TESTIMONIALS
Michael E
“The game is a really nice game for children, that could help improve their maths. You have to think before you make a move, that is why I like the game. I don’t usually play board games but this game blew my mind and I hope you create even more games”
Review by Year 5 in a School, Upminster, London UK.
From Head Teacher. great feedback – Mrs Holland
Game Overseer/Leader: Deputy Head Teacher – Mr Walsh
“PLAYABILITY: The game flowed well and all the children playing were enthusiastically involved. EDUCATIONAL VALUE: The children were enthusiastic and the game did encourage mental maths skills. CONCLUSION: As a maths game used within a school there is definite value.”
Review by Year 3 in a London school, UK
Number of game playtests: 4
Players ages: 7-9 years
Leader: Head of Maths – Mr Johnstone.
The children were asked to rate the game a on a scale of 1-5 with 5 being most enjoyable. Rating:4
Evaluator was asked to rate the game with 5 being most educational. Rating:4
The children and the adult leader said: “It was a fun game, very good for mental calculation skills. This game definitely could be used to improve mental maths skills.”
Sabrina Ben Salmi, Parent
I’m absolutely flabbergasted to be honest. We just finished playing Race To Infinity game. My family and I – my husband, myself and kids. I must say I’ve never actually played a game watching my kids engage in maths, speaking about maths, having fun with maths and laughing. My 3 year-old said “oh mummy I love maths” and my 7 year-old was saying “I love maths, awesome this game is deep.” We were learning negotiation skills, decision making skills, multiplication, division. They have to make decisions and they have to learn from the decisions that they have made. I’m just really blown away by the game’s depth. The game finished and my kids are still talking about maths! I’ve been a mother for 16 years, going to be 17 years this year and I’ve never had a conversation with my kids about maths. EVER. Other than “have you done your homework? My kids are talking maths still, now after playing this game. This game is something major.”
Roy Vella
With three kids 8-11 years old mathematics is a huge topic in our house and my kids and I love Race To Infinity. It’s a fantastic game that lets us play with mathematics while also having a lot of fun and competing against one another, while practising all of our functions on numbers; and we really like it and enjoy it a lot. Personally, I am a Governor at a local school and I am on the Quality and Standards Committee and look after Numeracy. It’s always a challenge to make mathematics fun for children such that they can practise and engage with mathematics in a way that keeps their attention and keeps them entertained. And frankly I’ve not seen anything that compares to Race To Infinity to make that happen. It’s a wonderful game that my kids ask me to play and they don’t even realise that they are practising their multiplication times tables and their division. I highly recommend the game to anyone that is trying to make mathematics easy and/or fun to practise and learn.
Sabrina Mercury
All children could participate in the game irrespective of their maths knowledge. They all said how much they loved the game. The children enjoyed the fact that they could use different operations to solve the problems.
Managing Director – Siân Goodspeed
Flying Start Tuition Ltd
I met Grace at a training course last year and was immediately struck by her passion and enthusiasm for helping children to feel more confident at maths. As a former teacher and now founder of a private tuition company, Flying Start Tuition, we soon discovered that we shared common values. Our ethos centres around boosting children’s confidence and learning through fun – which is exactly the approach that Grace is promoting through her website and game, ‘Race to Infinity’.
Realising that this game could help our students, I invited Grace to our centre where, over the course of one Saturday, she ran a series of ‘Race to Infinity’ workshops for parents and children. The feedback was very positive: everyone who played the game enjoyed it and all said that they would be keen to play it again. Parents were impressed by the adaptability of the game and could see their children were motivated and engaged when playing.
We then introduced the game to a number of pupils at our centre, using it with groups of children aged 7 to 10. Tutors and pupils were very positive about the game and much fun was had by all. Tutor feedback was that once the children were familiar with the rules, they were able to play independently. They liked the fact that one game can meet a range of different learning needs for children of various abilities and that they were able to oversee the game and step in to extend or support children where needed. The children said that they enjoyed the game, found it exciting and were really keen to play it again.
As a parent and a teacher, I believe ‘Race to Infinity’ has a valuable place both in the classroom and in the home. It is unlike any other maths game I have seen on the market and is ideal for consolidating, practising and extending core maths skills in a fun way. I don’t hesitate in recommending ‘Race to Infinity’ to other parents and teachers.
Tosin A
They played it game night and they like it!
Dr Chris Imafidon
“The more you play this game, the more you understand the basic concepts that the game is reinforcing and repetition, remember is the mother of all learning. So that’s the reason why if you haven’t got Race To Infinity game you are losing out. Get it and be able to enjoy maths. That’s the hardest bit, to enjoy maths not to just know maths. And that’s why I recommend Race To Infinity.”
FCL Plumstead Common Centre Manager, Nalini
“The game was very well received by learners in my tuition centre who found it fun and educational. It is also very useful for helping to develop an understanding of the 4 basic maths operations.”
Barrie Hughes, MAS
“Fantastic idea. Great product with great potential!”
Evaluator: Elsie – Y2 Pupil
If it helped me I am sure it will help every other child.
Evaluator: Annabelle O’leary
What things don’t I like about the game?
People keep moaning about who gets to go first.
