Math, age 3-5 was created by EuroTalk and is exactly what it's title indicates - a math app for kids ages 3-5. It consists of 10 categories that increase in difficulty - as do the specific activities within each category. Price: The first one comes free and the rest are available as in-app purchases for $1.99 each, totaling $9.99 for the complete series. Device Requirements: Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. Requires iOS 4.0 or later.
Developmental appropriateness: It says that this app was developed by teachers and educators and it shows. This definitely has a classroom feel. The activities here are like many items that you would find in a math assessment for preschoolers. What I like best is the "teacher" who speaks very clearly, repeated very key math phrases and reinforcing what kids have just completed. It might not seem like much, but her repetition and phrasing is really just right. So in terms of the appropriateness of the activities, this delivers and gives plenty of practice. Rating: 5/5 (aim for around 4 years). Now I start to get a bit more critical. Balance: While the activities themselves are very simple and clear, the pacing might be a bit slow for some, especially for older kids doing some of the earlier rounds. Within each category, you are encouraged to go in order, and you must complete all of them in order to unlock the surprise. I would like to be able to know what each activity is so that I could pick and choose for my child, especially given how many there are. I think just in general, more settings would be great to cater to individual needs and also to keep kids engaged. Rating: 4/5
Sustainability: This app is as straightforward as it's title. There's no plot/story to keep you going. There's no collect the prize for finishing. Oh, the surprise I mention - it's a quiz. Not really what a kid wants, huh? In general, while I think the activities are ones that kids should master, the app has a feel of taking a test. Don't get me wrong, the teacher is encouraging, and it flashes a star for finishing an activity. But maybe the appeal of an app is to learn while not being a classroom. Oh, you get a certificate if you get all the quiz answers correct - but only it you get 100%. Where's the fun? Rating: 2/5 Parental Involvement: You would think that there would be some sort of review, but there isn't. Even with the quiz, it marks which questions you get wrong, but it does not tell you what the question was. Did you sort a color wrong or a shape? The quiz could be used in a more meaning way - to set the difficulty, to tell parents what kids need to work on, to be more game like and make it fun... just to name a few. Rating: 2.5/5 Total: 13.5 out of 20 = 3 stars Disclosure - I received this app for free for review purposes.
Historables: Marie Ant-toinette was created by Base Camp Films, LLC and aims to teach kids using historical figures in a fun, interactive way. I like the premise and play on names (they have other apps in the works with other figures like Teddy Bear Roosevelt). Price: There are three activities here, one comes free, and the other two are in-app purchases for $1.99. Device Requirements: Compatible with iPad. Requires iOS 4.0 or later.
Developmental Appropriateness: So the premise hear is that Marie Ant-toinette lives in a castle and plays on the whole "let them eat cake" thing. So the activities are the kitchen where you make a cake and decorate it (the free activity), a tunnel maze to get more ingredients, and the bedroom where you decorate and arrange the furniture. Although it's centered around the whole cake quote, there's nothing in the app explaining that to kids. If you tap on her portrait, 4 facts pop-up - and they don't leave you feeling like you know about Marie's life. Further, while they are written in a kid-friendly way, they are not read aloud - and this is the ONLY section where any history really appears! Back to the activities - the cake activity is really the only one with any slightly educational content (one could argue that the puzzles help cognition) as you must help measure out the ingredients. The amounts change each time so sometimes it's 2 cups of flour or 4 cups of flour. While this is nice to keep it changing, adding a wee bit of math - it might cause some problems for those who actually want to bake a cake. Once, I got it where you had to put 4 cups of sugar with 1 cup of flour. That would not be a good cake - and all that sugar! Overall, I like the idea and potential of where this could go, but as is - there is not enough educational content here, leaving me disappointed. Rating: 2/5 (Aim for around 5 years) See trailer here Balance: The features here obviously tip towards fun rather than learning. But for the most part and for what it is - it's easy to navigate with clear instructions from the Queen herself. The main menu could use some changes as it looks like you can play with the other historical figures, but they are just ads. Rating: 4/5 Sustainability: So without offering much in content on this whole historical figure aspect, this app is actually not very unique. At the risk of sounding harsh, there are better cake baking and decorating apps out there and there are better puzzle apps out there. Rating: 2/5 Parental Involvement: In terms of the activities, there's not much for parents. Again, I still think there's potential here in that these are topics that I think even adults could learn from and find interesting. But as is, it's not there yet. Rating: 3/5 Total: 11 out of 20 - 2 stars.
