This giveaway is now closed. Congratulations, Katherine!
Mike and I both grew up playing Math Blaster, so we thought it would be fun to review JumpStart, which was also created by Knowledge Adventure. Emma and Johnny were instant fans, and they particularly enjoy the matching games. We initially had a lot of trouble with the site taking too long to load (our cable internet is actually slower than the slowest version advertised by our cable company), but load time seemed to have improved the last couple of times the kids played.
JumpStart boasts a 3D virtual world full of colorful games for preschoolers through fifth graders, but I miss the simplicity of the original Math Blaster game. While the actual games in the portion of the site geared towards 3-5 year-olds are fairly straightforward, the virtual world is too complex for Emma to navigate on her own. This means that she frequently wanders into portions of the site that are designed for older children, and sometimes even gets stuck in the portions aimed at her own age group. I would like to see a separate entry into the site for pre-reading players with a simpler layout containing only games designed for their age group. I would be even more interested in having this version of the game available as a download that could be played on an offline computer since I’m not a fan of online gaming for young children.
Want to try JumpStart for yourself? Knowledge Adventure is offering a free three-month membership to a reader of this blog. To enter, just leave a comment on this post. You can get extra entries if you follow this blog with Google Friend Connect, and if you subscribe via email.
This giveaway will run until 9am EDT 5/31, when a winner will be chosen using random.org.
Disclosure: I was provided with a JumpStart membership 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.
MaryAnne is a craft loving educator, musician, photographer, and writer who lives in Silicon Valley with her husband Mike and their four children.
Okay, I’m in. We’ve tried JumpStart, the seven day free trial, and I basically agree with you. You need a fast computer, good internet, and I don’t know why they disable the keyboard controls for the storybook land for the littles. Rebecca can navigate fine with the keyboard, but I thought the mouse interface they make you use in just that area was really confusing. Also, I am super not into the dump you in front of the ‘store’ every time you log in. And the really slow load times. But if it was free I would let her play it for three months! :-)
.-= Katherine´s last blog ..First Painting =-.
Your review is really helpful for me as I am not familiar with Jumpstart. I am very interested in giving it a go as I am sure that my three year old would benefit from it. A separate section for pre-readers definitely sounds like it would be worthwhile.
Your mermaid cake looks amazing. I am a fan of frosting too and making a cake like that would mean that lots of taste testing would need to be done along the way.
.-= Elise´s last blog ..A Mummy Anthem =-.
Please don’t enter me into a giveaway, since I already have JS membership, but I wanted to say that I agree with your points. The game is engaging, but difficult to understand for a young child. Heck, even I get lost sometimes :)
.-= Natalie´s last blog ..Science Sunday – Dinosaur Teeth =-.
I love to win !! Count me in awesome giveaway!!
p.s. I follow you! ;)
Sounds cool! I’d love to give it a go!
.-= Andrea´s last blog ..People who make me laugh =-.
I’m a follower!
My kids have played jumpstart in the past, but I can’t justify paying the monthly fee. I would love to get 3 months free!!