Evaluator: Simran Singh – Y4 Pupil
What I liked best about the game:
I liked the Luck cards.
Do you feel it will help to improve mental maths skills for children?
Yes
Any other comments/suggested improvements:
It’s great!
Elsie
What I liked best about the game:
Everything
What things I don’t like about the game:
I liked it all
Do you feel it will help to improve mental maths for children?
Yes
Sophia Toth – Y3 Pupil
What I liked best about the game:
I liked the luck cards.
Do you feel it will help to improve mental maths skills for children?
Yes
Any other comments/suggested improvements:
It’s great!
Tobby Tragen
What I liked best about the game:
That you could divide, add multiply and divide your dice roll.
What things I don’t like about the game:
I feel like there are not many bad things
Do you feel it will help to improve mental maths for children?
Yes
Evaluator: Simran Singh – Y4 Pupil
What I liked best about game:
I liked how you could choose if you wanted to add, subtract, divide, or multiply so you can choose your best move.
Do you feel it will help to improve mental maths for children?
Yes, because the children will feel like they are having fun and not learning.
Evaluator: Miss Aisling Berry, Year 5 Teaching Assistant
What I liked best about the game:
Very engaging for kids, good maths practice!
Evaluator: Loure – Y2 Pupil
What I liked best about the game:
It had real money and it’s fun and phenomenal.
Do you feel it will help to improve mental maths for children?
Yes
Evaluator: Freddie
What I liked best about the game:
You got two dices
Do you feel it will help to improve mental maths for children?
Yes
EXPLORE Learning Centre (100 centres in UK & USA)
My name is Matthew Ashenden and I manage a children’s tuition Centre in Barking, Essex. We have around 350 children who use the Centre which provides an after-school maths and English tutoring service. Grace came to me with a game she had created, which after a brief description I was keen to trial in our children’s play area. I was excited at the prospect that children would be having fun whilst they learnt which is the premise of the Centre I manage, so it seemed like a good fit. The game itself was played by a total of between 25-30 children. Children take turns and roll the dice to move their piece and then have to solve a mathematical problem when they land on a space to continue.
I saw first-hand children enjoying the experience, and it certainly grew a crowd of other children who queued up, eager to get involved as well. We initially trialled the green version of the game, the use of which was managed by myself and one of one of my fellow colleagues. I gave Grace a few pieces of feedback at the time which was that it was fairly heavily reliant on the adult orchestrating the game, and that some of the instructions would be a little tricky to follow for some of the younger children that it’s aimed at without assistance. I also felt that the size of the board and the lack of it being able to fold made it difficult to play on a smaller table, especially with energetic children around!
My final piece of constructive criticism was that the background colour was a little plain in comparison to some of the neat graphics which could be found on or by the individual squares onto which the players moved their pieces. These small shortfalls aside however, I observed that the game was popular and that it met its objective to combine fun and learning.
Grace later brought me a second version of the game which I was pleased to see had addressed all the points above. The spaces were much bigger and less plentiful (meaning the game was finished in a more reasonable time). I was pleased to see the graphics had remained but again were bigger and set onto a far more eye catching blue background which complemented the images beautifully. It was smaller and so fit on the table much better and folded twice on itself into a much more storable size which I was easily able to stack away until it’s next use. I felt this new version of the game was much more user friendly for the kids and didn’t require as much adult intervention.
I fully endorse this product and feel sure that I would buy it were I to see it on the shelf in a supermarket. I was pleased to see the novelty factor didn’t wear off quickly as I had the same children requesting it across their different trips to the Centre. We had children of all different ages play the game, although it’s targeted mostly at primary level, I feel the game is a great success and really helps to improve children’s mental Maths. I feel parents would want to buy this for their children and that their children would benefit greatly through its use.
M.A. Barking, UK; Texas, USA
Centre Director, Explore Learning, International After-School Tuition Centre
Evaluator: Neil Trusler – Y3 Teacher
What I liked best about the game:
I liked that the players must make quick decisions about maths operations to benefit from the move. This tests the players mental maths recall and strategy skills.
Do you feel it will help to improve mental maths for children?
Yes, regular playing of this game will help enhance recall of number facts across all four operations.
Any other comments/suggested improvements:
I would recommend this game to all teachers. It can benefit all abilities with their maths.
Head Teacher: Mrs Wendy Holland & Deputy Head Teacher: Mr Bill Walsh
RULES: We played using the level 1 rules as the main rules section appeared long and complex. The level 1 rules were straightforward and easy to explain, although the children would have found starting difficult without adult help. After one or two plays the understanding of the rules became much clearer.
BOARD: The board was colourful and enjoyable to play on, however the arrows led to confusion of movement. The fast track area was clearly marked. One criticism made was that board did not appear to have a theme. The children did not feel that they were travelling through a specific land, area or zone. The squares seemed squashed together giving moment a haphazard feel. A larger playing area or labelled zones could help although this would necessitate a folding board and perhaps more expense.
PLAYABILITY: The game flowed well and all the children playing were enthusiastically involved. The constraints of playing within the school day meant that we played for a specific time. This worked well, however the rules seemed to allow for too many choices of how to end, creating uncertainty to the value of winning.