Cartoon ABC was created by Kids Academy Company and is exactly what it sounds like. An app that aims to teach kids the ABC's using cartoon animation. THere are now tons of ABC apps, so where does this one stack up? Price: $1.99 Device Requirements: Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. Requires iOS 4.2 or later.
Developmental Appropriateness: With so many alphabet focused apps out there, it's becoming harder and harder to pick out which ones to get. Some of the things I really look for are 1) repetition - the actual letter needs to be repeated over and over, 2) word associations - it's almost given that letters are paired up with words starting with that letter - are there a few different examples? Are the words appropriate? 3) Letter presentation - is it prominent? Does it get lost with the words? and now more and more with apps, 4) how are the interactive elements related? Cartoon ABC addresses my first three criteria really well. There's lots of clear repetition of the letters, it's paired with three different examples where the actual letter is highlighted, and each presentation begins and ends with only the letter. So yes, this is a solid ABC app. However, when compared to some other ones, this one does not capitalize on the affordances of the device - there's not the same interactive quality as seen in other apps - it's more like watching little video clips. Rating: 4/5 (aim for around 3 years) Balance: The animations are simple and cute. My only critique would be with the main menu. It's nice that you can pick any letter to work with, but they are not all labeled on the main menu -some are, some aren't - so kids can't automatically go to a specific letter, without thinking about it (yes, it's in alphabetical order). Rating: 4/5
Sustainability: There's a nice variety of picture and animation. But again, I do think kids are gonna have an expectation for interaction features, which this does not have. So while this app does clearly and nicely present the content, after seeing all the different animations, kids may want to seek more action elsewhere in terms of an app. Rating: 3.5/5 Parental Involvement: There is a parent report section where it shows which letters kids have looked at. Again, I think these types of reports are great starts. This also points at a need for a better main menu labeling system so parents can easily tap on the letters they want their kids to work with next. Rating: 4/5 Total: 15.5 out of 20 - 4 stars Disclosure - I received this app for free for review purposes.
A couple months ago, I reviewed Plants HD by Sprout Labs which aimed to teach kids all about the plant life cycle. While I saw lots of potential, with it, it ended up with 3 stars, with room for improvement. When I notified the developers of the review, they told me they had a new app, Butterfly HD that had already incorporated some of my suggestions. Given the big push to translate textbooks into the digital world, I definitely wanted to see what the improvements meant for the app. Price: $1.99
Device Requirements: Compatible with iPad.Requires iOS 5.0 or later. The main improvements that are included in Butterfly HD are:
a. Added videos on each topic to enhance the learning
b. Added additional large size HD photos to reinforce the text
c. Made all the Questions related to the topic covered in the text
Since the features of both Plant HD and Butterfly HD are pretty similar, I'm going to include my comments from Plant HD and compare the differences. The new comments will be in blue. Developmental Appropriateness: PLANT: Overall, I think Plants HD provides a lot of great information (total flashback to science class for me!). For each stage of the cycle, it provides a lot of text (which can be read aloud), some fun facts, some photos, and a quiz. The "play" part is arranging all the stages in the correct order. Actually, before I move on, here's what the main page looks like:
My first instinct, and I think any kid's, would be to hit play. But play just means that all the pictures drop down to the bottom and you're to assume that you have to put them back in order. While I think that this is a good activity, it should come after kids have learned all about the stages and should be presented separately, or at least not as the first thing and without any instruction. So points off here for usability. BUTTERFLY: As you can see, the main page is still the same, so same issue here.
PLANT: So back to the content...
