NOGGIN HAS SHUT DOWN.

Learning Missions let your child become a modern-day detective.

Learning Mission of the Month:

More on Learning Missions:

With a quick swipe of a finger, your child activates the file to hear Interface share the details of their next assignment. They’ll team up with other awesome agents including favorite friends from Paw Patrol, Blue’s Clues & You, Bubble Guppies, Blaze and the Monster Machines, and more! After successfully tackling an assignment, agents earn a special reward. With rewards, your child extends the fun with open play, to create and share back the adventure with you.

Missions immerse children in playful learning by creating an engaging, interactive experience that supports each child’s growth.

Developed by Noggin’s team of learning experts, every mission focuses on a specific math or literacy skill coupled with key concepts and vocabulary for children ages 3-5.

Adaptivity sets our Learning Missions apart.

Behind the scenes, missions are guided by adaptive technology that scaffolds children as they play. Activities are designed to meet children where they are. That means the level of difficulty adapts to a child’s skill level as they learn, grow, and progress. It’s not one-size-fits-all. This personalized learning experience ensures children receive both the practice and challenge they need to succeed.

Choose Your Agent’s Next Learning Mission!

Concert Construction

Skill Builder: Math

DJ Rubble’s getting ready to mix it up with a performance at the Seaside Spectacular! Join fellow agents Rusty from Rusty Rivets, Pickle from Blaze & the Monster Machines, and Oona from Bubble Guppies on a mission to get Seaside Island ready for the concert! Through a series of building activities that automatically adapt to kids’ abilities, users will hone their spatial relations skills while learning about architecture.

Deep Ocean Mystery

Skill Builder: Math

There’s a mysterious creature lurking somewhere in the deep ocean, and today, it’s your mission to find it! Join fellow agents Rubble from PAW Patrol, Oona from Bubble Guppies, and Geo from Team Umizoomi and explore the amazing creatures that live below. This mission challenges kids’ shape identification skills through a series of activities that automatically adapt to each child’s ability, so all preschoolers can grow their math skills as they learn about the ocean.

Messed Up Metropolis

Skill Builder: Math

The city of Messed-Up Metropolis is in need of some super help! Join fellow agents Marshall from PAW Patrol, Milli from Team Umizoomi, and Gil from Bubble Guppies on a mission to save the city once and for all. In this mission, kids use their pattern skills to complete a series of challenges which automatically adapt to each child’s ability, so all ages can learn and play.

Mighty Masterpiece

Skill Builder: Reading

It’s time to get ready for a one-of-a-kind party at the art museum! Join fellow agents Chase from PAW Patrol, Magenta from Blue’s Clues & You, and Wally from Wallykazam! to collect and create paintings that rhyme. In this mission, kids will be challenged to sharpen their rhyming skills through a series of activities that automatically adapt to their abilities.

Museum Mystery

Skill Builder: Math

There is some mysterious activity at the museum — parts and pieces of different paintings have disappeared! Join fellow agents Blue from Blue’s Clues & You, Goby from Bubble Guppies, and Milli from Team Umizoomi to fix the paintings and find out who is the mysterious mastermind. Kids will be challenged to use their mighty measuring skills in a series of activities that automatically adapt to their abilities.

Ranger Rescue

Skill Builder: Reading

A recent storm has thrown a national park into disarray – and no one but YOU can help fix it! Strap on your ranger boots and join fellow agents Molly from Bubble Guppies, Rocky from PAW Patrol, and Wally from Wallykazam! on a mission to clean up the park. On the way, kids will sharpen their initial sound skills and learn about nature through a series of activities that automatically adapt to their ability.

Super Space Snapshot

Skill Builder: Math

Get ready for a galactic road trip! Join fellow agents Geo from Team Umizoomi, Nonny from Bubble Guppies, and Everest from PAW Patrol on a mission through outer space to take a photo of planet Earth. The challenge? Get to the photo spot before a solar eclipse casts a major shadow of picture-ruining proportions. Along the way, kids will count and sharpen their one-to-one correspondence skills through a series of activities that adapt to their ability.

Telescope Trouble

Skill Builder: Reading

A high-speed comet has broken apart the beloved space telescope — The Celestial Explorer! Get your spacesuit ready and join fellow agents Bot from Team Umizoomi, Skye from Paw Patrol, and Blaze from Blaze and the Monster Machines on an outer space adventure in search of the telescope’s pieces. Throughout this mission, kids will be challenged to identify their letters and tell them apart in a series of activities that automatically adapt to their ability.

