Vegetable Maths Masters
Veggie-focused math games miss the mark.
Kids say
Based on 2 reviews
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Vegetable Maths Masters
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A Lot or a Little?
The parents' guide to what's in this app.
What Parents Need to Know
Parents need to know that Vegetable Maths Masters is a math app that arose out of an effort to get kids to make healthier eating choices. It stems from a research project at Aston University that studies ways to increase kids' interest in eating vegetables. In this case, they integrated vegetables into a math experience. The app uses British English, which younger (American) kids might struggle to understand. It uses alternate words/spellings such as "maths" for math and "aubergine" for eggplant. There aren't many directions or support, and young kids will need help knowing what to do, especially as some of the prompts are only in writing. At the end of each game, kids are returned to a screen that reads, "How old are you?" before being able to choose a new activity. As an incentive element, kids earn stars they can use to buy characters and outfits. Read the developer's privacy policy for details on how your (or your kids') information is collected, used, and shared and any choices you may have in the matter, and note that privacy policies and terms of service frequently change.
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What’s It About?
VEGETABLE MATHS MASTERS starts by asking kids, "How old are you?" Kids can choose from three age groupings (3-4 years, 5-6 years, and 7+ years). The youngest grouping has two activities: number tracing and counting activity. The middle grouping has both of those, as well as counting/number matching, more counting, and addition (kids could solve through counting). The last grouping adds on multiplication, division, and fractions. All of the games involve vegetables such as peas, corn on the cob, cauliflower, carrots, eggplant (called aubergine), broccoli, and mushrooms. As the in-game characters receive their veggies, they exclaim things like, "Broccoli is tasty!" and "Cauliflower is SO good!" Kids earn stars for each correct answer given. The stars can be used to buy vegetable characters. Kids can dress the characters and buy additional clothes.
Is It Any Good?
This math game was designed to encourage kids to eat more vegetables and that's exactly what it feels like. While made with only the best intentions, the mashup of nutrition and math doesn't seem to offer enough clarity or focus on either topic. Vegetable Maths Masters has some variety, but the math feels secondary. There's no prompting for kids who make repeated mistakes and no support to help kids master new skills. The number tracing activity is finicky and doesn't allow any room for kids who draw the parts of numbers in a different order. Some of the games in the 7+ category require skills that kids won't learn until they are 8 or 9 years old (within the United States). There's no way to specify which skills are available for kids. Some kids will enjoy dressing up the vegetables, but each one has only one set of clothes and many of the accessories require a lot of in-game currency to unlock (e.g., 50 stars, or math questions answered, for a pair of sunglasses). If you want to encourage your kids to eat more vegetables, this may be worth a shot, but there are stronger math games available.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about vegetables in general and the ones in Vegetable Maths Masters. What kinds of vegetables does your family eat? Which ones are your favorites? Go to the market and choose a new vegetable to try together.
Families can talk about learning with apps. Do you think this is a good app for learning? Why or why not? What can you learn?
App Details
- Devices: iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad, Android
- Subjects: Math: arithmetic, counting, fractions
- Skills: Health & Fitness: balanced diet
- Pricing structure: Free
- Release date: August 9, 2018
- Category: Educational Games
- Publisher: Aston University
- Version: 1.0
- Minimum software requirements: iOS 7.0 or later; Android 4.1 and up
- Last updated: September 17, 2018
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