Team Umizoomi

Review

Common Sense Media says

Math-based adventures well-suited to preschoolers.
greenON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age.
yellowPAUSE: Know your child; some content
may not be right for some kids.
redOFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age.
not for kidsNOT FOR KIDS: Not appropriate for kids any age.

Find out more

Quality
 
Sometimes media can be age appropriate but a real waste of time. Our star rating assesses the media's overall quality.

Find out more

Learning2
BEST: Really engaging, great learning approach.
GOOD: Pretty engaging, good learning approach.
FAIR: Somewhat engaging, OK learning approach.
NOT FOR LEARNING: Not recommended for learning.

Find out more

Parents say

Not yet rated

Kids say

Not yet rated

What parents need to know

Parents need to know that Team Umizoomi is a friendly, gentle adventure game based on a Nickelodeon preschool show of the same name. The heroes -- a boy, girl, and robot -- zip around in a rocket, helping out people and animals in need. Early math concepts are always at the heart of every solution the team comes up with.

  • Positive messages5
    Learning is made fun and enjoyable, kids are treated very gently when they perform an incorrect action, and the story holds many messages about helping others.
  • Positive role models5
    The Umizoomi team is on a mission to find parts and rebuild their rocket, but they stop along the way to help out anybody in need that crosses their path. It's always the welfare of others that comes first.
  • Ease of play5
    The verbal instructions for each activity are pretty clear and easily understood, but even if kids don't catch them, there will be visual hints in the corner to show how the stylus should be moved in any given mini-game.
  • Violence & scariness0
    Not applicable.
CloseExpand to see more details

What kids can learn

2

Kids can learn early math concepts including counting, ordering (by number or size), matching colors, measuring objects, and distinguishing patterns. Team Umizoomi presents these math challenges as part of an adventure to recover parts of a broken rocket and as a way of helping others in need. The characters verbally encourage kids throughout, even if the player is having difficulty. By joining Team Umizoomi, kids practice math as a way of helping others.

Subjects
  • Arts
  • Hobbies
  • Language & Reading
  • Math
    addition, grouping, subtraction
  • Science
  • Social Studies
Skills
  • Collaboration
  • Communication
  • Creativity
See more details

What's it about?

Team Umizoomi, based on the Nickelodeon show of the same name, features a group of pint-sized heroes (a boy, a girl, and a robot) who go on adventures and solve problems by using their expertise in math. In the game, the main goal of their mission is to recover lost parts of their rocket and rebuild it, but along the way, they'll run into other problems, such as a leaky aquarium tank and homeless sea horses. Activities include puzzle building, navigating courses, ordering numbers, matching colors, and more.

Is it any good?

 

Team Umizoomi has lots to offer preschool DS players, with cute characters, engaging scenarios, and easy-to-learn mini-games that help to reinforce useful early math concepts. Not all the activities in the game are equally educational -- one in which you simply scribble on a character to make him swim doesn't seem to provide a solid lesson of any kind -- but all are on the right challenge level for players under the age of five.

What families can talk about

  • Families can talk about the ways in which we use math every day. What kind of math lessons are learned in the different parts of the game? How can we translate those lessons into our daily life?

  • Does playing a math game like this one make the learning more fun?

This review was written by Christopher Healy

What kids can learn

2

Kids can learn early math concepts including counting, ordering (by number or size), matching colors, measuring objects, and distinguishing patterns. Team Umizoomi presents these math challenges as part of an adventure to recover parts of a broken rocket and as a way of helping others in need. The characters verbally encourage kids throughout, even if the player is having difficulty. By joining Team Umizoomi, kids practice math as a way of helping others.

Subjects
  • Arts:
  • Hobbies:
  • Language & Reading:
  • Math: addition, grouping, subtraction
  • Science:
  • Social Studies:
Skills
  • Collaboration:
  • Communication:
  • Creativity:
  • Emotional Development: developing resilience, persevering
  • Health & Fitness:
  • Responsibility & Ethics:
  • Self-Direction:
  • Tech Skills:
  • Thinking & Reasoning: deduction, whole/part relationships

What's it about?

Team Umizoomi, based on the Nickelodeon show of the same name, features a group of pint-sized heroes (a boy, a girl, and a robot) who go on adventures and solve problems by using their expertise in math. In the game, the main goal of their mission is to recover lost parts of their rocket and rebuild it, but along the way, they'll run into other problems, such as a leaky aquarium tank and homeless sea horses. Activities include puzzle building, navigating courses, ordering numbers, matching colors, and more.

How kids will learn

The game asks players to perform certain mathematical tasks (i.e., "Find a group of four," or "Cut a piece of tape that is eight spaces long."). These tasks are presented while players are fixing things, such as a leaky aquarium. The game cleverly integrates the math activities into the adventure, so kids will want to perform them in order to move the story forward.

How parents can help

  • Provide opportunities to sort coins at home, or measure objects around the house. The math skills in the game would not be too difficult to replicate offline.
  • Make a game out of using math, such as tossing balls into buckets as kids practice adding.
This review was written by Christopher Healy
Kid, 13 years old
November 10, 2011
AGE
3
 
Read
Okay, but when you are 2 you are practicing stuff like these
Was this review useful?
Helped me decide (19) | Had useful details (21) | Read my mind (17)
Flag as inappropriate 
See all user reviews
This review was written by Christopher Healy
Topics:superheroes
Platforms:Nintendo DS, Nintendo DSi
Available online?Not available online
Genre:Educational
Developer:2K Play
Release date:November 1, 2011
Price:$29.99
ESRB rating:EC
This review was written by Christopher Healy
 

Review It

Share your review with others

Hang on! You need to be a member to post your review.
A safe community is important to us. Please observe our guidelines.

Screenshots

  • 1 of 3
  • 2 of 3
  • 3 of 3

Register now to save reviews and advice articles to your personal lists!

About our rating system
ON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age.
PAUSE: Know your child; some content may not be right for some kids.
OFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age.
Learning ratings
BEST: Really engaging, great learning approach.
GOOD: Pretty engaging, good learning approach.
FAIR: Somewhat engaging, OK learning approach.
NOT FOR LEARNING: Not recommended for learning.
Our child development rating guidelines

Great alternatives handpicked by our editors

More games for preschoolers
For kids who love early learning games
Browse more games
 

vote now

Will you play Team Umizoomi?

Game on
Press pause
Game over

Already played it? What do you think?

I recommend it
It's a pass
 
More from Common Sense Media
Age-appropriate reviews
Top advice and articles

Been There? Tell us about it