If you’re looking for access to leading experts and trusted resources to help support your child’s learning and development, look no further! We shared your questions with our team of experts led by Dr. Michael H. Levine, and they responded with simple solutions you can start applying to your lives today!    

How can I provide structure for my child while they are learning from home?

“Young children crave structure!” says Dr. Levine. Knowing what is going to happen each day decreases a child’s stress and increases their sense of security. Establishing routines helps support children’s learning by helping them focus, persist in finishing tasks, and plan ahead.

Create a daily schedule with your family

When everyone is involved in making the plan, they are more likely to follow it.

• Think about specific times during the day—what time does everyone wake up? When are work time and play time? What time are meals and snacks?

• Encourage healthy habits by scheduling breaks during the day, and have your child help decide what to do during those breaks—like taking a walk or playing a quick game!

• Think about location—where does everyone need to be during the day? Is there a loud area for video calls and a quiet area for drawing or listening to a book with headphones?

• Be flexible! You may have an extra video call one day–encourage your child to problem-solve and adapt.  Can they read a book? Draw a picture?

• Talk about the next day before you go to sleep at night. Do the best you can and know that you can always adapt if the day doesn’t turn out quite as you had planned!

How can I prevent my child from falling behind especially when it comes to certain skills like reading and math?

Herbert P. Ginsburg, PhD, the Jacob H. Schiff Emeritus Professor of Psychology and Education at Teachers College, Columbia University, says: “Early math is important for two reasons.  One is that young children enjoy doing everyday math activities like making shapes with blocks, counting toys, making patterns with colors, and comparing lengths. So get engaged with their everyday math activities.  In particular, talk about them:  ‘Look: the cat is on top of the table and the dog is under it.’  But most of all, have a good time. The second reason is that everyday math lays the foundation for later school math, which elaborates on everyday math.  Children who have already played with blocks will enjoy learning in school that a square has 4 sides all the same length.  Children who have learned to count at home will enjoy learning in school that when you count after 20 all you have to do is add on the numbers 1 through 9.”

Reading and math skills can be practiced every day during daily routines

• Practice reading and math skills by looking for letters and shapes throughout the house, and when you take a walk, around the neighborhood or at the playground.

• Practice math skills by counting as you wash your hands for at least 20 seconds! Sort laundry together, find patterns on your clothes, and measure how far you can jump!

• Have books available for your child to look through and read throughout the day—ask your child to retell the story and focus on the order of the events.

• Write letters to family members and friends.

• Have conversations during meal times—tell stories and have your child ask and answer questions.

• Playing games reinforces reading and math  skills—have fun and learn at the same time! 

Susan B. Neuman, Professor of Early Childhood and Literacy Education at NYU, reminds us, “There are wonderful, easy ways to help children….the key thing that we could do is to be responsive to a child’s queries and interests. So every time the child asks a question and I answer it and I extend it, I’m letting the child know that I’m responsive to their language….that is the key to vocabulary development. It’s the responsive adult interacting with the child.”  She also reminds us to read! “The most helpful strategy, of course, is read to your child, even after your child is already reading on his/her own…enjoy a chapter from a chapter book, and read books that are a little bit above your child’s level.”

Should I be concerned that my child is not having a lot of social interactions with other children their age? What can I do to help my child develop social skills?

School is a place where children practice many of their essential social skills. The good news is that your child develops many of these skills at home.

• Use video conferencing apps to have play dates with friends and to build relationships with others.

• Take a neighborhood walk and, from a safe distance, say hello to neighbors and community workers.

• Family time is a great time to reinforce social skills—talk about feelings and taking someone else’s point of view. Pose questions for each other—What would you do if a friend is upset about something? Dr. Levine suggests playing the Rose & Thorn Game—each person shares a “rose,” or a special part of the day, and a “thorn,” or a challenging part of the day. Read books and watch short videos together and talk about how to solve problems.

• Read books and watch short videos together and talk about how to solve problems.

Even though we are spending less time in person with other people, we can still be social with each other!

How can I find out what my 3YO/4YO/5YO should be learning? 

Dr. Levine reminds us, “Children are unique and learn at different paces.” If your child is in school or other child care, check in with your child’s teacher about what they should be learning. Ask for suggestions about books to read and skills to practice.

Here is a trusted source that shares common milestones for young children—knowing these milestones helps you know what skills to work on with your child:

• The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website has milestones for 2 months to 5 years

Encouraging your child to develop all of their skills—physical, social-emotional, and cognitive—is key to healthy development!

