The best way to boost your child's financial education is to help them improve their math skills and teach kids about money. Math skills and financial literacy go hand in hand because they help kids make sense of numerical information. To help your child get to grips with math, here's our round-up of the best math apps.
Best elementary and middle school apps
Pet Bingo
An entertaining app that takes kids on a mathematical adventure. Kids will learn addition, subtraction, and multiplication through fun multi-level activities. The app includes educational hints teachers have developed to help kids understand math concepts. Best for ages 5 to 11 years.
Marble Math
An app that involves solving math problems that appear at the top of the screen by rolling a marble through a maze and collecting the correct numbers or items to solve the problem. It’s best for older, elementary school children aged nine and over. Marble MathJunior. Based on the Common Core Curriculum this app is for early elementary school age and can be customized to fit your child’s personality and skills. It’s a great way for kids to start learning mental math.
Rocket Math
Teaches basic math facts including addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, fractions and decimals. This app’s progressive: it mixes newly memorized math facts with those previously learned. So it helps kids learn 100s of math facts over time. There are 26 levels, each with three phases — Take Off, Orbit and Universe.
Monster Math
This app promises to make your child love math. It combines games with fun characters and storylines with printables so they can practice math. Kids can enter multiplayer mode and compete with others online too. For 6-9-year-olds.
Operation Math
An award-winning game that transforms math drills into a worldwide learning adventure. Kids get to turn into secret agents and go on over 100 timed missions designed to help teach them addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. Players’ only criticism? No female characters. For 9-11-year-olds.
Space Pig Math
An action game for kids to practice their times tables (up to 12 x 12). To save Space Pig’s friends they have to laser the aliens. The game rewards correct, consecutive and quick answers. For 5-11-year-olds.
Prodigy Math
A curriculum-aligned math game used by teachers, parents and kids globally. It covers every major math topic for 1-8 graders, plus DoK levels one to three. Kids can also play with friends in a safe, online environment. Ages 5-14.
Twinkl Rapid Math
This app features over 100 game modes of varying difficulty covering six key topics: multiplication tables, addition, number facts, division, halving and doubling.
Math Shed
Developed by a team of teachers including math specialists, Math Shed gives a fun and easy-to-use way to practice math skills and covers number bonds, times tables, powers of ten with and without decimals, addition and subtraction up to 4 digit numbers and counting through zero.
Best high school apps
Elephant Learning Math Academy
This platform guarantees your kids will learn a year’s math in three months. For only 30 minutes use per week. You’ll get real-time progress reports so you can see how your child is doing too. For ages 2 to 16.
Doodlemaths
This app acts like a good tutor. It tailors math content to your child’s strengths and weaknesses through ‘7 a day’ activities. Use the parent dashboard to see how your child is doing and where they can improve. Although created in the UK, DoodleMaths is aligned to the US Common Core Standards. For 4-14-year-olds.
Photomath
Whether your kids are tackling basic arithmetic or advanced geometry, this app can help them get it. Learners of all levels use it to check their homework, help them study for tests and make new math discoveries every month. Photomath covers math topics from numbers and functions to algebra, trigonometry and calculus. Ages 4+.
Khan Academy
Kids of all ages can practice math exercises and watch videos created by specialists. As they get walked through common math problems they’ll build their math skills. Then they complete a series of questions to test their knowledge. The app helps identify any learning gaps. Suitable for any age.
Brilliant Math
This app helps sharpen users' mathematical skills. Kids can select from topics like algebra and geometry and engage in bite-sized activities to improve their math skills. For any age.
Kahoot! Algebra 5+ and 12+ by DragonBox
A great app that helps kids learn algebra. A must-have tool for students to gain confidence and improve their understanding of elements such as parentheses, positive and negative signs, the addition of fractions (common denominators) and factorization. Algebra 5+ gives kids the basics. In Algebra 12+ kids take a deep dive into advanced algebraic concepts.
All apps available on iOS and Android
What are the benefits of math apps?
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Convenient and portable
One massive benefit of math apps is they can be used on the go with any mobile device or tablet. Learning can happen wherever your kids are and during periods of free time that might otherwise be wasted. .
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Affordable and accessible
Most apps are also free, giving you extra resources at your fingertips. However, some offer a subscription level that unlocks more in-depth resources or is attached to a subscription website.
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Motivating game elements
Using gamification (game design elements in non-game contexts) helps motivate and engage kids by making learning more interactive. This can then increase the motivation to engage with the material. It also enhances engagement by adding game-like elements such as streaks, points, badges, and leaderboards and immediate feedback,
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Personalized learning
Math apps also adapt to the learner's skill level, offering a personalized learning experience that caters to your child's needs.
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A wide variety of topics
Apps also offer a wide variety of topics and skill levels, from basic arithmetic to advanced calculus and statistics, providing learners with all levels of math for all ages.
Related: How to teach children to count money
How to choose the best math app for your child
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Are the features good?
Not all apps are made equal. Look for an app that has high-quality content, preferably designed by experts. It can help to check user reviews to see what others think about the app.
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Is it age-appropriate?
Choose an appropriate app for your child's age and skill level. Look for one that offers a range of challenging levels so there's room for progression.
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Is it teaching mathematical skills?
This can help you see if it's easy to understand and whether it's teaching math rather than just providing games that loosely involve math. The app should help your child to understand and practice mathematical concepts.
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Are there safety features?
The app should be safe for your child to use and also does not collect any personal information. Check the privacy policy, so your child's data is protected.
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How much does it cost?
Is the app worth the investment if it's not free? If it costs money, what are you getting for your money? And is it benefitting your child? Have a trial run to work this out.
How can GoHenry help?
GoHenry can help children develop their math skills in financial literacy, by budgeting, goal setting and looking at transactions. The GoHenry kids debit card and app also allows parents to set up rewards for completing chores and reaching goals. Your child can calculate how much money they’ll earn for completing a task. Or how much they need to save to buy something they want.
What’s more, our in-app Money Missions tool means kids and teens can take their learning further. Through age-appropriate, bite-sized lessons and quizzes they’ll learn about everything from budgeting and saving to stocks and shares and investing.
