Bast off to fun with Zap Zap Kindergarten Math

 

What was your favorite subject in school? Mine was Social Studies and English (only the creative writing stuff).

What was your least favorite subject? Mine was – and always will be – Math! I am not a fan of it at all. I know to add, subtract, multiply, divide and do fractions and decimals. That’s it! Oh yeah, and figure out the tip on a restaurant bill (LOL).

My kids had to learn Common Core Math when they were in school. I am not sure if this type of math is utilize across the county, but it’s hard. Instead of doing a straight math problem you have to take several more steps to get the answer. When I worked with the upper elementary school/middle school kids a couple of years ago I had a hard time helping them with their math homework. I had to rely on a very smart fourth grader to help ME to help THEM.

Here is a not-so-funny situation that happened to me a couple of months ago. My co-worker was helping a kindergartner do her homework and got stuck on a math question. She asked me if I knew what to do. I have NO CLUE! I had to hunt down another co-worker (at the ripe “old” age of 18) and instantly he knew how to do the math problem.

Seriously? The grown ups couldn’t help a kindergartner with a math question? That is so pathetic!

I really feel strongly that little ones should learn to do math early in life and fully grasp it. I think it will help make understanding math as they get older (in school and beyond) a lot easier.

Kids these days seem to learn a lot more than we used to at their age. In kindergarten I remember coloring, taking naps and snacks. These days kindergartners are learning to weight thing, measure things and do adding and subtracting with two numbers. I should know, I work with kindergartners during the school year.

I am not a fan of kids playing too many video games UNLESS there is an educational element to them. Take for example a new app called Zap Zap Math.

When I was asked to review the app I cringed. I had to review a MATH app? But math is my least favorite subject. None the less I downloaded the app and played around with it. In fact, I couldn’t put down my phone. I was so into playing the game that I was late making dinner one night.

Zap Zap Math allows kids to blast off on fun adventures that help teach them about math.

You start by flying a rocket ship around the universe and stopping on the planets you come across. There is a small “picture in picture” to help you navigate to the planets. There are also borders you can’t pass, which keeps you from aimlessly flying around.

If you look to the bottom right corner you can see where the rocket ship is located in the universe and where the nearest planet it (the plants are seen as yellow balls).

Once you land on a planet it will open to MANY games based on the plant’s subject matter. For example one planet is for Adding and Subtracting, another is for Shapes and Measurements and yet another for Numbers).

Once you “land” on the planet you’ll see your character (which each player makes when you open the app for the first time). The character walks up a path. On both sides of the path you’ll see buildings. Each building is a new game. You need to complete each game in order to unlock the next game on the path. That is the part that I found to be the most fun. I was on a quest to finish an entire planet. I have played the game many times and have yet to complete a whole planet. There are A LOT of games to be played in this app.

Here are screen shots from just a FEW of the games on the Zap Zap Math app.

In this game players are asked to choose which item the customer wants (3 corners, 5 corners, 3D, flat shape…). I thought this was a bit too much for a kindergartner, but, they actually do this kind of math in school (at least in our school they do).

This game is fun. You “high five” the correct alien person (shorter, taller). It’s a great way to help kid quickly identify tall/short things. The “slap” sound from the high five is cute too.

This game is similar to the one above, only this time children are asked to answer questions about less or more using the same “high five” slap.

As an adult I found this game fun. Players need to collect all the required shapes into the blue container. This game starts out easy but as you keep playing (different levels) the shape you need to collect is found among several other shapes.

This is another fun game. Different shaped items come down the chute and players need to sort them into the appropriate bin. This is a great way to help kids to quickly identify common shapes.

This game asks players to add or subject (sometimes doing both) to get the correct number of apples needed to make an apple pie. The game also has players count the apples in the container to ensure that they have the correct amount needed for the recipe.

This was another favorite game of mind. Players need to fill in the missing “track” pieces to help the train cross the bridge. If you make a mistake the train actually falls into the water below (oh no!). This game also starts out really easy and gets harder as you advance each level.

The kids I work with do A LOT with number bond. There are a few games that I have come across thus far on Zap Zap Math that help kids learn the concept of number bonds.

This is another number bond game. Players have to choose which numbers add up to the target number in order to help the race car get power.

This game is two games in one. It’s part memory, part math. Players need to pick out which two cards are needed to make the target number. It starts out with just a couple of cards but as you advance levels more cards are added to the table. If your child loves memory games, this one is sure to be a hit with them.

This is cute adding/subtracting game using cute little micro organisms.

Yet another game I really enjoyed. This game asks players to count how many of the target character is in each scene. It starts out with just a few but more characters are mixed into the scene as you advance to another level. As you can see the characters are adorable too.

I was shocked to see a game that asks players (children) to decide is there is “less than, more than or equal amounts” of spaceships. Notice the colors of the space ships are different. The game is ONLY asking about the two different colors. As you play you’ll notice more colored ships are added. Only concern yourself with with colored ships in the circles. I found that out the hard way (if you don’t answer correctly they crash into each other causing a huge traffic jam).

The snake game was the only one (so far) that gave me any trouble. You need to help the snake each the fruits in the correct order (in the case above it would be going from 6, 7, 8, 9). I had a hard time getting my fingers to steer him in the right direction. It’s probably because I have chubby little fingers.

As you complete each game you not only unlock the next game, but you also receive a puzzle piece to finish off various puzzles.

When you complete each game you also earn points and get a score card. I have yet to figure out what this all means, but it’s always fun to see huge number piling up.

As I mentioned earlier, I am not a fan of math, but I must say these games made math FUN.

Did I just say mat was fun? WOW!

The games in the Zap Zap Math app are fun and very engaging. They also feature adorable characters and colorful scenes.

The background music was good too. It wasn’t annoying or tedious like other games. I was glad about that.

There is so much MORE to this game. I just barely scratched the surface.

If you would like to learn more about Zap Zap Math visit the official website – www.zapzapmath.com/zap-zap-kindergarten-math. You can also visit the main site at www.zapzapmath.com.

Zap Zap Math can be downloaded from the Apple Store or Google Play Store.

Check out this brief promotional video to see the game in action.

 

What do you think of Zap Zap Math? Do you think your child or grandchild would have fun with a game like this? Feel free to comment and share your thoughts. I always love to hear from readers.

Kimberly

*I have partnered with Zap Zap Math to bring you this information. Although compensated the opinions expressed are my own and not influenced in any way.