Funexpected Math - A Charming PreK-2 Math Game - Guide for Parents and Teachers
Topic(s): Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication, Geometry, Number Sense, Logic
Platform(s): Tablet, Phone (iOS; Google Play)
Developer: Funexpected LTD
Funexpected Math is an adaptive educational math game, aimed at helping both toddlers and early childhood (PreK-2) students develop early conceptual knowledge and fluency. The moment you boot up the game, you will find a vibrant and charming art style that will likely capture young children’s attention. Unsurprisingly, the game won a Webby Award for Best Visual Design.
The app’s educational value is just as good as its visuals. In addition to being recognized for its high-quality presentation, the game also won a Kidscreen Award for Best Learning App and was nominated for the Best Learning Game Award at the Games for Change (G4C) Festival in 2020.
Funexpected Math is available on both iOS and Google Play app stores. Anyone can try the game for free on tablets and phones.
General Math Content and Gameplay
When starting the game, you’ll be prompted to select one of five cutesy heroes. This game has a context — your chosen hero must save the world from darkness by relighting the stars in the galaxy with the help of a genie.
You’ll go on various “missions” (that is, complete mathematical activities) to light up stars in the galaxy, learning about different constellations along the way. Before setting out on your journey, the genie will give you an assortment of math and logic problems to solve. In actuality, this is an initial assessment that tests what kids already know, and adjusts their individual learning path based on their performance.
After the assessment, kids will have the freedom to continue completing the activities in the module, or explore the mathematical activities on different continents. Students can visit places like Japan, Madagascar, and Greenland, and the game’s audiovisual presentation is authentic to these locales. You’ll find cherry blossom trees in Japan, cold and icy weather in Greenland, pyramids in Egypt, and so on. This presents an opportunity for young children to learn more than math from this game, as they may develop some sense of what these locations are like in the real world.
No matter what kids choose to do in this game, they’ll be challenged with standards-aligned (or related) activities, on topics including, but not limited to, number sense, geometry, addition, subtraction, and multiplication. Because the game is adaptive, the difficulty of these activities will be tailored to kids based on their performance. There are a multitude of opportunities for children to engage in conceptual learning, because the mechanics highlight mathematical ideas as children learn through play.
Geometry Gameplay and Educational Value
Children can enjoy a number of geometry games that vary depending on the locale. In Egypt, children will have the opportunity to engage with lines of symmetry and spatial reasoning. Research in mathematics education has explored associations between children’s spatial skills and mathematical achievement, affirming that children’s early spatial skills predict later math knowledge, and are responsible for a significant percentage of the variance in mathematical achievement at age 7 (Gilligan et al., 2017; Rittle-Johnson et al., 2019).
In Japan, students can play a geometry game in which they must recreate the given composite shape by combining and rotating the correct geometric shapes on the left of the screen. As they are using 2-D shapes to create composite shapes, this game is most closely aligned with Common Core standard 1.G.A.2. The game is heavy on spatial visualization, because in addition to spatial orientation, children must also think about which shapes are in front of, or behind others. The image above is a demonstration.
Additional literature highlights the importance of the development of early spatial skills (Clements & Sarama, 2020; NCTM, 2000). Therefore, it is a bonus that not only are these games engaging, but they also allow students the opportunity to develop these skills.
Finally, see the video above of a fun mini game in Greenland. Students must identify shapes to bring the image of an animal to life, via a collage of 2-D shapes. There is an audio clip that names each shape the game requires kids to identify, so this game is a great way for children to get accustomed to sorting and recognizing basic shapes (such as triangles and quadrilaterals). Further, kindergarten standards (K.G.A and K.G.A.2 in particular) require students to name and identify shapes. Therefore, this activity presents parents and teachers with a supplement that allows children to play as they work towards this learning goal.
This is not an exhaustive list of the geometry games in Funexpected Math. However, these activities are representative of the kind of mathematical thinking and concepts children will encounter when playing the game. The activities are aligned developmentally with how children begin to understand geometric relationships within the five-level van Hiele model (Van de Walle et al., 2016). At level 0—the level in which many of the activities are aligned—children develop their understanding by identifying, naming, sorting, and operating on shapes.
