MentalUP is one of the most popular scientific and entertaining educational games applications, developed by academicians and pedagogues. It offers dozens of mind games with suitable difficulty levels for children. We asked some of our families to review it to see what it was like, read on to get their verdict.
What is MentalUP?
MentalUP includes games that boost memory, attention, focusing, analytical thinking, visual intelligence and a lot more to support the development of cognitive skills of children between 4-13 years old.
It has had more than 5 million downloads, more than 50,000 comments and an average of 4.7 points in App Stores.
MentalUP are a proud participant of the University College London Institute of EDUCATE Program, which supports promising educational tech companies.
What Our Testers Thought
How Easy Did You Find It To Install And Use?
Mum of 5 year old, “I found it very easy to install and use. The app is very self explanatory and all instructions are very clear and concise.”
Mum of 6 & 10 year old, “Very easy to download, instructions are easy to understand and it’s set up is very straightforward.”
How Easy Did Your Child Find It To Use?
Mum of 5 year old: “I found that I had to stay with her at all times whilst she was on it. I think that a quick demo of each game should be shown before they start. The instructions are given verbally and written on the screen but I think kids would miss this and would benefit from a sample.
I found that the first few attempts in each game were generally wasted on her figuring it out. She did navigate through the game with no problems and moving levels was simple.”
Mum of 6 year old: “He found it very easy and enjoyed reading aloud the instructions before playing the game. Some games were harder than others but he still enjoyed the challenge.”
Mum of 10 year old: “She found it very easy to use, navigate and understand.”
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What Did You Think of the Bonus Features/Performance Reports
Mum of 5 year old: “I would have liked to have seen the quantity of other children her age that she was compared to at the end of each game. It is given in the Percentile reports but I’d like to see it on each end of game report. That would make it even better”
Mum of 6 year old: “It was interesting to see where he finished up against the age cohort and he was determined next time to do better than the ‘other side’.”
Mum of 10 year old: “I found that she was way ahead in most of the games and so she didn’t find it as much of a challenge. From that perspective if she had kept playing and the games gotten harder then yes that would have been beneficial.”
What Did Your Child Think About MentalUP?
Mum of 5 year old: “I think she didn’t like the fact that I had to explain every game to her. She is used to other apps, which tend to show her clearly what to do in every game and my input is not needed as much. She likes this element of other apps as it gives her a sense of independence.”
Mum of 6 year old: “He said he enjoyed the popping bubbles game and the others, he was able to read the instructions so I didn’t have to sit with him, and there was lots of giggles and ‘oh cool’ statements coming from him!”
Mum of 10 year old: “She found some of the games a little too easy and wasn’t too pushed about playing it much. She did enjoy, however, seeing how much she had improved after playing the games.”
Would You Recommend MentalUP To Other Parents?
Mum of 5 year old: “I would recommend it”
Mum of 6 year old: “Definitely would tell other parents for kids in his class”
Mum of 10 year old “Yeah I probably would although we (fellow parents) don’t tend to compare notes that much on apps I find”
Over to you now. Has your child tried out MentalUP? What did they think? Tell us in the comments below.