Stripe the Tiger, Snap the Crocodile and an assortment of their animal friends help young learners to understand number problems on an interactive website.

What is it?

With RM Easimaths software, pupils follow animals as they play games, bake cookies and search for other creatures in the garden, learning to count, add and subtract as they go. Each task is introduced by an animation with a voiceover that poses a problem - for example, “Snap is hungry, how many apples has she eaten?”

Some tasks test pupils’ number recognition and others push them to practise basic sums. All are designed to build mathematical confidence. Teachers can monitor pupils with a chart showing the topics they have mastered and those that are still challenging them. Once pupils learn a skill, the programme moves on, personalising the experience and preventing pupils from getting bored.

How to use it?

RM Easimaths covers levels 1-3 of the national curriculum and is designed to be used for 10-15 minutes a day, three to five times a week. By September 2012 it should also contain material for levels 4 and 5. Get set up at www.rmeasimaths.com.