Number Sense Gameplay and Educational Value
Skip counting activity in Funexpected Math
Skip counting by 5’s activity scaffold
Skip counting by 5’s scaffold removed
Funexpected Math offers students the chance to hone a variety of number sense skills. For example, children exploring the games in Egypt will find a skip counting activity. In this game, students take control of a snake that eats numbers. Students must find the next number in the sequence according to the number they’re skip counting by.
The game doesn’t toss kids into the fray without scaffolding. At the very beginning, the game has children count by 1s and 2s, eventually building up to skip counting by 5s and 10s by the end of the activity. The game is easily mapped to Common Core standard 2.NBT.A.2. An additional scaffold is provided by displaying the next number in the sequence students should look for. If students continue to play this activity, this scaffold is removed and the snake begins to slither at a faster pace (see the images above). Parents and teachers (and children) will be pleased with these scaffolds.
Meanwhile, over in Greenland, students can find snowballs arranged in a rectangular array. Children can practice multiplication with arrays by selecting the correct number of rows and columns that will yield the product they are asked to find. The game is most closely aligned to 2.OA.C.4, even though some arrangements exceed five columns (like the one above) and students don’t write equations. Students can explore commutativity because sometimes there is more than one correct answer. For example, students can arrange a product of six by selecting three rows and two columns, or two rows and three columns.
A different number sense activity in Greenland invites students to play around with pigeons and weights. The goal is to balance the ice platforms so they have an equal amount of weight. It’s an interesting way for children to practice decomposing numbers into pairs (Common Core standard K.OA.A.3). In the image above, notice the change in the value of the platforms as the birds and weights move from one platform to another. A teacher can help students record the equations for this activity. The first equation is 8 = 6 + 2. The next equation is 8 = 5 + 3, and finally, 8 = 4 + 4. The difficulty increases as children continue to play this game. An additional ice platform is added to the game, along with balloons which can be attached to the weights to lower the overall weight of the platform.
Japan offers a counting game for young children. The goal of the game is to simply give the monkey the correct number of apples. I specifically enjoyed the difficulty spike in this game. Students start out by counting from 0, but the difficulty spike requires children to count forward because, as the picture on the right indicates, the monkey sometimes starts with more than 0 apples. Therefore, students need to be able to count forward from the given number in the sequence, as indicated by Common Core standard K.CC.A.2.
Math Gym, In-Game Events, and Logic Games
Funexpected Math has plenty of other features to offer that make it stand out from other math games. In addition to the continents and modules, there is a special section of the game — the Math Gym — where students have the freedom to play a multitude of different activities at a difficulty setting of their choice. The developers are consistent in adding new games to the Gym, so students can always expect new challenges in future updates.
What I love the most about the Math Gym is how casual it is. It has nothing to do with the missions or modules, but instead, is a place where children can practice their math skills at their own pace.
In addition to the Math Gym, the developers have added in-app events to Funexpected Math every couple of months. This is unheard of in educational games, and is typically reserved for massive multiplayer online games (MMOGs). As an example, the developers have added a springtime egg hunt quest along with mini games and activities based on Easter eggs. It’s a great way to connect the game to children’s real world, like the game already does with its game world and activities.
In addition to math, children will find logic games across the app. These resemble puzzle games that aim to teach kids coding basics. In one game, students program a ninja by giving it directional commands to rescue a cat in a skyscraper. In another, you’ll choose the direction in which colored circles fall into a circular bin.
All of the games in Funexpected Math feature a hint button at the bottom right of the screen that gives students feedback on the current state of the puzzle or activity. This button will tell students what to do next, so it’s great for them to use this if they aren’t sure how to solve a puzzle or don’t understand the directions.
Summary
Funexpected Math is a beautiful game with a breadth of content that is backed by research in mathematics education and is standards-aligned. It would take far too long to write about the plethora of other games and activities children can explore. However, parents of young children are likely to be pleased with the game, given its positive reviews on both app stores as well as its accolades. Further, it is clear the designers did their homework on what makes video games engaging and mathematically rich for young learners.
If you’re a parent, teacher, or curriculum supervisor of young learners, I sincerely recommend giving this game a try!
I would love to know what you think! Please let me know any thoughts or questions you have in the comments!
Audiovisuals
Funexpected Math has a colorful and charming art style, paired with a relaxing OST.
Challenge
Funexpected Math includes a variety of activities that increase in difficulty as students master math concepts.
Feedback
Funexpected Math provides children with hints to aid them if they get stuck on puzzles.
