Firefly Jars is an adding-two-groups game for Kindergarten and Grade 1. Students catch a group of fireflies into one jar, then catch that many more into a second jar, join both jars in the big jar, and finally build the equation themselves from number tiles — no equation is shown until they make it. The count above each jar ticks up as they drag and turns red if they overfill, so counting out an exact amount is the child's job, not the game's. Five levels move from totals within 5 up to bridging ten and missing-addend problems. A round is five questions and takes about two minutes.
Each level is five questions and runs about two minutes. Students who count every firefly one by one may take closer to three, which is still a good fit for a warm-up or a center rotation. Four correct out of five unlocks the next level.
Levels 1 and 2 suit Kindergarten and early Grade 1 (totals within 5, then within 10). Levels 3 through 5 target Grade 1, covering totals past ten, the commutative property, and missing addends. Grade 2 students who are still shaky on facts within 20 can use levels 3 and 5 as a quick fluency refresher.
Yes. Dragging works with a finger, a stylus, or a mouse. Students who find dragging hard can tap a firefly to select it and then tap the jar they want it in — the same move works for pouring and for the number tiles, so nothing is locked behind fine motor control.
The number tile bounces back with no penalty beyond losing the streak. On a second miss the game points them at the evidence rather than the answer: for the two addends it flashes the count still showing above that jar, and for the total it lights the fireflies in the big jar one at a time with a number above each, so the student finishes the count themselves.