So, yes, lots of info - but I don't think it really capitalizes on what it could offer. You can see that there's a lot of text (it keeps scrolling down too!). It'd be sooo much better if it could show a video or a series of pictures that go with the text. There are a lot of new vocabulary here for them, so that really needs to be highlighted somehow. The photos that are provided are usually just examples of whatever stage generally, and don't go along with the text. Given the amount of text, it's important to have some visual that keeps kids engaged in it. Instead, they could just be flipping through the photos or the fun facts at the bottom and not listen to or read the actual text. Up top, you can choose to take the quiz - but not all the information you need to answer the questions are provided in the text. You earn coins, but no scores are kept, and nothing to review for teachers/parents. Rating: 3/5 (aim for around 8 years) BUTTERFLY: Butterfly now includes more pictures and also videos. You see in the picture here that you would tap on the icons on top to see the media. More here is nice, but more does not necessarily mean better. I think that my comment that it needs to be related to the text still stands. The pictures and videos seem to be just a collection from youtube or whereever - while related to the topic, it doesn't connect the information from the text to the information from the video and pictures. It's that connection that makes the difference. That being said, the pluses are that the videos do add some engagement factor and also the quiz now relates to the text and gives you a total score at the end. Rating: 4/5 (aim for around 8) Balance: PLANT: As mentioned, I think kids could easily not pay attention to the text. I'm not saying that there's too much going on - I like the photos and I like the fun facts. But maybe something could be done about how they access these other sections and what can be added to keep focus on the text and to reinforce their understanding of it. Rating: 3.5/5 BUTTERFLY: Again - I think this is still true. The text still feels very separate from the pictures and videos. Rating: 3.5/5
Sustainability: PLANT: I guess I need to view this a little differently as I can see this being used in the classroom as a supplement to the lesson. Still, I think the addition of videos and making the text more engaging would make this app go from oh, something a teacher is making me look at that is more interesting than a text book to something kids really want to use and even ask for. Rating: 4/5 BUTTERFLY: Yes, there's the addition of videos, so that should add a bit of oomph. But again, I'm sounding like a broken record, that it still feels disconnected, so while kids may want to go to the videos, the text is really where the info is at. Rating: 4.5/5
Parental Involvement: PLANT: Again, the quiz feature is nice, but there's no review of it, not even a saved score. And, maybe if there were definitions section or vocal highlighted in the text, teachers could more easily relate it back to their lessons. Basically, although I can see this in the classroom (or at home with parents guiding the way), I don't feel like it was designed with that in mind. Rating: 3/5 BUTTERFLY: And addition I didn't mention is that there's an icon that leads to a breakdown of how the app content relates to curriculum standards. This is nice, but a bit hard to read for someone not used to looking at standards. A more friendly version - especially aimed at parents rather than educators would be nice. Rating: 3.5/5 Total: 15.5 out of 20 - 3 stars. The improvements bumped it up from an ok 3 stars to a high 3 stars.
Alphabet Jumbled was created by Pixel Interactive and focuses on some early alphabet learning. It's got 5 different activities - two are fairly standard introducing the alphabet and some flashcards. The other three are all about the sequencing of the alphabet with a "jumble" concept - sounds like something new? Price: $1.99 Device Requirements:Compatible with iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, iPod touch (3rd generation), iPod touch (4th generation) and iPad.Requires iOS 4.0 or later.
Developmental Appropriateness: So the first two, more standard, activities are nice - they are just that - pretty standard. The first just labels the letters and letter-sounds. The second shows flashcards of the letter linked with an object. The last three are all about sequencing and putting all the letters in order. Some with just a chunk of letters, some with all the letters, some timed, some not timed. So "jumble" not in the word game jumble sense, just in a mixed around kinda sense. They are kinda fun and maybe a breath of fresh air from more standard early alphabet games. My question is, just how important is the sequence of the alphabet? Yes, it's important. The alphabet song is one of the most well-known children's songs (in the US at least). Virtually all American kids learn it, and it sticks. It's a simple and fun way to teach the sequencing of the alphabet, which helps build literacy skills. But knowing the sequence of letters is not the same or maybe not as important as knowing the sequence of numbers. That has more meaning - 1 is less than 2 is less than 3. But A has no different value than B than C. So why focus most of an app on the sequence of letters? Especially when the alphabet song is already a pretty effective and popular method. The goal of learning the alphabet is to learn to read - which is learning the combination of letters that form words, not the sequence of the alphabet. Rating: 3/5 (aim for around 3 years)
Balance: In most cases, the letters are filled in with a background like polka dots. While this makes the letters look cute, it may actually be distracting kids from recognizing the letters. Remember, young kids have a hard time seeing two things at once. So they may just focus on the colorful patterns instead of the letter. And with the flashcards, the letter appears with the colorful background in the corner, but then in plain print within the word - I'd highlight the letter correspondence here more as they can look pretty different - at least to little kids. Rating: 3/5 Sustainability - It's a cute looking app, and kids might enjoy the game element of the jumble activities. It doesn't save your times though. Rating: 4/5 Parent Involvement: There's not much to do for parents here... Rating: 3/5
Total: 13 out of 20 - 3 stars Disclosure: I received this app for free for review purposes.
