Math Makers

What is Math Makers app?

Math Makers is an app that aims to hit a perfect balance between gameplay and math learning. It wants kids to have so much fun playing the app that they don't realise that they are learning.   

This review of Math Makers app will tell you whether its developers have achieved their goals. 

What we love about Math Makers.

Math Makers' levels are easy to play, look great, and are fascinating to watch as chain reactions course through the different on-screen objects. The various characters in the app are fun to watch and often bring along an element of humour. 

While there are parts of the game where players only need to solve the physics puzzles, the maths-based sections do a great job of visually assisting kids. The app shows kids the underlying concepts of math using various graphical cues while at the same time encouraging them to think about and solve the problem on screen 

The method works very well indeed, and this is one of the few apps that can genuinely claim to gamify math learning. 

What skills does it improve?

Math Makers incorporates puzzle solving with learning and applying concepts related to math, such as place value, addition, subtraction and fractions. 

What age is it appropriate for?

The challenges in the app are appropriate for kids in kindergarten through to grade 5, ages 4 to 10. 

Is Math Makers easy to use?

Math Makers leads players through the use of the app with graphical directions. The app gradually eases kids into using the different on-screen elements and ensures that the challenge always comes from the puzzles and math learning, never the app's controls. 

How will students benefit?

Kids who have not yet consolidated their reading skills won't be held back in building their math skills when they use Math Makers. Each level is understandable by experimentation, and as kids do this, they'll be learning the linked math. 

There is a well-tuned balance between the physics puzzles and the mathematical ones. The physics puzzles feel more game-like and add to the app's entertainment value and encourage kids to give their logic and sequencing skills a workout.   

The math challenges succeed in the app's aim of guiding kids towards understanding the math without words. The visual feedback is rewarding and informative. If kids make a mistake, they can quickly restart the level and try again, which makes giving it one more go very tempting. 

How will teachers benefit?

Math Maker's description describes which parts of the CCSS it meets, which makes it useful for teachers who follow these standards. Teachers who don't use the CCSS can still use the given standards to determine which topics the app covers. 

Intriguingly, the app includes a school's link. At the time of this review of Math Makers, this leads to a web page that states that a free version of Math Makers will be available for schools in a few months—certainly something to keep an eye out for. 

How will parents benefit?

As Math Makers gets the game-like look and feel so right, it will be much easier for parents to get kids to practice math on this app than, say, a multiple-choice quiz app. Kids will be entertained with this app, and parents know that their kids' screen time is productive. 

What can Math Makers improve on?

As described under a subsequent section, the parental lock used by Math Makers is not as strong as might be hoped. As the app asks adults to create an account anyway, it would be better to use the account password to lock down this section. 

How much does Math Makers cost?

Math Makers is a subscription app. Your kids can use the full app for seven days to see if they take to it before the paid subscription kicks in. The price is good value when you consider how much excellent-quality content there is in the app. 

Is Math Makers safe to use?

Math Makers has a parent section for such things as managing the subscription and social media feedback. These options are protected by a parent lock that asks for your year of birth. Many kids, even young ones, quickly learn to overcome this type of parental lock. You should think about if this applies to your child and how you feel about the app taking them to social media websites if they do get past the lock. 

There are no advertisements or further in-app purchases in Math Makers, and all of its content is suitable for young children. The gameplay does not feature violence.   

Math Makers has one of the more readable privacy policies attached to educational apps. It makes it clear what data it holds and how it uses it. It also states that the app is COPPA, FERPA, and GDPR compliant. 

Overall rating of the app.

You may be aware of this app's ancestor, Slice Fractions. That app was award-winning and a great educational app. All of that app's content and a whole load more make up this app, and it consistently maintains the high-quality learning experience of the original. 

Math Makers is fun, well designed, and a great way to develop math skills and knowledge. It has easily achieved five stars in this app review.

You can download Math Makers on your iOS or Android devices from the app stores. Download the Math Makers app from the Apple App Store or the Google Play Store.