[1]
These free apps offer fun ways for elementary/primary grade students to practice their math fundamentals.
We checked out a bunch of free math games for the iPad that can help younger students reinforce their math basics, focusing only on those rated 4 stars or better. There are quite a few of these.
[2]As of this morning, there were 92 apps that come up by searching the App Store for “math games” that are free and have ratings of 4 or higher. We ranked them by popularity and then tried a bunch of the popular ones, looking for apps that provide good functionality for free (as opposed to the many ‘free’ apps that are really just teases to buy a full version). Here are five that we liked (some of these do have fuller versions or companion apps that you have to pay for, but the free versions here offer useful gaming without requiring registration or fees).
My Math App Flashcards (link here [3]): This is a great application, providing flash card style testing for multiplication, subtraction, multiplication, and division, with “Starter” and “Advanced” verisons for each function, making it useful across a wide range of grade levels.
Math Puppy (link here [4]): This app has 2 games and a calculator. Math Bingo is a simple bingo style game (complete a row of correct answers and win) and Math Challenge prompts the user through consecutive sets of questions, up multiple levels, with difficulty increasing along the way.
Multiplying Acorns (link here [5]): This is a cute, straightforward game in which you select two digits to multiply together, and then have to select the correct answer from several choices. The multiplication is represented pictorially in the form of acorns, to provide visual learning support. You can select a maximum high number for use in the game (up to 9), to make it more age/grade appropriate.
Motion Math: Hungry Fish (link here [6]): This was fun - you drag bubbles onto each other to add up to a desired total and then the fish eats them! A simple straightforward game that young kids will enjoy. The more advanced version (which you have to pay for) provides subtraction, multiplication, and division.
Factor Samurai (link here [7]): This is better geared towards higher grades than the apps above, as it requires awareness of prime factors, but it was so much fun to play I wanted to include it. There are three levels, and the lowest level is worth trying for students learning multiples of 2 or 3. As numbers fly on to the screen, you tap on those that are not prime, to break them into factors. If a number breaks into a factor that can be broken down further, click on it to break it down again. Give it a try (older students or adults, try the “Apprentice” or “Master” levels!).
Since these are free, and require no registration or special set up, these apps are quick and easy to download and take for a test run (and then simply delete if you find that one is not to your liking). If you have young students that you would like to try these apps, download a few and take ’em for a spin!
Do you have some favorite free math apps you can share with us? Please comment [8] and tell us about them!
Related Posts (if the above topic is of interest, you might want to check these out):
Using The iPad As A Digital Whiteboard (Plus 4 Cool Free Apps To Try It Out) [9]
Five Fun Free iPad Apps for Elementary School Teachers And Students [10]
The year of the iPad in Education: they’re being distributed in more schools every day. [11]
Related Posts
[12]Improving Instruction - Increasing Immersion With the iPad in the Foreign Language Classroom [12]
[9]Using The iPad As A Digital Whiteboard (Plus 4 Cool Free Apps To Try It Out) [9]- [13]8 Highly Recommended iPad Apps for Homeschoolers [13]
[14]Selecting the Best Apps for Teaching and Learning - Use a Rubric! [14]
About Kelly Walsh [15]
Kelly Walsh is Chief Information Officer at The College of Westchester [16], in White Plains, NY, where he also teaches. In 2009, Walsh founded EmergingEdTech.com. He frequently delivers presentations on a variety of related topics at schools and conferences across the U.S. Walsh is also an author, and online educator, regularly running Flipped Class Workshops [17] online. His eBook, the Flipped Classroom Workshop-in-a-Book is available here [18]. Walsh became the Community Administrator for the Flipped Learning Network [19] in June of 2016. In his "spare time" he also writes, records, and performs original music ... stop by kwalshmusic.com [20] and have a listen!
[Disclaimer: The opinions expressed here are my own, or those of other writers, and not those of my employer. - K. Walsh]