What it is and what you do with it: math practice (numbers 1 to 20) with Elmo and Abby from Sesame Street: tracing, videos, coloring pages, mini-games.

Covers: number identification, number tracing, counting groups of objects, addition & subtraction, problem solving.

What we liked: the concept. Great selection of learning material and activities. Features original Sesame Street characters. Narration and spoken instructions. Sound backgrounds and sounds. Ease of use. No ads or other distracting features.

What we didn't like: the games in the 'learn numbers with Elmo' section are a bit basic.

Appysmarts

What it is: introduction to numbers and counting (numbers 0-9). The app is based on the CBeebies 'Numberjacks' educational series.

What you do with it: scroll through the Numberjacks and listen to the numbers read out, tap and count objects popping out of the box or explore the picture sets of each Numberjack.

What we liked: the concept (easy enough to introducing numbers/counting even for the youngest kids), nice graphics, ease of use, audio instructions.

What we didn't like: the activities get quickly repetitive (not much variety). We would expect more interactions and animations (especially in the pictures section).

Appysmarts