Math Game Time and Math Monkey App Review

I am always on the look-out for fun websites and games that will keep my kids’ interest and provide some educational value to the experience.

Usually I think of online games in terms of two categories.  First, you have the games that kids love to play  that have no other purpose than pure entertainment.  That is not to say that these games don’t provide educational value.  In fact, some of these games are the reason my oldest daughter is currently learning Windows Visual Basic.

The second category of games and gaming websites are what I like to call “education games”.  Their purpose is to introduce academic subjects in the form of entertaining games.  We probably all remember playing these in school- Oregon Trail, Reader Rabbit, and Timez Attack are all examples.

The Good and The Bad

The education games that I have experienced are either very good or very bad.  The good games are able to create an engaging environment with goals, scenarios, and interactions that are not forced.

The bad ones, well, you just know they are drilling you on math facts or asking you to parrot back information.

Math Game Time

My girls both found Math Game Time to be challenging and full of enough novelty to play on it for an entire afternoon.  I was intrigued, and so I decided to play too.

The games are organized by skill and grade level, making it easy for kids to choose games that are not too easy or hard for them.  I had fun playing this dog-racing decimal game:

There are also fun math videos to watch and worksheets you can print or download for further practice.

• My oldest daughter liked the animal games the best.  She said, “I like how it took simple things and made them into fun learning games.”
• My 7-year old liked the games where she could win easily, such as Kitten Math Addition.

Math Monkey App

The developer of the Math Game Time website also has an iphone/ipad app for purchase called Math Monkey.

Since I don’t have an ipod or an iphone, I asked two of my fellow homeschooling bloggers who do to review the app.

Here is what they had to say:

Like many app games, the beauty of the game is it’s simplicity. There isn’t a lot here beyond the math to distract a child from learning.  -Monica

Aptly described as “educational Angry Birds“, Math Monkey provides an addictive mix of math, trajectory, and strategy. -ipadhomeschooling

Both of the moms tested the game out on their kids and seemed to get a positive response about the game.  Here are some of the pros and cons that they listed:

Pros

• Different themes for each skill- underwater, space, etc.
• “Being able to skip straight to whatever level he was interested in without having to complete the previous levels.” -ipadhomeschooling
• Flinging cupcakes!

Cons

• Not getting answers right because of obstacles in the way.
• The character is a gorilla not a monkey (gotta love how kids pick up on those things!)
• The scoring was underdeveloped and had no global tally.

Overall, it sounds like Math Monkey is an app for moms who want to help their kids learn math facts without using flash cards.  The game is educational in nature, so kids might not choose it over the original Angry Birds.  However, used as an educational tool:

If you are looking for a simple game for your kids to enjoy practicing basic math facts on the iPad, Math Monkey may be for you. -Monica

To read more about Math Monkey, please visit Monica and ipadhomeschooling to read their full reviews.

Win a Free Download of the Math Monkey App!

If you have an iphone or an ipad and want a copy of Math Monkey for your kids (or yourself)- you have a chance to win one right here!

The winner will receive an email from the app developer with a code for a free download of the app.

All you have to do is leave a comment on this article and then confirm your entry in the Rafflecopter widget below.  You can also earn entries for tweeting, liking, and sharing!

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