Where to Buy

Math Jungle : Grade 1 App Review

App Info

Price: $0.99

Overview

Monkeys like bananas and in Math Jungle: Grade 1, the monkey really likes bananas. In fact, he likes bananas so much that all he does is run through the jungle to collect them. Kids can help the monkey collect bananas in this fun arcade-style math game. In the game, kids move the monkey through the forest, stopping along the way to answer random math questions. The more questions kids answer correctly, the more bananas the monkey receives.

Features include:

Aligned with Common Core
Fun arcade-style game
Positive reinforcement
High-score tracking

Quality

Math Jungle: Grade 1 features a fairly simple design. When kids first open the app, they’re introduced to a smiling monkey and they see a large play button. Tapping on the button takes kids directly into the game. To play the game, kids simply use their finger to move the monkey up and down as he runs across the screen. The goal is to collect the bananas and avoid the rocks and other obstacles in his way. At the top of the screen is a tracker which displays the amount of bananas that have been collected and also contains a bar to mark the high score kids need to beat. At various intervals throughout the game, the monkey stops and kids must answer a multiple-choice math problem in order to move on.

Education

All of the math problems contained within the app are aligned with the Common Core standards. Multiple standards are covered with in the app. Kids are presented with basic addition and subtraction problems, as well as problems related to number sequencing, comparing numbers, and using plus, minus, and equal signs. The question in the app are designed to be used for practice, not instruction. Kids are given multiple opportunities to answer each question (they earn more bananas for answering correctly on the first try), but if they answer a question incorrectly, there is no explanation or other guidance to help them answer the question correctly. The app also does not track kids’ performance by standard or allow kids to work on a single standard at once.

Entertainment

The simple arcade-style game is really entertaining for kids. They will enjoy guiding the monkey through the jungle and watching the tracker fill up with bananas. They’ll also be motivated to play the app multiple times to attempt to increase their high score. The monkey himself is animated and a positive character for kids to interact with.

Value

This app is full of practice math questions to help kids build their early math skills. It combines those questions with a simple, but fun game. Parents or teachers looking for new ways to get kids to build their math skills will appreciate the app.

Child Friendliness

Kids won’t find any content in the app designed to take their focus away from math practice and fun. Aside from the opening screen which simply contains a play button, the app only contains one area for play.