5 Games That Will Make Your Kids Smarter

1. DragonBox Algebra 5+: $6; available for Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, Amazon

Your 5-year-old may think he’s just matching pictures of fish, bugs, and other beasties so he can feed a hungry dragon, but he’s really learning the fundamentals of algebra. DragonBox is a truly sneaky way to introduce concepts like basic arithmetic, positive and negative numbers, and solving for X without using anything resembling a math equation.

2. Tinybop Plants: $2; iOS only

With this App, kids learn to identify native plants and animals and how the natural world adapts to different conditions, without the use of rote memorization.

3. Tinybop Human Body: $3, iOS only

The first app from the makers of Plants offers a similarly offbeat take on human physiology. Tap an icon to view the nervous system, skeleton, muscles, digestive system or all of them at once. Feed the mouth broccoli and watch the food course through the digestive track as the stomach gurgles.

4. S.M.A.R.T. Adventures Mission Math: $2; available for iOS, Android, and Kindle Fire

In this space-themed game, your child plays a cadet recruited by S.M.A.R.T. (the Science Math and Radical Technology Agency). Her mission: figure out who sabotaged the space station by solving a series of math challenges, calling on other virtual cadets for help. Games are based on the core fourth-grade math curriculum, and the immersive story line and positive female role models are designed to make the game more attractive to girls ages 9 and up.

5.Vocab.com: $3; available for iOS and Android

The app version of the popular Vocabulary.com site builds your word power through a series of simple quizzes, which start out relatively easy and then adapt to your skill level.

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