EDUCATIONAL VALUE: The children were enthusiastic and the game did encourage mental maths skills. The complexity of questions would need to reflect the level of the players and may cause difficultly in play if the players have significantly different abilities.
CONCLUSION: As a maths game used within a school there is definite value, However, a family could find the ability level for challenging for some players and too easy for others. It would be hard for children of different age groups to play together.
Mrs Julia Smith (School Improvement and Creative Curriculum Leader), Year 2 Teacher, School in Essex
Very enjoyable.
What I liked best out the game:
– Simple to understand the aims and method.
– Fast
– Competitive
– That the children could make choices about the calculations
Laura Ciftci, Head Teacher
“They were able to practise their mental maths skills in different ways. They participated and worked as a team.”
Nicki A, Maths Lead and Co-ordinator for London Borough of Wandsworth
“I can say, however, that it is a very popular game with my son, especially, and we spent a very lively 45 minutes on Sunday just gone, for example, as family. I am particularly pleased to see how quickly they apply the four operations to numbers given.”
Nichole
“I told my kids I wished I’d had this when they were younger. They do too! I really think you’re onto something here. Maths scares the heck out of most kids and parents alike! A positive move.”
Priya Dutta, Teacher, UK
Hi parents, my name is Priya and I’m a Key stage 2 teacher and an educational consultant and I’m here today to talk to you about a brand new game that’s come out. It’s called Race To Infinity and it’s produced by BeGenio. Now it’s an educational board game, it’s designed to help your child improve their metal maths skills. And I’ve had the pleasure of playing this game. And the founder of BeGenio has taken the Race To Infinity game to schools. And we found that in as little as two practice sessions a week, each lasting only ten minutes your child’s mental maths skills will improve dramatically. It’s absolutely wonderful and I can’t praise it highly enough.
What I also love about this game is that it can be adapted so you can use it at either UK Key Stage 1 if your child is just starting school, or it can be used all the way through the school up to UK Key Stage 3 depending on the number of faces on the dice you use. So for example if you want to practice simple addition with your 5 year old use the 6-sided dice. And if you want to practise decimals at Key Stage 3 then you can use a set of 20-sided dice. And it’s so adaptable and you don’t have to buy different board games to make it fun and relevant to your children through school. You throw a couple of dice and you have to manipulate the numbers that you get. So you get the opportunity to practise whatever maths skill you want. For example you could practise addition. Or you could practice multiplying the numbers. The choices are endless. And that’s what makes it so fun.
Don’t worry parents, I know from talking to a lot of parents, you express concerns about teaching your children the wrong thing or not being sure of the answers what I love about this game is there’s a cheat sheet for parents. So please don’t worry if you’re not great at maths yourself it doesn’t matter. The opportunity to play with numbers will definitely help your child to improve their maths skills. And you don’t have to do a lot of work yourself. Now if your child is less confident with maths you can play in pairs with them. So that they get an opportunity to confer over the answers with someone, and that really boosts their confidence. And as they become more and more confident they can start to play the game on their own competing against other players. It can be played with as many players as 8 players. So you can get the whole family involved as well. Now another thing that I really like about the layout of the game is that it’s been so carefully designed, it’s a circular shape and there are regular intervals between the parts that go into the centre. And that will help your child count up in tens, 20’s or even 60’s. That’s absolutely wonderful because it really is a board game that can go with your child all the way up through school. And I think that’s fantastic.
So in summary I think that this game is something that parents really need to have a look at. It’s fun its effective, its cost-effective, and in short go out and buy it!
Laura
What I liked best about the game:
To collect money.
Do you feel it will help to improve mental maths for children?
Yes.
Mrs Hunter
What I liked best about the game:
The concept is brilliant! I loved having to use the various operations.
Do you feel it will help to improve mental maths for children?
Absolutely! Gets everyone thinking
Any other comments/ suggested improvements?
Thanks for sharing this amazing game
Lexie-rose Hurley
What I liked best about the game:
I liked that it tested your knowledge and it is great for education and a great game for all the family.
What things I don’t like about the game:
Nothing, it is brilliant.
Do you feel it will help to improve mental maths for children?
Definitely, if it helped me I am sure it will help every other child.
Any other comments/ suggested improvements:
Thank you for bringing in the board game, I very much enjoyed it.
Evaluator: Angela Luong – Y3 Pupil
What I liked best about the game:
Collecting the tokens
Do you feel it will help to improve mental maths for children?
Practicing will help you improve.
Amy Dhannie – Y3 Pupil
What I liked best about the game:
Helps with your maths skills
Do you feel it will help to improve mental maths skills for children?
Definitely.
Evaluator: Dara – Y2 Pupil
What I liked best about the game:
The concept is brilliant! Loved having to use the various operations.
Do you feel it will help to improve mental maths for children?
Absolutely! Got everyone thinking!
Any other comments/suggested improvements:
Thanks for sharing this amazing game.
Evaluator: Leo
What I liked best about the game:
I like it when you have got to find out how many tokens you got or what your question was to do
Do you feel it will help to improve mental maths for children?
I think it will really improve people’s maths.
