Inquiry AI

K-6 · No account · No printing · 30-second setup

No-Prep Math Games
for K-6 Teachers

Free CCSS-aligned math missions for whole-class lessons, math centers, sub-day backups, and mixed-level groups. No teacher account, no student usernames, no printing required, no in-app purchases — just paste the link and play.

🚀 Quick-pick a topic 📚 Browse CCSS hub

Promise, in eight checks

What "no prep" really means here.

"No prep" is a category that's been diluted by every TPT seller who stuck a few PDFs together. Here's the literal checklist of what we don't make you do — measured against the highest-friction edtech onboarding flows we've watched.

  • ✓ No teacher account required to use any game
  • ✓ No student usernames or passwords to manage
  • ✓ No printing required (printable PDFs are optional, not gating)
  • ✓ Works on Chromebooks, iPads, and any browser
  • ✓ No ads, no in-app purchases, no upgrade prompts
  • ✓ CCSS-aligned with explicit standard codes on every topic
  • ✓ Embeddable in Google Sites, Canvas, Schoology, Seesaw
  • ✓ Works offline after first page load

Quick-pick

The 12 topics teachers ask for most.

Tap a topic to jump straight to the mission grid. Three difficulty tiers per topic — same interface for the whole class, different depth per student.

Six classroom modes

Map a tool to today's actual lesson.

Most edtech makes you bend your lesson to the product. We try to do the opposite — here's the six classroom shapes we explicitly fit.

Whole-class projector lesson

Open a topic hub on the projector, click the first mission, and walk through the array model with the class. Hint cues line up with the questions you are already asking. Total prep: 30 seconds.

Browse CCSS hub →

Math centers (small-group rotation)

Hand out three different topic links — one per center. No printing, no log-ins, no usernames to manage. Each station auto-saves locally so kids pick up where they left off.

Browse all topics →

Sub-day backup plan

Print the sub-folder QR code linking to the topic hub. The substitute does not need an account and cannot accidentally enroll students in anything. Self-paced for the entire 50-minute block.

Free Worksheets (PDF) →

Mixed-level small group

Each topic ships three difficulty tiers (Seedling / Explorer / Challenger). Differentiate within one group: hand the same topic link to a struggling student on Seedling and a strong student on Challenger.

See Times Tables ladder →

Chromebook + printable hybrid

On-screen mission for retrieval practice, printable PDF worksheet for follow-up. Both mapped to the same CCSS code. Pair the screen time with paper for a balanced 40-minute block.

Math mystery printables →

Virtual manipulatives for IWB

Run an array, fraction bar, balance scale, or protractor on the interactive whiteboard while teaching. Each manipulative is a single iframe-embeddable page — no install, no Flash.

Browse manipulatives →

By grade

Or pick a grade and browse.

1st Grade math missions

12 topics · 360 interactive missions

Open grade map →

2nd Grade math missions

14 topics · 420 interactive missions

Open grade map →

3rd Grade math missions

15 topics · 450 interactive missions

Open grade map →

4th Grade math missions

13 topics · 390 interactive missions

Open grade map →

5th Grade math missions

12 topics · 360 interactive missions

Open grade map →

6th Grade math missions

13 topics · 368 interactive missions

Open grade map →

No-prep classroom games

Who this page helps, and where to go next.

No-prep math games for teachers who need a link students can open immediately for projector lessons, centers, or substitute plans.

Best for

  • Teachers who need a 30-second setup path.
  • Substitute teachers running a self-paced review block.
  • Small-group instructors differentiating without separate accounts.

Problems solved

  • Class time is lost to setup, codes, rosters, and first-run instructions.
  • Students at different levels need the same topic with different depth.
  • Sub-day plans need to work even when the adult has no product context.
FAQ

No-Prep Math Games — FAQ

What teachers ask before adopting in their classroom.

01 How is "no prep" actually no prep?

You navigate to a topic page, click a mission, and the game runs. There is no profile to set up, no class roster to import, no licensing dance, no PIN code, and no "first time setup wizard." Total time from URL bar to a kid playing math: under 30 seconds. Compare that to typical edtech onboarding, which often eats the first 20 minutes of class.

02 Can students keep track of their own progress without an account?

Yes — progress saves to the browser's LocalStorage on each device. Same Chromebook tomorrow, same progress. The trade-off is that progress does not follow students across devices unless they log in (optional). For most classroom use cases — kids return to the same Chromebook each day — LocalStorage is enough and avoids the account-management overhead.

03 Is this differentiated for mixed-ability groups?

Each topic has three difficulty tiers — Seedling (entry, visual-anchored), Explorer (core CCSS standard), and Challenger (stretch). Hand a struggling student the Seedling link, a strong student the Challenger link, and they're working on the same concept at different depths. The interface is identical so kids do not feel "tracked."

04 What about students with IEPs / 504s / English learners?

Two design choices help: (1) every problem starts with a visual model — no language-heavy word problems gate the math; (2) Socratic hints escalate slowly, so students with processing-speed accommodations are not penalized by a timer. We do not have specific dyslexia / ADHD-tagged content yet (it's on the roadmap), but the visual-first design and zero-pressure pacing is friendly to most cognitive profiles.

05 Can I use it for substitute teacher days?

Yes — that's one of the most common use cases. Print a one-pager with the topic URL or QR code. The sub does not need an account, cannot accidentally lock a student out, and cannot make any changes that affect tomorrow's lesson. Self-paced and self-evident.

06 Does it work on Chromebooks / iPads / 100e?

Yes on all three. Chromebooks are our primary target since US schools standardize on them — see the [Chromebook compatibility page](/chromebook/) for IT-friendly details. iPads work via Safari with full touch support. Older 100e Chromebooks (4 GB RAM) tested at 60 fps for most missions, ~40 fps for the heaviest interactive demos.

07 How is this different from BoomCards / Khan Academy / IXL classrooms?

BoomCards is a marketplace of teacher-made decks; we are a publisher with one consistent CCSS-aligned curriculum. Khan Academy is broader (K-12) but requires accounts and assignment workflows; we skip those. IXL has assignment / parent reporting we don't (yet); the trade-off is IXL costs $79+/year per family while we are free. The honest fit: we are the no-account, no-setup, no-cost option for teachers who want a same-day classroom resource.

08 Why does Inquiry AI let kids "struggle" before showing the answer?

Research on "productive struggle" shows that 20–60 seconds of focused effort BEFORE help dramatically improves long-term retention — the brain encodes the strategy more deeply. Inquiry AI's hint timing is calibrated to this window: short enough to prevent frustration, long enough to lock in the learning. Parents can adjust the threshold in settings if a learner needs faster scaffolding.

09 What is inquiry-based learning, and how does Inquiry AI apply it?

Inquiry-based learning starts with a question, not a formula — students explore, hypothesize, and verify before being told the rule. In Inquiry AI, every mission opens with a "Discovery" step (manipulate the model), then "Abstraction" (write the equation), then "Reflect" (apply to a new case). The procedure is never given upfront; learners derive it from their own observations.