Cars in Sandbox: Construction was created by Thematica and is for construction truck lovers - dump trucks, loader, trucks, tractors, trucks I'd never heard of like the crawler-mounted excavator, trucks with cool names like the telescopic handler, you name it. Price: $2.99
Device Requirements: Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad.Requires iOS 4.2 or later. Developmental Appropriateness: This is a creative app in that it makes the trucks pretty functional and realistic in what their tasks are. So for each truck, kids have to move them with their finger or tilt the device to achieve a task fitting of that truck - so like putting objects in a dump truck to dump them into a bin. There aren't much verbal instructions but in each task there are cute pictures posted on the walls that show you what should be done, which encourages exploring, without leaving you totally in the dark. A younger kid may not notice these pictures, but once they do, they'll get the hang of it. Some of them are easier to figure out than others - but overall a good exercise in problem solving. Also, at times it takes some good motor skills to get the truck to do what you want, so younger kids may get a little frustrated. I wish there was more info offered about the trucks. I guess learning by doing is answer enough, but some of the trucks are kinda similar - at least to me who's not very well versed in construction trucks, so a brief little explanation with facts and figures would be nice. Rating: 4/5 (aim for around 6 years).
Balance: There are some fun additional features like if you tap on the door it opens (only to reveal no driver! Would be nice if kids could create their own avatar and continue the role playing as the driver) and the horn sounds. But sometimes, these features get in the way of trying to make the truck move. And it's sometimes hard to get the truck in the exact position you want, so a gas/brake feature would be nice for more accurate movement. Rating: 4/5 Sustainability: Overall, this is an engaging task for truck lovers. Some sustainability issues may that that while some tasks may be hard for younger kids, older kids may get bored because there is only one task per truck. You also earn various number of stars per truck task which is good, but I wonder if there could be levels, the harder, the more stars - or a progression of some sort. Rating: 4/5 Parental Involvement: Parents may need to help kids figure out what to do at first, but otherwise, this is a kids only game. Rating: 3/5 Total: 15 out of 20 stars = 4 stars Disclosure: I received this app for free for review purposes.
