K.CC.A.3: write numbers from 0 to 20 and represent a number of objects with a written numeral, with 0 representing a count of no objects).

• The shape of zero: one round line, like an egg, so kids can tell 0 apart from 6, 8 and 9.
• Zero means none: the train car with zero balls sits next to cars with one, two and three balls.
• Empty is zero: an empty basket, box, jar or nest next to full ones, like a basket of apples or a nest of eggs.
• Teacher words: zero, none and empty, the same words kids hear in class.

Try this at home or in class: fill a basket with toys, then dump them all out and say “zero toys!” together. Then go on an empty hunt and find an empty cup, an empty box and an empty bowl. Quick challenge for kids: can you draw a big zero in the air, one round line like an egg?

More Practice with Numbers

• Numbers 0 to 50 with Words in Color Flash Cards
• Numbers 0 to 100 Flash Cards
• Crayon Number Matching Activity
• Playful Pup Number Matching Activity

Teachers: members can assign the Number 0 Game to a whole class with a Classroom link. Students play on any device, and you see who finished and how they did.

Ready for some ice cream? The Number 0 Game plays on any phone, tablet, Chromebook or computer.