🧸 The machine case — every answer makes something go
The Toy Factory Caper is the newest of the seven, and the one built most shamelessly around cause and effect. Someone has jammed the great toy factory on the night before the Toy Fair and hidden its masterpiece, the Wind-Up Wonder; putting things right means operating the machines, and the machines only run on correct mathematics. Set the shipping label right and the conveyor actually rolls — a robot packer pulls the crates in one by one while the counter adds them up in front of you. Wind the racer the right number of clicks and it tears down the track and stops exactly at the flag. The answer is never just marked correct; the answer is the lever. It is also the brightest room in the academy — primary colours on warm white — and it was deliberately built to practise standards the other six cases don't touch.
🎖️ Choose your grade → See plans
The night before the big Toy Fair, someone jammed the great toy factory's machines and hid its masterpiece — the Wind-Up Wonder! Run the packing line, wind the racers on the test track, re-teach the sorting scanner and fix the blueprints to unmask the Toy Trickster.
Each round is a different interactive mechanic — not the same question in a new coat. Crack all four to unmask the culprit.
The same story, re-levelled for each grade against its own Common Core standards. Pick your child's grade:
| Grade | Skill focus | Standards | XP | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kindergarten | Count on, compare crates, small orders & name shapes | K.OA.A.2 K.CC.A.2 K.CC.C.6 K.G.A.2 | ⚡ 100 XP | Launch → |
| Grade 1 | Three-crate totals, missing winds, ten more/less & adding tricks | 1.OA.A.2 1.OA.D.8 1.NBT.C.5 1.OA.B.3 | ⚡ 110 XP | Launch → |
| Grade 2 | Crate totals, length problems, ±10/±100 & estimates | 2.NBT.B.6 2.MD.B.5 2.NBT.B.8 2.MD.A.3 | ⚡ 130 XP | Launch → |
| Grade 3 | Multiply by tens, perimeter laps, missing factors & grams/liters | 3.NBT.A.3 3.MD.D.8 3.OA.A.4 3.MD.A.2 | ⚡ 140 XP | Launch → |
| Grade 4 | Multi-digit totals, times-as-far, rounding & compare fractions | 4.NBT.B.4 4.OA.A.2 4.NBT.A.3 4.NF.A.2 | ⚡ 150 XP | Launch → |
| Grade 5 | Volume by layers & formula, expression codes & fraction problems | 5.MD.C.4 5.MD.C.5 5.OA.A.2 5.NF.A.2 | ⚡ 160 XP | Launch → |
Earns the 🏅 Factory Fixer badge.
Across K–5, The Toy Factory Caper covers these 24 standards. Mastery is tracked per standard for each agent. Official Common Core wording:
| 1.NBT.C.5 | Given a two-digit number, mentally find 10 more or 10 less than the number, without having to count; explain the reasoning used. |
|---|---|
| 1.OA.A.2 | Solve word problems that call for addition of three whole numbers whose sum is less than or equal to 20, e.g., by using objects, drawings, and equations with a symbol for the unknown number to represent the problem. |
| 1.OA.B.3 | Apply properties of operations as strategies to add and subtract. |
| 1.OA.D.8 | Determine the unknown whole number in an addition or subtraction equation relating three whole numbers. *For example, determine the unknown number that makes the equation true in each of the equations $8 + ? = 11, 5 = \Box - 3, 6 + 6 = \Box$.* |
| 2.MD.A.3 | Estimate lengths using units of inches, feet, centimeters, and meters. |
| 2.MD.B.5 | Use addition and subtraction within 100 to solve word problems involving lengths that are given in the same units, e.g., by using drawings (such as drawings of rulers) and equations with a symbol for the unknown number to represent the problem. |
| 2.NBT.B.6 | Add up to four two-digit numbers using strategies based on place value and properties of operations. |
| 2.NBT.B.8 | Mentally add 10 or 100 to a given number 100—900, and mentally subtract 10 or 100 from a given number 100—900. |
| 3.MD.A.2 | Measure and estimate liquid volumes and masses of objects using standard units of grams (g), kilograms (kg), and liters (l). Add, subtract, multiply, or divide to solve one-step word problems involving masses or volumes that are given in the same units, e.g., by using drawings (such as a beaker with a measurement scale) to represent the problem. |
