Maths Martians HD: Addition 
- Category: Maths
- Updated: 06 June 2012
- Version: 1.2
- Seller: Cambridge English Online Ltd
- Compatible with iPad. Requires iOS 5.0 or later.
- You Tube
Description
My 8 year old loves math games, and his five year old brother loves everything his bigger brother does. So I set off to see what my math loving boy and his adoring little brother would think of Math Martians: Addition. The goal of the game is to scan the bubbles to find the Martian with the correct sum to match each addition problem in the right hand column. The fact that this task requires a visual scanning component is an extra bonus in my opinion- my son attends vision therapy, and this is good practice for him- which perhaps explains why he wasn’t as enthusiastic about this game as his younger brother was- it was a bit more challenging for him. He is also on the spectrum and can be particular about the type of game play he engages in. It was, however, more fun than the dread of writing out math problems so I’m quite certain my 8 year old will always elect to play this game if given the option between the two.
What I first noticed is the nice little jingle at the beginning and the clear voice welcoming you to the app. You then select ‘start’ located in the bottom right hand corner of the screen. You are then brought to the main screen with a choice of 12 different activities, which you get to choose from, depending on your level.
The background music has a fun pace that becomes more frantic with the passing of time. Each level gives only 60 seconds- my five year old son was at first enthusiastic about playing and trying, but when it stopped at 60 seconds without giving him a chance to complete the task, he was less confident and was reluctant to try that set of problems again. I would like to see settings in the options to remove this time limit or to allow a pause button of some sort for additional processing time. I do like how the timer does not begin immediately- the child is given a chance to look at all the problems and answers, and triggers the timer only when the first correct response is recorded.
While in the app my younger son also accidentally clicked on the link to send an email, and needed my help to get out- the “more apps” and ” tell a friend” features should really have a press and hold mechanism to open.
I personally would love the martians to announce their sum when correctly chosen. Right now only an incorrect tap will get a reminder such as “that’s wrong” or “not me”. Despite those caveats, this was enjoyed by my five year old and accepted by my 8 year old- a few improvements would make this accessible for even more children.
The Appy Ladies 