Best apps for learning about fractions

Slice Fractions, £3.99, Apple and Android

This award-winning problem-solving game will take your child through the first stages of learning about fractions. They have to clear a path through the game for their woolly mammoth by slicing through lava and ice, which they do by matching fractions with their equal.

In the first levels of the game, your child simply has to match up the shapes to make a whole – so, for instance, dropping two half-sized ice blocks onto a whole slab of lava. As they progress through the app, the challenges become more tricky, introducing numerator/denominator fractions, equivalent fractions (e.g. knowing that 2/6 is equal to 1/3) and adding and subtracting fractions.

Pizza Fractions, free, Apple

One of the first steps in learning about fractions is to develop an eye for what different fractions look like. Simple and free, Pizza Fractions is a visually-based app that will help your child become faster and more confident at naming fractions.

In the chef’s pizzeria, your child is presented with a series of pizzas, which lend themselves perfectly to illustrating fractions. They have to choose which fraction is shown from the three multiple choice possibilities below. There are three levels of difficulty, with the first focusing on basic fractions such as 1/2, 1/4  and 1/3, while the harder levels introduce trickier fractions like 1/9, 1/12 and 1/15.

Each round is timed and scored, so your child can see how they’re improving in accuracy and speed as they play.

Fractions +, 99p, Apple

This app is great for helping children achieve automaticity with recognising fractions: a sign that they’ve properly understood what they’ve been learning. It helps them get used to identifying wholes, halves, thirds, quarters, fifths, sixths, eighths and tenths.

The aim of the game is to explode tiles on a grid by lining up three or more matching fractions. Your child has to keep the game going as long as they can, challenging themselves to beat their previous high scores. Be warned: it’s somewhat addictive!

You can opt for your child to work through the games in order, locking the harder levels until they’re progressed through the easier ones, or let them choose from the entire range of games. They’ll also earn stars as they play, with the goal being to achieve three stars: the mark of automaticity.

Tiny Fractions, £4.99, Apple

Tiny Fractions is a really comprehensive app that will teach your child a range of fractions skills, including estimating, comparing, ordering, finding equivalents, simplifying, adding and subtraction.

The app uses diagrams such as vials of liquid, circles and rectangles, familiarising your child with the different ways that fractions can be represented. Each sub-section has a range of tasks, including an overview, practice problems, and an opportunity to review what they’ve learnt, plus two games to test their newfound knowledge.

The inbuilt tests and quizzes allow you to track your child’s progress, and the app is fully adaptive, meaning that the difficulty increases as they become more adept at solving the problems.

Learn It Flashcards: Introduction to Fractions, 99p, Apple

Mental maths is a vital skill for all primary children to master, and being able to solve fractions problems quickly without having to write down their workings will stand them in good stead for KS2 SATs.

The app features a series of problems on flashcards, focusing on proper fractions, improper fractions, mixed numbers, simplified fractions, and factors. Tapping on the card flips it over to reveal the answer, and swiping brings up the next problem to solve.

There are 100 questions in total, ranging from working out what fraction of a shape is shaded, to putting a fraction into its simplest form, giving your child’s understanding of fractions a thorough workout.

Squeebles Fractions, £1.99, Apple and Android

Kids often learn better – and are more enthusiastic – if they have incentives, and this app from the ever popular Squeebles family will have your child hooked on solving fractions problems and earning rewards.

Intended for children aged seven to 11, and covering fractions from halves to twelfths, the app has four different mini games for your child to get stuck into, including A Piece of Cake, where they have to drag different fractions of cakes to each Squeeble as they ask for them, and Super Sums, which involves answering 10 of the Maths Monster’s questions as quickly as possible.

By playing the games, your child earns cake ingredients (including curry sponge and sugared carrots) and gets to whip up their own culinary creation to enter into the Squeebles’ Cake Making Contest.