Hearts

Hearts work like lives in a game. Your child starts a session with up to 10 of them, and a wrong answer can cost one. When the hearts run out, it's a sign to take a break. They come back on their own.

Losing a heart

A heart is lost when your child gets a question wrong. On questions where they type the answer, they get one retry first, so a single slip doesn't cost anything. Miss it the second time and one heart goes.

You'll see the count near the top of the lesson, so it's easy to keep an eye on how many are left.

How hearts refill

Hearts refill on a clock: one new heart every 20 minutes, up to the maximum of 10. There's nothing to start or claim. The app doesn't even need to be open. When your child comes back, it looks at the time that has passed and works out how many hearts have returned.

So if they ran low this morning and pick the app up again after lunch, they'll find a full set waiting.

Activities that never cost hearts

A couple of things let your child play without any risk to their hearts:

• The estimation challenge. It rewards a close guess rather than an exact one, so there's no penalty for being off.
• Practice mode, which replays a lesson they've already finished.

Practice mode can also give a heart back, which is handy when the count is low. There's a separate article on practice mode if you'd like the details.