Gracie & Friends Treasure Bubbles

Name: Gracie & Friends Treasure Bubbles
Item: Gracie & Friends Treasure Bubbles
Rating: 4
Author: Mieke VanderBorght

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Quickly assess small quantities with focused two-player activities

Subjects & skills

Grades This grade range is based on learning appropriateness and doesn't take into account privacy. It's determined by Common Sense Education, not the product's publisher.

Pre-K–K

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Tap to start; grownups can read the game, its learning goals, and its development in the Parents and Educators section.

Each kid taps and holds a bubble wand as the bubble gets bigger and the target number of objects appears inside.

The narrator points out objects can be arranged in multiple ways, but the quantity always stays the same.

Each player holds a character to move the rope around and catch bubbles that hold the target number of treasures.

If kids catch several bubbles with the wrong number, the game stops for a quick spotlight on determining quantity.

Pros: Introduces the new element of working together with a peer or a teacher to complete the levels.

Cons: Once kids speed through the five levels, nothing new gets introduced.

Bottom Line: Despite repetition and potential coordination challenges, kids get good practice exercising fluency with quantity.

How Can I Teach with This Tool?

Get kids thinking about numbers with a variety of classroom activities that require hands-on participation in addition to any screen-based games. Infuse other topics with math talk and number awareness. For example, create piles during clean up and ask kids to quickly say how many items are in the pile. Rearrange and try again. Have kids pair up to play Gracie and Friends Treasure Bubbles. They can start by discussing strategy, for example, should they take turns counting and directing or should it be a team effort all the way through? Then have them practice coordinating their moves together. Gracie and Friends Treasure Bubbles can be a fun learning station as part of a more comprehensive and generalized unit on beginning math skills and number fluency. Download the whole suite of apps and use the printable worksheets to get kids really engaged and comfortable with small numbers. And, look out for a full teacher's guide coming in 2015.

What Is It?

Gracie and Friends Jungle Gym is part of a suite of apps and off screen activities that aim to teach one very specific math skill: subitizing, or recognizing quantity without having to count. Kids practice recognizing quantity without having to count for numbers 1 through 5. This game is designed for two players, though with good coordination kids could play on their own. Each player must tap and hold a bubble wand to blow up two bubbles with the target number of treasures inside. Then, each player taps and drags a character holding a rope to pop falling bubbles that hold the target number of treasures in different configurations (for example, three treasures can be lined up in a row, or stacked like a pyramid). Levels progress in order from two treasures up to five, and then repeat for a second round. There's some built-in extra support for kids who make a few mistakes.

Is It Good for Learning?

Like all apps in this suite, Gracie and Friends Treasure Bubbles is sharply focused on one math skill: subitizing. Kids will get good practice quickly judging quantity as they filter which bubbles have the right number of treasures and which ones don't. The playing-in-two feature is a nice way to get kids working together with another kid or a grown-up. However, popping the bubbles requires some quick thinking and moving; it may be hard to coordinate choosing bubbles and moving in the right direction quickly enough to catch the bubble. Blowing bubbles is such a classically exciting activity for young kids that they're bound to love blowing and popping to their heart's content -- all without getting the floor wet with bubble solution. Yet, with only five levels and no variation in mode of play, even bubbles may start to bore kids. And, it would be nice to see the second round of levels up the challenge rather than simply repeat the first cycle. Overall, this is a free, super fun -- if short-lived -- and worthwhile part of the Gracie and Friends subitizing suite.

Rating Details

Overall Rating

Engagement Would it motivate students and hold their interest? Is it visually appealing? Would it inspire teachers to try something new or change their instruction?

Blow bubbles and pop them -- anyone with experience with young kids knows that should be enough said. Yet, play is repetitive and it can easily get old if kids ever tire of blowing and popping.

Pedagogy Does the tool help teachers promote a more student-centered experience? Will students gain conceptual understanding or think critically? Does it deepen teachers’ pedagogical thinking?

Clear instructions and explanations help kids first recognize quantity and then quickly pick out the right quantity among different options. Because kids play with a friend, they also get practice with teamwork.

Support Can students and teachers get assistance when they need it? Is it created with people of different abilities and backgrounds in mind? Is learning reinforced and extended beyond the digital experience?

Scaffolded hints help kids who are having trouble. Play requires some manual dexterity and coordination. The developer's website has great learning extensions.

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Mieke VanderBorght Researcher

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