The developer Justin Holladay has created a great combination of story book and math activities in the app Jack and the Beanstalk. This app is in part an eBook which reads you the story of Jack and the Beanstalk and also in part a series of math activities throughout the story. Math is a fundamental part of cognitive development, helping to improve critical thinking skills, logic, and problem solving skills. All of which are strong foundations to a child’s development.
The app starts with an opening screen giving you three options to choose from: start at the beginning of the story, continue last session, or go to a favorite page. As the story is read to you the main character, Jack, comes across various scenarios where he needs your help in solving a math problem. At this time the story prompts you for involvement in completing the word problem.
The math problems are all built upon the story line. When it is at the scene that Jack climes up the beanstalk, kids get a question on time he needs to climb to the top; when it is talking about the giant, kids are asked the number of eggs the giant could have, as he always eats odd number of eggs; …
The various skills involved include money counting, solving problems with time, using math to measure, geometric shape sorting, as well as multiplication, subtraction, and addition. Basically hitting all components of math. Due to the wide range of mathematical skills, this app is best geared toward elementary age children.
Daisy’s Comments
I really like how this app incorporates math into a story book. My child can learn an old folktale while at the same time having fun learning and practicing math. It can be a great way to take the anxiety around math away, and get kids who are not very interested in math to feel that math could be fun. The best part is that the word problem’s details change each time the problems are encountered, making this app a great activity to use over and over.
Jack and the Beanstalk A Mathematical Adventure is available for iPhone, iPod, and iPAD. It is $2.99 on App Store.
If you would like to check it out or purchase it, please use the App Store link provided below. The cost is the same to you, but iGameMom gets a small percentage. Thanks for your support! Note: The link works for all countries.
Today’s app is reviewed by Daisy Simpson. Daisy is a proud mom to an active toddler and works part-time in a hospital where she utilizes technology in her work with helping kids cope in the medical setting. Her family loves being outdoors experiencing all Minnesota has to offer.