RangerKidz Counting Corral was developed by Sudden Industries. It's a game targeting early math skills and color for preschoolers. It's got a whole Wild West theme where kids have to help Rango Ringo round up all the sheep and animals. You should know by now that I like it when apps have a theme or goal that ties the activities together - so how does this one do? Price: $2.99
Device Requirements: Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad.Requires iOS 4.3 or later. Developmental Appropriateness: The theme delivers. It's definitely a fun way to sneak in some math while kids think they are playing a game. The illustrations, animals, narration, and sound effects are well-done, entertaining and go with the whole Wild West theme. (Does anyone else think that it says "lassu" instead of "lasso"?!) While the theme delivers, let's not forget about content though. The educational content always comes first in my book. Overall, color matching, counting, number recognition are all appropriate very early preschool activities. There are 3 levels, with 6 rounds in each level so 18 round total where you cycle through a bunch of variations of activities that target those three skills. So initially, I was fine with the super easy tasks with obvious hints like for color, it asks for the color, but shows that word in the same color, so it really IS just coloring matching instead of learning to identify a color. Or, when it asks kids to catch the sheep in the correct number order, there's a hand that points to each number in sequence so kids know which ones to go for - so this is just really counting along instead of kids actually having to put the numbers in sequence. Where I have a problem is with the progression of difficulty, or lack thereof, through the many many rounds. It's not until level 3 (after 12 rounds), does the hand hint go away. And then all of the sudden, the sequence starts at various numbers - just wish there was a smoother, and faster progression. The same goes for all the other activities. For some, I don't think it actually gets harder other than to increase the number - like instead of taking out the color/word correspondence, they simply add in different animals for level three - which doesn't add any difficulty at all in terms of counting. I think while this is an engaging activity for kids, more consideration is needed some of the details of the content. Rating: 3/5 (aim for around 4 years). Balance: The features go with the theme and I don't find them distracting from the task. Some additional features could be added to support the learning - like more feedback, especially when they answer it wrong. Kids can answer wrong until they get it wrong, and it just counts as right, so it might be hard for parents to gauge how well their child is doing without constantly watching. Rating: 4/5 Sustainability: As I said, this is an engaging game - kids will probably enjoy it. They might however, get a bit bored of the same tasks that don't increase much in difficulty to challenge them. Rating: 4 Parental Involvement: There is a separate website parents can log-in to. It shows parents how far their kid has gotten in the app and it is where kids can access some of their prizes such as additional puzzles and activities (not all math related). While this is a good start to get parents involved, more useful information could be given here. As is, it kinda has a promotional kinda feel. Rating: 3.5/5 Total: 14.5 out of 20 - 3 stars Disclosure: I received this app for free for review purposes
Monkeys in My Head was created by PaperPlane Co. It's an ebook that aims to help children cope with internal bullies. Bullying, in any form, has become a recent hot topic. I was curious as to how this e-book was going to address this important issue. Price: $1.99
Device Requirements: Compatible with iPad.Requires iOS 5.1 or later.
Developmental Appropriateness: This book is really aimed at an individual who has personally experienced bullying and or has low-self esteem and are beating his/herself up inside. While it does not deal with bully prevention or really even how to deal with bullying- internal or external, it does in the least send the message that you are not alone in feeling these feelings. To the extent that this book may help a child who is dealing with these issues (in a clinical sense), I will have to say that this is not my area of developmental expertise. I think this is definitely a book parents should read first and see if they think it is appropriate and relevant for their child. It deals with a pretty serious matter as poor Pirourette (the main character) has to struggle with these demons inside her head. For a child who may be dealing with similar issues, this book may be a good way to get the conversation started. Alone, the book may not offer any "solutions." For kids who may not be experiencing these issues, the book may be a little confusing and contains some inappropriate and aggressive behavior from the monkeys and a frustrated Pirourette who screams, "Shut up!" I would definitely say that the recommended target age by the developers of 4 and up is too young for the approach of this e-book on this more mature topic. The "coping" that takes place in this book - where Pirourette mentally "cages" the monkeys requires some cognitive strength that a younger child may not understand yet. Rating: 3/5 (Aim for around 8 years)
Balance: In terms of the e-book features, this book is pretty stylized in terms of the art and overall feel. The focus is on the story and less on literacy development. The text doesn't highlight, it's presented in different fonts and sizes - so probably not as beneficial for improving reading skills, which is fine. The interactive features are kinda sparse, but when they are there, they are related to the story. Rating: 4/5 Sustainability: This is a hard one. I think for the very specific group of kids, they might identify with this and love it. But overall, when comparing to other books and picking out any book to read for fun or bedtime, or whatever, this isn't going to exactly be the go to book. Rating: 3.5/5 Parental Involvement - This is absolutely a book a parent should read with their child, at least the first few times. It begs for conversation beyond the book. This book does a good job of starting the conversation with kids who may need it - its up to parents/teachers, etc. to follow up and finish it. Rating: 4/5 Total: 14.5 out of 20 - 3 stars. Disclosure - I received this app for free for review purposes.
i Learn with Boing: Savannah Adventures! is another cute educational app from Tribal Nova. While the previous installment, iLearn with Boing: Iceland Adventures! focused on literacy activities for preschoolers, Savannah focuses on math activities for the same age group. Price: $2.99
Device Requirements: Compatible with iPad.Requires iOS 4.0 or later.
