Available in the App Store

[appimg 547209737]

Montessori Numbers – Math Activities for Kids allows children to manipulate and experiment with objects as they learn their numbers, place values, quantities and other important math concepts for children ages 3-7. This is an iPad only app.

As children work through the five activities they will continually hear the number names associated with the numbers or quantities they are using. Three voice choices are available in the Settings menu: American, British or Australian English. Each of the five activities contains multiple levels of difficulty. The level of difficulty can be chosen as you enter the activity; no need to complete the easier levels before moving onto the more difficult.

A good starting point, the 1 to 20 activity is designed to introduce numbers up to 10 and includes numbers up to 20 in the more difficult level. The first level in this activity works on numbers one to five. Children will be manipulating objects such as cars, cupcakes, wood blocks, beads, diamonds or flowers in the process of learning number names and the quantity of objects associated with that number.

The Quantity activity allows children to manipulate the units, such as single objects, bars of 10 and squares of 100, to match the given number. This activity works on numbers 1 to 999. Options to display the number to be found and set the Numbers Animation Mode are available.

With the Numerals activity, children will learn to associate number names with the number. Children are instructed to find the number for the given number name. They will choose the correct number from the numbers 0 through 9 displayed on the bottom. As the number is moved into place the corresponding number of objects is displayed. This activity works on numbers 0 to 999.

As the most advanced of the activities, Numerals (from Quantity) presents a group of objects and the child is asked to count them, entering the correct number from the numbers 0 through 9 below. This activity works on numbers 1 to 999. Included in this activity is the helpful feature of being able to move the objects around the screen as you count them. A button is also available for lining the objects back up. This activity does not count the objects as they are touched, nor is the number name spoken aloud as often as in the other activities.

The Building Game activity is used as a reward for completing the other activities. How often the Building Game is presented can be determined in the Settings menu. In the Building Game children are allowed to explore as they play with numbers and objects; swiping their finger around the screen for a musical stream of hearts, stars and more, move or touch numbers, cars, flowers, change the colors of the numbers, turn gravity on or off and even deleting objects. Time limits can also be set in the Settings menu for how long the child can play in the Building Game.

Additional options are whether or not to allow the ability to move objects after the successful completion of an activity and multiple skins to choose from. The Settings are available from within the app or through the device Settings menu.

Montessori Numbers is an app your children will want to use time and time again. It is just as entertaining as it is educational; fun music and sounds, quality graphics and interactive objects make this app a pleasure. For adults, the app is easy to customize; for children it is easy to use.

Not only is Montessori Numbers educational and entertaining, it is kid-safe! The Parents and More Apps sections cannot be accessed without entering the correct answer to a math problem. Both sections do contain external links, but it is unlikely that children will access them. The Parents section contains information regarding the Montessori teaching methods and additional information for each of the activities in the app.

Bottom line

Montessori Numbers contains multiple educational activities for kids ages 3-7 and is reasonably priced.

Regular Price: 2.99