| 3.MD.D.8 | Solve real world and mathematical problems involving perimeters of polygons, including finding the perimeter given the side lengths, finding an unknown side length, and exhibiting rectangles with the same perimeter and different areas or with the same area and different perimeters. |
| 3.NBT.A.3 | Multiply one-digit whole numbers by multiples of 10 in the range 10—90 (e.g., $9 \times 80$, $5 \times 60$) using strategies based on place value and properties of operations. |
| 3.OA.A.4 | Determine the unknown whole number in a multiplication or division equation relating three whole numbers. *For example, determine the unknown number that makes the equation true in each of the equations $8 \times ? = 48$, $5 = \Box \div 3$, $6 \times 6 = ?$.* |
| 4.NBT.A.3 | Use place value understanding to round multi-digit whole numbers to any place. |
| 4.NBT.B.4 | Fluently add and subtract multi-digit whole numbers using the standard algorithm. |
| 4.NF.A.2 | Compare two fractions with different numerators and different denominators, e.g., by creating common denominators or numerators, or by comparing to a benchmark fraction such as $\frac{1}{2}$. Recognize that comparisons are valid only when the two fractions refer to the same whole. Record the results of comparisons with symbols >, =, or <, and justify the conclusions, e.g., by using a visual fraction model. |
| 4.OA.A.2 | Multiply or divide to solve word problems involving multiplicative comparison, e.g., by using drawings and equations with a symbol for the unknown number to represent the problem, distinguishing multiplicative comparison from additive comparison. |
| 5.MD.C.4 | Measure volumes by counting unit cubes, using cubic cm, cubic in, cubic ft, and improvised units. |
| 5.MD.C.5 | Relate volume to the operations of multiplication and addition and solve real world and mathematical problems involving volume. |
| 5.NF.A.2 | Solve word problems involving addition and subtraction of fractions referring to the same whole, including cases of unlike denominators, e.g., by using visual fraction models or equations to represent the problem. Use benchmark fractions and number sense of fractions to estimate mentally and assess the reasonableness of answers. *For example, recognize an incorrect result $\frac{2}{5} + \frac{1}{2} = \frac{3}{7}$, by observing that $\frac{3}{7} < \frac{1}{2}$.* |
| 5.OA.A.2 | Write simple expressions that record calculations with numbers, and interpret numerical expressions without evaluating them. *For example, express the calculation "add 8 and 7, then multiply by 2" as $2 \times (8 + 7)$. Recognize that $3 \times (18932 + 921)$ is three times as large as 18932 + 921, without having to calculate the indicated sum or product.* |
| K.CC.A.2 | Count forward beginning from a given number within the known sequence (instead of having to begin at 1). |
| K.CC.C.6 | Identify whether the number of objects in one group is greater than, less than, or equal to the number of objects in another group, e.g., by using matching and counting strategies. |
| K.G.A.2 | Correctly name shapes regardless of their orientations or overall size. |
| K.OA.A.2 | Solve addition and subtraction word problems, and add and subtract within 10, e.g., by using objects or drawings to represent the problem. |
All of K–5, like the others — but it's a particularly good first members' case for a child who loves machines, vehicles and things that visibly react. Every correct answer makes something roll, count, zoom or pop.
Deliberately so. The Toy Factory was built to cover standards the other six cases don't: at Grade 3 and Grade 5 every one of its four standards is unique to this case, and most of the rest — estimating lengths, mentally jumping tens and hundreds, comparing fractions, volume — are too. A child who has finished the other cases still practises something new here.
Yes. Starlight Station is the free case at every grade; The Toy Factory Caper and the other five unlock with a membership.