Developmental Appropriateness: A strength with Tribal Nova apps in general is that they do a good job of making the activities have a game like feel. In this case, there are three activities led by animals found in the Savannah targeting counting, specifically quantity-number association, order - counting forwards, backwards, and skip counting, and calculate - early addition and subtraction. As with Iceland, some nice features are the leveling through each activity, adapting to kid's progress, rewards, and the parent center.
Where it falls a little short is with the details. First, the labels of the activities are a little misleading. "Counting", I think is really enumeration because kids have to judge how many objects are shown and then tap on the corresponding number in "Whack a mole" style. "Order" is actually counting, because it's just all different patterns of counting or getting the frog to jump to the different numbers on the lily pad. Finally, as is, the "calculate" activity is not really calculation but more counting or kinda early or precursor to adding and subtracting. Other little details that could be improved is in the feedback/prompts/scaffolding features. For example, in the counting/enumeration, it would be nice if kids could tap on the items and hear them counted. As is, if you tap anywhere around the objects, it just tells you how many total there are. Kids should be able to be given the objects, asked, how many, and then they can count them by pointing, pushing, grouping, etc. The activity I could see the most improvement is with the calculation activity where kids have to go and catch a target number of ostriches and put them on the truck. At times, there are already some ostriches on the truck, so kids have to "add" x more to get the target number or in the higher levels, there are more than the target number of ostriches on the truck, so kids have to "subtract" x amount. I think the adding and subtracting could be made more obvious - as is, it just seems like a counting activity. Like the already present ostriches should be separated from the to be added ostriches so that kids can see that, for example, 3 already there ostriches + 5 added ostriches =8 total. And that should be highlighted by some voiceover feedback before the truck drives away. In general, the activities are good, - these little details just add a little oomph to help learning. Rating: 3.5/5 (aim for around 4)
Balance: I think the activities have struck a good balance between fun game features and keeping the focus on learning. Again, there are just little details that could be improved - like the objects that are to be counting in counting could be bigger and made more functional. Rating: 4.5/5
Sustainability: The activities are cute, and I see an nice new feature here is that once you've been playing awhile, when you start again, you can pick what level to start with and it gives you the recommended level as well. The rewards are nice and you can go to the reward world to play with them. For more competitive kids or kids who might find going through the levels repetitive, a score or high scores list might be nice, especially with the two-player activity. It seems to take time into account, so it could be easy to convert that into points. Rating: 4/5
Parental Involvement: All iLearn apps are linked to a parent center which provides how well kids are doing on the specific activities and if kids have multiple iLearn apps, parents can see what topics they are spending time with. Parents are also given a brief explanation of the target skills within the activities. Parents can stay involved by reviewing. It'd be great if there were then suggested activities parents can do outside of the app that targets their kid's strengths and weaknesses so parents can share and link to the real world. Rating: 4/5
Total: 16 out of 20 - 4 stars.
Disclosure: I received this app for free for review purposes.
Ansel and Clair: Cretaceous Dinosaurs was created by Cognitive Kid, Inc., the same creators as for Ansel and Clair Adventures in Africa has won numerous "best of" and educational app awards. I have not checked out Adventures in Africa, but was definitely interested in seeing what all the hype was about. Does it live up? Price: $1.99
Device Requirements: Compatible with iPad.Requires iOS 4.2 or later.
Developmental Appropriateness: I totally see what everyone was talking about. This is a great app for learning. Basically, Ansel and Clair go on a journey to learn all about dinosaurs, visiting a paleontologist at his dig site for fossils and then time traveling back to the Cretaceous period to see and learn about the different dinosaurs. It's jammed pack full of information, but with the learning design, it's conveyed in an informal, fun way. There's a plot to carry out the story, time to reflect on the information as you take pictures, time to review through the pictures/travel log, and ways to share the experience through the travel log. It takes important learning tenets and masks it with a fun feature. The information is written in a very kid-friendly way, which is very important given the amount of big words. My only warning would be that if your kid doesn't like dinosaurs, this may be boring as it ALL about learning about dinosaurs and it can also be a bit slow-paced at times. Rating: 5/5 (aim for around 7 years).