Check out Dr. Levine’s interview with CMOM and hear some more tips from one of the leading experts in early childhood!   

Interested in signing up for our ongoing parents’ discussion community? To find out if you qualify, you’ll need to first complete a short survey. 

After you complete the survey, if you’re eligible for the community, you will be invited to complete the second phase of the selection process, a follow-up activity, where you will be asked for your opinions on family, kids, and technology. We’ll review your feedback in this follow-up activity and let you know if you have been selected for membership in the ongoing community from there. 

If you’re selected for the panel and actively participate, you can earn up to $10.00 per month in Tango Card Reward Links. 

Reward Details:

• You can choose from over 100 retail brands and charities (including Visa gift card!)
• Reward links never expire
• The value can be spent to redeem multiple eGift cards or charities
• The value will be retained if the full value is not completely redeemed

To find out if you qualify for the Noggin Parents Panel: 

1. Complete our brief survey. We will ask you some questions about you and your family and for your basic contact info, so we can contact you with updates and next steps. 
2. If you qualify and are selected, you will be invited to the next step (the follow-up discussion board activity). You will receive it within the next 2-3 weeks. If you’re invited to participate in the follow-up activity and complete it, you’ll earn a $5 Tango Card Reward Link – AND the chance to be a part of the ongoing panel!
3. That’s it! If you’re selected to be a member of the panel, we will let you know by mid-October.

When parents think about how to prepare their children for a successful school year, learning to master ABCs and 123s is always at the top of the list. To support our Noggin families, we asked our team of teachers to recommend fun activities in the Noggin app that children can do to practice these new skills.

Here are 5 teacher-approved activities that help build math muscles!

Find these activities easily by launching the Noggin app and tapping on the icons shown here:

1. Mission: Museum Mystery

Someone has taken parts and pieces of paintings from the museum! Your child will practice their measurement skills as they join Blue, Goby, and Milli on a mission to restore the paintings back to their original state and find out who took them!

2.  Pet House Puzzles

Play this game to learn more about shapes and build pet homes with the Bubble Guppies! When your child begins to recognize the different pieces that make up shapes, they practice solving problems and identifying similarities and differences. Learning shapes even helps children learn letters!

3.  UmiCar’s Big Race

Race to the finish with Team Umizoomi in this exciting math-filled ebook. Your child will learn about and practice counting, identifying shapes, and continuing patterns as they cheer on their Umi friends in the big race!

4.  Mixin’ Up Math: Shimmer & Shine

In this short video, your child will mix up a magical math potion with Shimmer & Shine as they learn to count by 1s and 2s, learn what a “pair” is, and identify colors.

5.  Team Umizoomi

This series gets children excited about math and shows them that math is truly everywhere! In each episode, your child will help Milli, Geo, Bot, and UmiCar solve everyday problems in Umi City using their Mighty Math Powers, like recognizing shapes, counting, sorting, measuring, and identifying patterns.

Off-Screen Math Activities Developed by Noggin’s Team of Teachers: 

1-20 Smart Art

Playing with these cards together will help your child learn to recognize the numbers 1-20! Being able to identify numbers sets your child up for success in learning almost every other math skill.

Counting by 10 Smart Art

Counting by 10s is a great way to prepare your child for thinking about bigger numbers — two-digit numbers and beyond! You can use these cards to play fun, counting-focused games throughout the day. 

Seeing Fun Math Missions Everywhere!

Math is all around us! As children build their math skills, they learn how to sort, measure, compare, count, describe the location of objects, identify patterns, and solve problems. These skills help a child tell you what toy they want to play with, follow directions, and understand how to make sure everyone has the same number of cookies for dessert!

Everyday Ways to Practice Math Throughout the Day:

• Building math skills while doing chores. Sort laundry by size and pattern; set the table with one plate for every person; count groceries as you unpack them—all of these chores are perfect ways for your little one to help out around the home while practicing math!

• Cook up some math. Cooking and meal preparation are great opportunities to show your child how math is part of everyday life. While cooking, your child can practice math skills like measuring ingredients, identifying shapes, and counting up or down until the food is ready.

• Do math in the bath! Bathtime is a great opportunity to practice math skills. Children can measure and compare quantities of water using bath toys like buckets; count body parts as you wash them, and sort bath toys by shape or size.

• Do math as you clean up. As you and your child put things away, help them learn positional words: put the toys inside the basket; place the books back on top of the shelf; put your crayons underneath the table.

