Jungle Coins
A fantastic app for teaching kids about coins and money
APP DETAILS
Developer – Andrew Short
Age – 5 to 9 year olds
Subject – Numeracy, Money
Special Need - Dyscalculia
Score – 94/100
Price – £2.29 / $2.99
App Store Link - http://geni.us/2cIt
Play Store Link – Not Available
Windows Store Link - Not Available
App Review
Jungle Coins is a fantastic app for helping to teach young children about money and the value of coins. It contains four learning modes, each of which comes at the topic in a slightly different way. The first is ‘Find Coins’ where children simply have to identify different coins. The second is ‘Count Money’ where they have to add up the value of all the coins on the screen. The third is ‘Compare Coins’ which requires them to decide which side of the screen contains more money. The most demanding activity is ‘Correct Change.’ In this children are given a money problem to solve, e.g. “You paid £1.00 for an item that cost £0.85 Slide the correct change to the right.”
Each of the learning modes has five levels of difficulty but it is also possible for parents or teachers to specify the coins used. This makes Jungle Coins perfect for special needs students who may need more time to work on their understanding of specific areas.
Photo Realistic Coins
The coins used in this app are almost photo realistic and the narration is also first class. It is provided by children and is very natural and easy to listen to. Questions can be repeated with a simple tap and pressing any of the on screen coins results in them flipping over to reveal their value. At the same time this is also described by the narrator. Correct answers are greeted with a roar from the on screen jungle animal while incorrect ones receive a slight growl. The attention to detail is also fantastic. Even the way the coins appear on screen has been made to sound like they are being emptied out of a purse.
Multiple Currencies
Jungle Coins does not restrict users to just one currency. In addition to the British pound, the other currencies included are the US dollar, the Australian dollar, the New Zealand dollar, the Euro, the Swiss franc, the Swedish krona, the Russian ruble and the Japanese yen. They have even sub divisions for the Euro so that residents of Austria, Belgium, Netherlands, France, Germany, Greece, Republic of Ireland, Italy, Portugal and Spain can have coins with their own markings on them. All of this is included in the purchase price which is very impressive. The Canadian dollar used to be available only as an in-app purchase. This was due to a licensing agreement with the Royal Canadian Mint but it also is now included in the purchase price.
Jungle Coins allows for multiple users and adults can keep track of how each child is doing by looking at their profile in the settings area. This provides details of the date, the time spent on each activity and the number of attempts they have made.
Worth It
Jungle Coins is, without doubt, one of the best apps available for learning about coins and money. It is a very comprehensive app that has great potential as a teaching tool. It is well worth the £2.29 / $2.99 price tag.
Peter
Educational App Advice
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