Balance: Overall, the interactive features are "functional" in that they either mimic what you are suppose to be doing in that action and or are relevant to the plot. There were a few times when some of the features took multiple and more aggressive tapping to get to work. And I did find some of the pacing to be on the slow side. Rating: 4.5/5
Sustainability: There's load of info that I'm sure kids will pick up something new each time. But again, if dinosaurs aren't your thing, this won't last long. Rating: 4.5/5
Parental Involvement: There's no explicit role for parents, but the travel log can act as a great review or a way for kids to share what they've done. I bet most adults don't know a lot this content either, so adults won't be bored playing along. This would also be great for teachers to use in the classroom. Rating: 4/5
Total 18 out of 20 - 5 stars
Disclosure: I received this app for free for review purposes.
Math Doodles was created by Carsten Studios Inc., by Dan Carstens, an early math hater who later found ways to make math fun. This is a unique perspective for a math app designer! Math is one of the subjects where you often hear kids and even adults saying, "I hate math," or "Math is just not something I'm good at." This is more true in America than most other countries. So any way we can make math thought of as less of a dread is great. Does Math Doodles accomplish this? Price: $2.99
Device Requirements: Compatible with iPad.Requires iOS 5.0 or later.
Developmental Appropriateness: Math Doodles presents three games: Sums Stackers, Connect Sums, and Unknown Square. They are all variations on getting the dice (or whatever representation you choose) to add up to a target sum (9=4+5=3+3+3=8+1, etc). This helps to increase fluency and flexibility in thinking about these otherwise simple, but perhaps boring, math problems. Sum Stackers and Unknown Square a bit more logical thinking as they have an extra layer of problem solving involved (See video). So overall, I think that Math Doodles can attract kids who may not love math, but love puzzles and want to solve things. This is definitely a great way to get them to do some math, all disguised as a puzzle. For kids who are struggling with math, they will probably need some help getting started and to help focus them on the game elements so that they don't get frustrated with the math. So while I don't think that Math Doodles will make everyone love math, it will attract a larger audience than a more straight forward math game. Rating: 4/5 (aim for around 6 years).
Balance: The art work definitely has a doodle-like feel. It's all pretty straight forward. Offering all the different representations is a nice touch without being distracting, but some will be easier representations than others. I wonder if there could be a hint mode for when players get stuck. Rating: 4/5
Sustainability: The different modes of play (race, solve, etc). are good variations. A high scores list would be a great addition to help keep kids going. There's also an easy and difficult setting. Having all three games be about adding might get repetitive, what about other operations? Rating: 3.5/5
Parental Involvement: This is definitely a game parents could play too. There's no multiplayer mode though. Parents and teachers should definitely make sure to relate these math skills back to the classroom. Rating: 3.5/5
Total: 15 out of 20 - 4 stars
Disclosure: I received this app for free for review purposes.
Mathlands was created by Mamanijo and comprises of 6 games. While most of these games do require some math, this is more of an app for puzzle solvers and logical thinkers than straight-up math lovers. So where does this app fit in for the typical math student? Price: Two games are free, the rest are an in-app purchase for $1.99. There is also another in-app purchase for $0.99 if you want to play all the games together. Careful not to confuse one purchase with the other.
Device Requirements: Compatible with iPad.Requires iOS 4.3 or later.
Developmental Appropriateness: For kids, and even adults, who like logic problems like these (The Tower of Hanoi is a typical example) this is a great app to flex those muscles. It's done in a kid-friendly way - for example on one of the more typical math word problem games, the word problem is presented within a comic strip, adding a bit of fun to what may be a boring math problem. I like that it adds some "help" materials at the bottom in some of the tasks to help kids solve the problem. For kids who are pretty strong in math already, this is a great way to get them to increase their flexibility in math thinking. However, for kids who may not be great at math and or love these types of puzzles, this app does not offer enough support to win them over. The "help" materials aren't enough to help a kid who doesn't know where to begin. There's a hint part, but it basically just tells you the answer. There's no leveling of hints - to get you going if you're stuck. Also, more kid-friendly information on the strategies would be useful too. Even as an adult, I could solve the games, but for some, I couldn't really tell you what I was doing to get the answer. Being able to express the strategy is important to truly understanding the concept. The app gives a "puzzle history" and provides the solution, but the text is long and reads like a textbook. In sum, I like that these games make kids think about math in a different way, but it doesn't offer enough support to reach kids of all skill levels and for me to think of it as educational/instructional rather than just-for fun. Rating: 3.5/5 (aim for around 7 years).