You may also like…

Building Reading Readiness

Read 5 teacher-approved activities that help build reading skills!

See Teacher Picks

When parents think about how to prepare their children for a successful school year, learning to master ABCs and 123s is always at the top of the list. To support our Noggin families, we asked our team of teachers to recommend fun activities in the Noggin app that children can do to practice these new skills.

Here are MORE teacher-approved activities that help build reading skills!

Find these activities easily by launching the Noggin app and tapping on the icons shown here:

1. Mission: Ranger Rescue

A recent storm has made a mess of everything! In this mission, your child will help Noggin friends Rocky, Molly, and Wally identify letter-sounds to clean up the national park! Being able to recognize letter-sounds will help your little one learn to sound out words and eventually, read! 

2.  Word Play: Exhibit

Learning new words helps children communicate and learn more about the world around them. Expose your child to new words through this Word Play, where they’ll become familiar with the word exhibit!

3.  Storybook Skidoo

Your child will skidoo into a storybook and help Blue and Josh fix the story by practicing spelling words and making sentences.

4.  Wallykazam!

In this series, words come to life through music and adventures with children’s favorite word whiz troll. Wally and his friends make words magical and introduce skills such as identifying letters and letter sounds, rhyming, and vocabulary development, which will help your child learn to read and write and boost their vocabulary.

Off-Screen Reading Readiness Activities Developed by Noggin’s Team of Teachers: 

Alphabet Smart Art

These cards help children recognize lowercase and uppercase letters and words that start with each letter. There are lots of ways you can use them to play with your child. Fasten a card to the refrigerator each morning and call it the letter of the day. Do a special activity that starts with that letter like finding objects around the house or thinking of words that starts with the letter of the day.

Sight Words Smart Art

Knowing these words just by looking at them, without needing to sound them out, makes reading and writing easier and faster. There are lots of fun ways you can play with these cards every day – read a few while you eat a meal, before you read a book, or after you take a walk. Use the words to answer a “Question of the Day” together. For example, “How do robots walk?” You can even make your own word cards and write a story using the words. Draw pictures to go with it!

Building a Love of Literacy

Literacy is a skill that children build every day as they play, listen to sounds around them, and read books together with their grown-ups. From listening to music to noticing letters on street signs to reading during their bedtime routine, your child is building literacy skills all day, every day!

Everyday Ways to Build Literacy at Home:

• Talk, talk, talk! In order to learn words, children need to be exposed to them. By hearing you and talking with you throughout the day, your child will pick up tons of new vocabulary.

• Be a reading buddy. It’s never too early to look at and read books with your child. When you read together, you’re building your child’s familiarity with books (how to hold them and turn the pages) as well as their vocabulary and interest in a variety of topics!

• Create an author. Record on your phone or write down stories your child makes up. Encourage them to draw pictures to go along with the words. Seeing themselves as an author and illustrator will increase their love of literacy!

• Label away! Help your child create labels for the objects all around them. Attach the labels to the matching objects and read the labels together throughout the day.  This will help your child understand that every object has a written word to describe it.

Las estrellas means stars and las flores means flowers.

Practice saying these words along with Dora:

💡 It can be easy to incorporate Spanish words into your child’s vocabulary— even at bedtime! Try replacing the word “star” with “estrella” while singing “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.”

El pájaro means bird and la mariposa means butterfly.

Practice saying these words along with Dora:

💡 It can be easy to incorporate Spanish words into your child’s everyday vocabulary. While going for walks, try looking for things that fly. If you spot a bird and butterfly, practice saying el pájaro and la mariposa in both English and Spanish.

Las nubes means clouds and la casa means house.

Practice saying these words along with Dora:

💡 It can be easy to incorporate Spanish words into your child’s everyday vocabulary. While going for walks, point up to the clouds and try using a sentence like, “I love when las nubes are white and fluffy”. Then, challenge your child to come up with a sentence of their own.

La luna means moon and el sol means sun.

Practice saying these words along with Dora:

💡 It can be easy to incorporate Spanish words into your child’s everyday vocabulary. Ask your child to name the time of day they would see “la luna” and the time of day they are most likely to see “el sol”.

El árbol means tree and el arco iris means rainbow.

Practice saying these words along with Dora:

💡 It can be easy to incorporate Spanish words into your child’s everyday vocabulary. The perfect time to practice these vocabulary words is on a nature walk because you can say “el árbol” each time you pass a tree.