Today's guest review was provided by Claire from Seasider in the City and her son Jacob.
For the last month Jacob has been reviewing Math Blaster, an online virtual world game in which you are a cadet in the ISP (Intergalactic Space Patrol). The game is based around maths problems and quizzes but there is so much more to it that your child forgets they are actually learning.
Jacob Speedy Jet was our creation and one of the first things we did was to go and adopt a Monster Mutt. Once we had our new friend there begun a new job of looking after it, feeding, grooming and playing with it and eventually growing it into a fully-fledged alien.
Jacob would have happily just played with his mutt all day and visited the mutt of the cadet friends he has made in the game. However to earn enough points to feed him he has to go and complete some of the Maths games and challenges.
His favourite games to play are Hyper Blast and Alien Wrangler, where to progress you need to answer sums. Before starting you can pick from addition, subtraction, multiplication and then next you can choose a level of difficulty. This is fantastic as it means we can really target the areas that he is currently learning at school and he does not have to miss out as it is too difficult for him.
Not all the games are learning based, there are racing games and training games for your Mutt – these are really good for improving keyboard skills and finger speed. Jacob’s control over the mouse has greatly improved since starting to play this game and he is able to quickly navigate the arrow keys and space bar.
There are numerous zones to explore and more unlocks as you gain experience and climb the cadet ranks. There is a whole online community available too with the ability to add friends and chat with them through the game. Jacob is a bit too young for this side of things and I’m really pleased to see that this is administered by the parent.
For little ones I think the lack of instructions to read is a bonus as it means Jacob can get on and play without me needing to press every button or tell him which choice to make.
As a parent I would have really liked to have seen a few more instructions on what the aim of the game actually is. There are some FAQs but these just tell you how to create your cadet and detail each of the additional games. Some idea of what the Mutts do and how long they take to mature would have been good. For Jacob though he likes the surprise of logging on and seeing how much it has grown.
A monthly subscription to Math Blaster costs £3.99 you are also able to play for free but full access gives you the ability to morph and train your Mutt as well as additional member only lessons and games. Jacob loves this game and shows no sign of getting bored of it a month on, this is great as it means he can try out all the different levels as his maths knowledge grows.
You can find out more about Mathsblaster on the Mathsblaster blog.
Disclosure: Claire was provided with a membership good for Math Blaster and Knowledge Adventure at no cost by Knowledge Adventure in order to test the products’ abilities and give her own personal opinions on it. The opinions she has given are hers and may differ from others but were not influenced by the company or the free product provided.
For the last month Jacob has been reviewing Math Blaster, an online virtual world game in which you are a cadet in the ISP (Intergalactic Space Patrol). The game is based around maths problems and quizzes but there is so much more to it that your child forgets they are actually learning.
Jacob Speedy Jet was our creation and one of the first things we did was to go and adopt a Monster Mutt. Once we had our new friend there begun a new job of looking after it, feeding, grooming and playing with it and eventually growing it into a fully-fledged alien.
Jacob would have happily just played with his mutt all day and visited the mutt of the cadet friends he has made in the game. However to earn enough points to feed him he has to go and complete some of the Maths games and challenges.
His favourite games to play are Hyper Blast and Alien Wrangler, where to progress you need to answer sums. Before starting you can pick from addition, subtraction, multiplication and then next you can choose a level of difficulty. This is fantastic as it means we can really target the areas that he is currently learning at school and he does not have to miss out as it is too difficult for him.
Not all the games are learning based, there are racing games and training games for your Mutt – these are really good for improving keyboard skills and finger speed. Jacob’s control over the mouse has greatly improved since starting to play this game and he is able to quickly navigate the arrow keys and space bar.
There are numerous zones to explore and more unlocks as you gain experience and climb the cadet ranks. There is a whole online community available too with the ability to add friends and chat with them through the game. Jacob is a bit too young for this side of things and I’m really pleased to see that this is administered by the parent.
For little ones I think the lack of instructions to read is a bonus as it means Jacob can get on and play without me needing to press every button or tell him which choice to make.
As a parent I would have really liked to have seen a few more instructions on what the aim of the game actually is. There are some FAQs but these just tell you how to create your cadet and detail each of the additional games. Some idea of what the Mutts do and how long they take to mature would have been good. For Jacob though he likes the surprise of logging on and seeing how much it has grown.
A monthly subscription to Math Blaster costs £3.99 you are also able to play for free but full access gives you the ability to morph and train your Mutt as well as additional member only lessons and games. Jacob loves this game and shows no sign of getting bored of it a month on, this is great as it means he can try out all the different levels as his maths knowledge grows.
You can find out more about Mathsblaster on the Mathsblaster blog.
Disclosure: Claire was provided with a membership good for Math Blaster and Knowledge Adventure at no cost by Knowledge Adventure in order to test the products’ abilities and give her own personal opinions on it. The opinions she has given are hers and may differ from others but were not influenced by the company or the free product provided.
