Math Blaster Review and Giveaway

I was asked by Knowledge Adventure, creators of the award-winning JumpStart, to review and host a giveaway (so don't forget to enter) for their most recently launched product, Math Blaster, a browser-based virtual world for kids ages 6-12.

Once logged into Math Blaster, the first thing your child will do is design their Blaster Cadet.  Funny Bunny spent a lot of time here, getting hers just right.  Once their cadet is created and name picked out, players explore this virtual world using the arrow keys on their keyboard.  Depending on your child's ability, this can be a little challenging at first.

There is a lot to explore, but once you become familiar with everything (which may take a bit of time), you can start playing the Math Blaster training activities located throughout the space station, which will award players with merits and achievements.

If your child likes animals, kids can also adopt, raise, care for, and train their very own alien creatures.  If their mutts are well taken care of, they will grow and be able to help Blasters go on new and exciting missions.

Below is Funny Bunny's character with her creature, Golden Flare.  You can see his stats on the top right of the screen. 

Math Games include:

* HyperBlast Training - Blasters race through a high-speed tunnel packed with alien robots, razor sharp obstacles, and mind-bending math.  Players must master facts with addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division.

* Zapper Turret Training - Blasters defend the space station by blasting away approaching asteroids using addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division skills.

* Bolt Cruncher - Players must quickly and correctly match batteries to each robot by solving math problems to save the robots from the dreaded cruncher.

* Alien Wrangler - Kids will answer addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division problems correctly before the alien bucks them off his back.

* Oozami - To tackle the ooze, Blasters must use their math skills like numeric place values, decimal place values, and money recognition.  By answering the problems correctly and successfully jumping from one platform to another without falling in the toxic ooze, Blasters can save the space station from a celestial catastrophe.

Math Blaster offers a safe, kid-friendly environment, which includes mulitplayer, chat, and buddy list features.  When you first start, you see other characters walking around.  I personally do not like this feature for young children, and was happy to see that I could disable it, which I did.  Funny Bunny is just too young to be worrying about chatting with others, so she can still enjoy the game without the player interaction.  It is nice that they give parents this option.

My Thoughts:  Funny Bunny can use help with her math skills, so I was excited to have her try this game.  The problem I see is that a child could potentially play Math Blaster without ever playing a math game.  Funny Bunny was happy with creating her Cadet Blaster and her pet, spending most of her time taking care of her pet and playing the other games that don't require math.  I can imagine that some children who have the chat features active, could also spend time talking with friends.  I really wish that this game required the players to play the math games before they could do any other games or activities. 

Thoughts of an 8-Year Old:  I love Math Blaster! My favorite part is Monster Mutts and my favorite math game is Alien Wrangler. I like that no one's forcing you to do math, but I do like the math games. All and all, I really like Math Blaster a lot! 

Find Out More:  You can find out more online at Math Blaster.  A non-member can play for free and explore and play with friends, but a member has access to member-only lessons and games, can practice advanced math skills, download 4 JumpStart PC games (an $80 value), and unlock member only features and avatar pieces.  And a Math Blaster membership also includes complete access to JumpStart and is good for up to six kids.  Membership costs $7.99 a month, $74.99 a year, or $149.99 for a lifetime.

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So, here's how to enter to win a Three-Month Math Blaster Membership!  For each comment, you will get one (1) entry.

1.  Tell me why you would like to win

2.  Follow my blog using Google Friend Connect

3.  Like Math Blaster on Facebook

4.  Subscribe to my blog by email through Feedburner

5.  Like my Facebook page

6.  Follow me on Twitter @OurHSReviews

7.  Tweet about this giveaway up to once a day

**Remember to please leave a separate comment for each entry**

One random winner will be selected using Random.org on Friday, September 30, 2011.  (U.S. entries only)  If I am unable to reach the winner within 48 hours, an alternate winner will be selected.  Your entry is only valid if you include a way for me to contact you (either an email address in your comment or on your profile).

Disclosure:  This product was given to Our Homeschool Reviews for free for review purposes, and I do not have to return the products to the vendor.  I have received no compensation from it and all opinions and experiences within this review are my own.