Math For Love Games Review (Prime Climb and Tiny Polka Dot)

As a homeschooler, some subjects are easier than others.  Some subjects are a struggle. Math has always been one of those subjects for me, and it was beginning to become of struggle for my oldest as well.  I realized things had to change.  She was starting to pick up on my dislike of math and it was spilling over onto her.  I needed to find a way to make math fun.  But I wasn't really sure how.  After all, I'd never really considered myself a "math person."  Then I discovered gameschooling and everything changed!  For all of us!  Turns out, using games to help reinforce math concepts is easy!  And it doesn't feel like work! So I began to look for math games for our family.  That's when I found Math For Love and I fell in love!  Haha!


The folks at Math For Love were kind enough to send me both of their games to review.  First up was Prime Climb.  I was immediately drawn to it because it's so pretty!  (I love colorful games!  I guess that's a win for the Math For Love folks!  They drew this "non-math mama" into a math game just by the looks of it!  Haha!





But then I did research on it and I was REALLY impressed! The objective of the game is to get both of your pawns to 101 (exactly).  You can accomplish that goal by adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing.  You can also bump other pawns back to start.  But what really blew my mind was when I realized all those pretty, colorful dots weren't just decorative.  The colors have a purpose!  The solid red numbers are prime numbers.  The orange numbers are divisible by 2, green numbers are divisible by 3, blue numbers are divisible by 5, and purple numbers are divisible by 7.  Numbers with multiple factors will be multiple colors.  For example, the number six is half yellow and half green because 2 and 3 are both factors of 6. Not only does this help kids with what factors a number is divisible by, but it also helps them check their work or find answers quicker.  For example, if your child is on the 5 space and rolls a 6, they can multiply 5x6. If they aren't sure what the answer is, the color coding helps them check their answer.  The Number 5 is blue.  6 is orange and green.  Therefore, the answer to 5x6 (30) will be blue, orange, and green.


But now let's get to the important part.  Do the kids wanna play it?  Because, in all honesty, if the kids aren't interested in playing it, will it really help? Well my 2 oldest (6 and 9) really enjoy playing!  Of course, the 6 year old needs more help with it.  But she and her older sister have both learned their times tables, so that has really helped them!   And I've noticed just in the time that we've been paying the game (about a week or so) my oldest seems to already be more comfortable with her times tables! Even Daddy has enjoyed playing the game with us!  I honestly thought this would go in our "gameschooling only" games pile.  You know, those games that we enjoy playing for school but nobody "asks" to play them during family game nights because they're to "educational."  Haha! But my kids ASK to play Prime Climb!  DURING FAMILY GAME NIGHTS!  They really love it!  And I love that they're finding out that math can be fun!  And so am I!  (You're never too old to learn something new!)

The second game from Math For Love is Tiny Polka Dot.


This is a perfect beginning math game!  My 4 year old loves it!  Again, its a pretty!  I also love how thick and sturdy the cards are!  They're almost like coasters!

My 4 year old loves these cards!  And I love that there is so much variety in how the numbers are displayed - numerals, dice arrangement, ten frame, circle, random pattern.  Its a great way to help them visualize numbers in different ways.  And the game comes with tons of different game ideas - like matching games, memory games, etc!  The colors are also fantastic for drawing kids in!  They're beautiful cards!!!

I received these games free of charge from Math For Love, in exchange for my honest review.