Snack Stop

For grown-ups

Help Nutmeg the mouse pack a picnic: find the snack, press its number, and pay with pennies.

Nutmeg holds up a picture of the snack she wants. Your child finds it in the machine, reads the number under it and presses that number on the keypad. Each key is said out loud before the next one can go. A key that isn't the snack's is named while the voice says which one we need. From age 5 the snack has a price, and your child taps pennies into the spots one at a time while the voice counts them. There is no timer and no buzzer. A round is five snacks, then it stops.

Child lock: tap the lock at the top right. The ways out hide and the back button stays in the game. To unlock, tap the lock and answer a sum.

Easy (ages 2 to 4): numbers 1 to 6, one key, no paying. Normal (age 5): two-key numbers, and a price of 1 to 5 pennies. Hard (6 and up): two-key numbers, and a price of 6 to 10 pennies.

Evening look (dimmer and warmer)

Why it's good for your child, what they learn, and how we designed it

Free, no ads, no sign-in. The pennies are pretend: nothing is bought. We count plays without names or anything that identifies your child, and your child is never recorded. Every picture is drawn in code.

Why it's good for your child

Knowing number symbols and counting out an amount are some of the strongest early signs of later math success (Duncan 2007), and a snack machine gives every number a reason: press the right number and the snack comes out. Paying with pennies, one for each number said, ties counting to a real job your child sees grown-ups do. The line on the "All done" screen takes it to the kitchen or a play store with real pennies, where talking together helps most (AAP, Zero to Three).

What they learn

Finding a picture and reading the number under it, then pressing the same number on a keypad: 1 to 6 for the youngest, then two-digit numbers said a digit at a time, like "four, seven". From age 5 each snack has a price and your child counts out that many pennies, one for each number. These match kindergarten standards K.CC.A.3 (read and write numbers 0 to 20) and K.CC.B.5 (count out up to 20 things), and first grade 1.NBT.A.1 (read numbers to 120).

How we designed it for ages 3 to 7

Every key and every penny is said out loud before the next one can go, so mashing never runs ahead, and big keys and a tap-only penny tray suit small hands (Hiniker 2015). A key that is not the snack's is named with what we need, with no buzzer, and one thing moves at a time in a slow glide, because fast-paced cartoons lowered 4-year-olds' attention right after (Lillard & Peterson 2011). A round stops after 5 snacks on "All done", with nothing to collect and no "one more" prompt (Radesky 2022); every snack is an everyday healthy one and the pennies are pretend.

About the game

Snack Stop is a free vending machine game for kids, made like a toy snack machine. Nutmeg the field mouse is packing a picnic. She holds up a picture of the snack she wants, and your child finds it in the machine, reads its number and presses the same number on the keypad. Out comes the snack. Every snack is an everyday healthy one: an apple, a banana, carrots, an orange, crackers and water.

Three levels, set by age

  • Easy (ages 2 to 4): the windows are numbered 1 to 6. One key.
  • Normal (age 5): two-key numbers like 47, said "four, seven", and a price of 1 to 5 pennies, counted as each one goes in.
  • Hard (ages 6 and up): two-key numbers and a price of 6 to 10 pennies.

How a round goes

A round is five snacks, then "All done" shows Nutmeg's picnic with a line for you to talk about together. Before you hand over the phone, tap the lock at the top right. More: how we build calm games, questions parents ask.

Questions parents ask

Is Snack Stop free?

Yes. There is no sign-in, nothing to download and nothing to buy inside the game. The pennies are pretend, and it runs in the web browser on phones, tablets and computers.

What does my child learn?

Finding a picture, reading a number and pressing the same number on a keypad. From age 5 the numbers have two digits, and each snack has a price your child pays with pennies, counting each one out loud.

How long is a round?

Five snacks, then the game stops on an All done screen with Nutmeg's picnic and a line for you to talk about together. Nothing starts by itself.