Bottom Line: Wow! A math app for kindergarten through sixth grade with excellent graphics and interface is enough to get me excited. Make it FREE, and I’m going to insist everyone reading this download the app NOW. It’s a must-have math app for elementary!
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External links to rate at App Store, protected by a child lock.
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If you’ve read many of my reviews over the past four years at Smart Apps For Kids, you’ll know that I love math apps, especially creative, well-designed math apps. When I found out I got to review another, I was excited. Thankfully, Zap Zap Math didn’t let me down. It’s an incredible math app, and a great addition to the App Store.
Zap Zap Math, developed by Visual Math Interactive, is designed for kids in kindergarten through fifth grade, or approximately age 5 through 12 in United States schools. However, it’s designed so well it’s also a good choice for preschoolers who are ready for addition and subtraction, and older students who aren’t quite caught up on all grade-level math. Since I work with special needs students, I always appreciate apps that are flexible this way.
Open the app and immediately choose an avatar, out of five choices. Use the name selector or randomizer to name each avatar, which was fun all by itself. After selecting, the app opens to nine different solar systems, each covering a different math topic, including basic operations (addition, subtraction, multiplication, division), geometry and fractions.
After opening the desired solar system, the user then selects a planet. Each “planet” is a different game, targeting a different skill. Some solar systems are light on games, but new games are added all the time. There’s a quick tutorial at the start of each game, making it easy to know exactly what to do.
I love the thinking involved in the games. This is not a flashcard-style app—instead, it’s focused on critical thinking. One of the addition games requires the user to use number tiles to equal a set total, requiring not just the skill of addition, but also thinking about how numbers can be combined.
This is true for most of the games in the app. They require students to think about numbers and math concepts in creative ways. It’s a great supplement to any math curriculum. I found a lot of challenge for my own math problems solving in this app. There are external links to the app store to rate the app, but it is protected by a child lock requiring more complex math, like 18 + (2x6).
I had very few issues with this app, and there is so much content for free that it gets the coveted 5 star rating. I do have a few suggestions for improvement, though:
- Make it multiplayer, so more than one user can have an avatar and track stars. Families with more than one child in the target zone would benefit, as would classrooms with shared iPads.
- Give me the option to mute the music. I like the sound effects, but I need a break from constant music.
- Keep adding more games to increase the functionality and range of this already great app.
Overall, I found Zap Zap Math so much fun, it seemed almost redundant to write the review. Just go download it now, it’s amazing.
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Heather would rather play Zap Zap Math than unpack boxes after her recent move.
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