Choosing the sign that fits the gap
Two numbers sit side by side with an empty box between them, and you decide which sign belongs in that gap. It is the greater than sign when the first number is the bigger of the two, the less than sign when the first number is smaller, and the equals sign when the two are one and the same. Tap your choice: a right answer glows green, a wrong one reveals the correct sign so it sticks, and ten questions make a round.
The wide end always eats the bigger number
There is one trick that never fails here. The greater and less than signs are like a mouth, and the mouth always opens toward the bigger number while the pointy end aims at the smaller one. So decide which number is bigger first, before you even look at the signs, then pick the sign whose wide, open end faces that number. When the two numbers are close, comparing them digit by digit, the tens first and then the ones, settles it quickly.
Where comparing numbers leads next
Knowing which of two numbers is bigger sounds obvious, but it is the doorway to putting numbers in order, to place value, and to a real sense of how large a number actually is. The greater than and less than signs a child meets here are the same ones they will read in every later math class, so getting easy with them now removes a small stumbling block before it appears. It also builds the instinct to check whether an answer is even in the right ballpark, which catches a lot of mistakes down the line.
Frequently asked questions
How do you play Greater or Less?
Two numbers appear with a gap between them. Choose the correct sign to go in the gap: greater than, less than, or equal to. The pointy end of the sign always points at the smaller number.
What do the signs mean?
The greater than sign means the first number is bigger. The less than sign means the first number is smaller. The equals sign means both numbers are the same. A handy trick is that the open, wide end of the sign faces the bigger number.
What is the quickest way to compare two numbers?
Compare them one digit at a time, starting from the left. The number with more digits is bigger, and if they have the same number of digits, whichever has the larger leftmost digit wins, so 61 beats 58 the moment you compare the 6 and the 5. You only look further right when those digits tie.