Keep Your Kids' Math Skills Sharp This Summer

Summer is a favorite season for children as they break from daily routine. However, they may lose a large amount of what they learned during the school year. Experts call it "summer brain drain" and it appears to be more prevalent in math than in other subjects.

More math activities for fun and discovery will help in retaining and sharpening kids' skills over the summer. One great activity is solving number sequences. And, there is an app for that!


NxtApp 4 Kids is a number-sequencing game that improves mental math skills for children in a fun-filled atmosphere. It is farm-themed with engaging barnyard animals holding banners with sequences. Developed specifically for the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch, NxtApp 4 Kids has been gaining popularity since its launch in June 2011. NxtApp 4 Kids was recently featured by Apple in the first spot as "New and Noteworthy" on iTunes for Kids and Educational games categories.

A leading reviewer of educational apps, Heather Leister of The iPhone Mom writes: "NxtApp 4 Kids is a smart app for mental math. My six year old demonstrated the app for me and then I gave it a try myself. My mental math skills are definitely not as sharp as they once were." The app comes with five stages. Each stage asks you to complete a number sequence, the sequences vary in difficulty. The first stage will have you adding one to complete the sequence. The next stage is subtract one. After that things become trickier. Stage three is "add" and it could be adding any number to finish the sequence. Stage four is subtract, again any number, and stage five is addition or subtraction. You'll have to figure out which operation you're going to do as you go.

The game has a farm theme and barnyard animals hold the numbers shown in the sequences. You'll hear them making sounds while you play the game. Music also plays in the background. Both of these effects can be turned off in the options. NxtApp 4 Kids even hooks up with Game Center. This is math work but it has a game feel to it.

NxtApp 4 Kids has obviously been designed to work with a variety of skill levels. "My son can be challenged by the beginning levels while my older girls (and yes, me) will find ourselves stretched by the higher stages. Some of the number sequences even deal with negative numbers. I like the way this app works with pattern recognition and number sequencing. I also like how it's encouraging the mental math skills while children are having fun, thinking they're playing a game."


NxtApp 4 Kids is available at 50% sale to celebrate its recent launch.

Pricing and Availability:
NxtApp 4 Kids 1.0 is only $0.99 (USD) for a limited time (or equivalent amount in other currencies) worldwide, exclusively through the App Store in the Game and Education categories.