Love to Count by Pirate Trio
Spring 2012 Mobile AppsThis reviewer, persnickety when it comes to math games for young learners, was impressed by this game. The interface is simple, as it just moves the learner from one screen to the next. The examples are fun, with engaging art and fun audio.
While the target age range is solid (both my 4 year old and my 7 year old played it), the scaffolding made it difficult to be ideal for both. It might be best suited for 5- to 6-year-olds who have a "just right" level of math savvy. Players perform diverse activities: counting, ordering, estimating, open ended addition and subtraction sentences. Grouping activities and the clock activities may be a challenge for younger children. Also, our 4-year-old tester had a very difficult time with the scales activity, because he has never seen a scale like that, and he doesn't understand the idea of equality in weight or in numbers. Younger ones may need help on the grouping activities too. Our seven-year-old tester found these activities good, but thought others were too easy. Finding a way to scaffold so that each learner had an experience targeted to his ability (based on answers) would solve the problem.
Given this, young testers loved this app, and they played and replayed it often.



