Gracie & Friends City Skate
© 2015 WGBH
One of four free (NSF Funded) games with bite-sized, focused games that are easy to manage. This app would make a good addition for an early math activity for any early childhood program. Here's how it works. Children collect matching number sets by tapping on a skate boarder as the sets pass by (one tap equals a small jump, two taps for a higher jump). There are 20 levels covering the numbers 1 to 5. The simple runner mechanic is easy to control. City Skate is part of the four-game subitizing suite from Early Math with Gracie & Friends. The curriculum supplement of Early Math with Gracie & Friends is based on the Next Generation Preschool Math research project funded by the National Science Foundation. The research focused on the development of eight learning apps and 40 hands-on and traditional preschool activities. Created by First 8 Studios (www.first8studios.org) for WGBH. Need to know -- the format gets dry very fast. There's not much narrative glue to this activity.
iPad, iPhone
Teaches: math, counting, subitizing (recognizing sets of one to five objects without counting).
CTR Rating: 92%