MathBlaster Review & Giveaway!

The creators of JumpStart have created Math Blaster, an online game comprised of cool graphics, characters, arcade games, and math! The Math Blaster curriculum is structured for children in Kindergarten through 6th grade and is meant to promote the development of math skills and critical thinking skills. The premise of the game is that your child has become a Blaster Cadet. As your Blaster Cadet participates in math training activities in the Academy, they earn merits and higher ranking, which allows them to participate in more activities.

There are certain areas of the game that promote math skills:

Math Facts (Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication and Division)
•Zapper Turret Training
• HyperBlast Training
• Alien Wrangler
Fractions, Decimals and Percents
• Bolt Cruncher
Money
• Oozami
Place Values
• Ooozami
3D Figures
• Bolt Cruncher











Children do have the ability to chat with other children using two different modes. The first includes using predetermined words or phrases. The second allows children to write a message as long as the words are included in Math Blaster’s database. Parents are required to turn on this form of chat.
Math Blaster also has a blog called appropriately, “The Math Blaster Blog”. Students and parents can visit this blog to learn “Space Secrets and Sneak Peeks”!

I have been trying to motivate my daughter to participate in educational games and activities throughout this whole summer. There have been times that I have been successful and sadly, there have been many times when she can see right through me and I completely struck out. My daughter is what I refer to as a “smarty pants”!

My daughter performs pretty well in math for her age, but as with many kids, there are certainly skills on which she needs to work, such as using mental math and not her fingers. Attempting to motivate her to do math problems in the summer was virtually impossible – I tried! However, my daughter became an instant fan of Math Blaster. She loved numerous factors about the game including the ability to personalize her character, create a pet, play arcade games, and she loved the fact that I was encouraging her to play a computer game and not trying to usher her off quickly. I spent time playing the game myself to get the hang of it and I kept thinking, “What I would have given to have had this when I was her age!” I was a horrible math student and I could seriously have benefitted from having a game such as this. I love that this game has great graphics and isn’t hokey – it really is entertaining. I love the fact that this game makes learning and practicing math skills fun. Working in an elementary school, I witness students struggle with math every day. I will definitely be informing parents about this game!
I was also given access to the Jumpstart.com! JumpStart is for children ages 3-10 years of age. If you purchase a membership to MathBlaster.com, you also receive a membership to JumpStart.com. This is a great deal!

The generous folks of Knowledge Adventure, creators of MathBlaster.com and JumpStart.com, have generously offered to sponsor a giveaway for a 3 month membership to MathBlaster.com, which also includes access to Jumstart.com!

Here are the details of the giveaway:

Win It: One winner will receive a 3 month membership to MathBlaster.com!

Mandatory Entry: Please visit MathBlaster and then leave me a comment letting me know something you learned or something you found interesting.  Please leave your email address as well.

Bonus Entries:
1. Follow Tidbits From A Mom publicly on Google Friend Connect. (1 entry)
2. Leave a comment on any of my non-giveaway reviews on my blog and leave a comment and let me know which review you commented on. (2 entries)
3. Follow me on Facebook or Twitter. (1 entry each)
4. Enter any of my other giveaways (1 entry each)
5. Share this giveaway on your facebook page and leave me the link. (2 entries)
6. The following may be tweeted daily: (1 entry eaach day)

#Win a 3 month membership to MathBlaster.com! Ends 9/5!

@tidbitsfromamom #giveaway http://tinyurl.com/3uxav9a

7. Grab my button and let me know where you placed it (3 entries)

8. Subscribe to Tidbits From A Mom through RSS feed or email (3 entries for each)

This giveaway ends on September 5, 2011 at 9:00 pm EST.  *Giveaway is open to U.S. residents.  The winner will be chosen through Random.org. The winner will be notified through email and will have 48 hours to respond.

Disclosure: I was provided with a membership good for MathBlaster and Knowledge Adventure at no cost by Knowledge Adventure in order to test the products’ abilities and give my own personal opinions on it. The opinions I have given are mine and may differ from others but were not influenced by the company or the free product provided.