Bottom line: Math Jungle: Grade 1 joins a little math monkey as he treks along on a banana laden obstacle course, stopping along the way to complete grade appropriate math problems to continue the course. This app is the second in a growing series of apps designed to with the common core state standards.
If you’d like to purchase Math Jungle: Grade 1, please use the handy link provided.
$1.99 iOS
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No ads, no in-app purchases, no external links
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Math Jungle: Grade 1 follows a friendly little monkey along an obstacle course to collect as many bananas as possible before reaching the end. Controlling the monkey is easy, a simple swipe up or down moves him from lane to lane where he can grab bunches of bananas as he goes. Be careful not to run into the boulders and plants blocking the lanes.
Along the way the little monkey has to stop and complete simple math problems in order to continue. Many of the problems are simple and can be done with no additional help. But if a child does need some assistance, all they need to do is tap on the little question mark by the problem and a visual representation of how to solve the problem using common core skills. These problems are all given multiple choice answers along the way, with incorrect answers being eliminated until the correct one is chosen.
Continue through each problem and take the monkey to the end of the course. Points are collected as bananas are gathered to get a final score. The app marks the best score made with a star on the tracking meter, giving kids a goal for additional play-throughs.
See this app in action here:
(video coming soon)
What I liked:
- Engaging character and intuitive game play
- Nice variety of types of math problems
- Unlimited time to solve problems, helping to relieve anxiety about getting correct answers.
- Grade appropriate math that appears to increase in difficulty as player completes levels
What I liked less:
- It would have been nice if there were visually different levels to play upon the completion of each. We felt like things were repetitive even though the difficulty of the skills was increasing.
- Even though the app tracks best score, there is not real way to keep up with how many levels a child has completed, only the best score. And if you have multiple kids using, there is no way of tracking separate scores, so the ability to set up profiles would be nice.
Overall, Math Jungle: Grade 1 is a cute little app with age-appropriate math skills showing common core standards. With some simple adjustments and additions to the app, I could see it being a nice addition to the home or classroom app library. 4 stars.
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Kelli's little first grader says she is ready for school to start, but Kelli thinks she just wants to buy school supplies. Smart Apps for Kids was paid a fee to review this app in a priority manner.
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