A square number is what you get when dots can line up in a perfect square — the same number of rows as columns.
3 rows × 3 columns = 9 dots. So 9 is a square number!
Tap Next to start building squares yourself. 👉
Tap the empty boxes to fill them in. Try to fill the whole grid and count how many dots make a square.
A 4 by 4 square is made of 16 dots. 4 rows of 4! ✨
“Squared” just means a number times itself.
5 × 5 = 25
We say: 5 squared is 25
And we write it with a tiny floating 2:
5² = 25
The little ² means “use this number two times in a multiply.” It does not mean 5 × 2!
Tap each card to reveal the answer 👇
Move the slider to choose how many dots are on each side. Watch the square grow and see its square number.
1 × 1 = 1
Side length: 1 • drag me!
Here are the first square numbers. Notice they get further and further apart!
1 4 9 16 25 36 49
1² 2² 3² 4² 5² 6² 7²
🔍 A cool pattern: the gaps go 3, 5, 7, 9… (odd numbers!)
1 +3→ 4 +5→ 9 +7→ 16 +9→ 25
One of these numbers is a perfect square (it makes a neat square of dots). Which one? Tap to try — you can try again!
Which number is a square number?
Remember: 4 squared means 4 × 4. Picture a 4-by-4 square of dots. Tap your answer.
What you learned:
🟪 A square number makes a perfect square of dots — same rows as columns.
✖️ “Squared” means a number times itself: 5 squared = 5 × 5 = 25.
✏️ We write it with a little ²: that means use the number two times.
👨👩👧 The family starts 1, 4, 9, 16, 25, 36, 49… and the gaps grow by odd numbers.
Next time you see a tiny ², you’ll know exactly what to do. Well done! 🌟