Balance: The features in each of the games are focused on the task. A bit more instruction could be given for the tasks. For example, in the water task, you have to get a goal number of liters, but that goal goes away. If you go to instructions, the instructions only talk about the goal of the first problem. I'll admit it, I kept forgetting what the goal was - and I couldn't get to that information unless I started over. Rating: 4/5
Sustainability: The games keep getting harder and harder so there's enough challenge, even for adults. If you've purchased the game portion (so it's not just free-play), it will keep track of what level you're on. However, it doesn't really save your times and records. I feel these are the kinds of puzzles that people would enjoy sharing - to tell people how they figured it out. So some sort of social, sharing element would be nice. Rating: 4/5
Parental Involvement: Parents can play too! But in terms of co-playing there's not too much here. Parents can go over the puzzle history with their kids. There's no review or measure of how kids are doing and what they need to work on. I think the leveling of hints would be good so parents get be more involved in the process so it's not just get it or don't get it. Rating: 3.5/5
Plants HD was created by Sprout Labs and aims to teach kids all about the plant life cycle. I definitely think we need more apps that tackle this kind of subject area. Multimedia can definitely make learning this material easier and of course, more fun than say a typical text book. The question is, does Plants HD hit the mark? Price: $1.99
Device Requirements: Compatible with iPad.Requires iOS 4.3 or later.
Developmental Appropriateness: Overall, I think Plants HD provides a lot of great information (total flashback to science class for me!). For each stage of the cycle, it provides a lot of text (which can be read aloud), some fun facts, some photos, and a quiz. The "play" part is arranging all the stages in the correct order. Actually, before I move on, here's what the main page looks like:
My first instinct, and I think any kid's, would be to hit play. But play just means that all the pictures drop down to the bottom and you're to assume that you have to put them back in order. While I think that this is a good activity, it should come after kids have learned all about the stages and should be presented separately, or at least not as the first thing and without any instruction. So points off here for usability.
So back to the content...
So, yes, lots of info - but I don't think it really capitalizes on what it could offer. You can see that there's a lot of text (it keeps scrolling down too!). It'd be sooo much better if it could show a video or a series of pictures that go with the text. There are a lot of new vocabulary here for them, so that really needs to be highlighted somehow. The photos that are provided are usually just examples of whatever stage generally, and don't go along with the text. Given the amount of text, it's important to have some visual that keeps kids engaged in it. Instead, they could just be flipping through the photos or the fun facts at the bottom and not listen to or read the actual text. Up top, you can choose to take the quiz - but not all the information you need to answer the questions are provided in the text. You earn coins, but no scores are kept, and nothing to review for teachers/parents. Rating: 3/5 (aim for around 8 years)
Balance: As mentioned, I think kids could easily not pay attention to the text. I'm not saying that there's too much going on - I like the photos and I like the fun facts. But maybe something could be done about how they access these other sections and what can be added to keep focus on the text and to reinforce their understanding of it. Rating: 3.5/5
Sustainability: I guess I need to view this a little differently as I can see this being used in the classroom as a supplement to the lesson. Still, I think the addition of videos and making the text more engaging would make this app go from oh, something a teacher is making me look at that is more interesting than a text book to something kids really want to use and even ask for. Rating: 4/5
Parental Involvement: Again, the quiz feature is nice, but there's no review of it, not even a saved score. And, maybe if there were definitions section or vocal highlighted in the text, teachers could more easily relate it back to their lessons. Basically, although I can see this in the classroom (or at home with parents guiding the way), I don't feel like it was designed with that in mind. Rating: 3/5
Total: 13.5 out of 20 - 3 stars
Disclosure: I received this app for free for review purposes.
