Parents, don't be embarrassed if you find yourself engrossed in your child's iPad games. Especially if it's Marble Math Junior from Artgig Apps — these things just happen.

Marble Math Junior is part pinball machine, part math basics questions. You drag a marble with your finger or tilt the device to move it around the screen. Collect the correct items based on the question; if you get the answer wrong, you can try again or view the correct answer before moving on. Avoid some obstacles along the way, such as a duck that just doesn't want to you stay on course or the boxing glove that punches you out of the way. Or you can collect the ghost so you can walk through walls or the magic wand that removes one of those pesky objects.

Customize Marble Math Junior by selecting which questions the app asks, including addition, equivalence, sequence, shape recognition, clock faces, fractions, multiples, and other math questions. The app includes three levels, so you can tailor the app to the needs or skills of each player. One amazing thing about Marble Math Junior is that it is an app for very young math learners, as well as more advanced students. In one app, you can cover a wide range of math problems.

And even never mind the great math applications, just the act of moving the marble across the screen is a great fine motor activity. The app also works on visual skills by using numbers, dice, clocks, tally marks, and other symbols for recognizing math elements.

What Marble Math Junior does so superbly is adding that element of fun. Educational apps are nothing if they are not enjoyable, and Marble Math Junior knocks it out of the park. You just might your child (or yourself) playing for hours.

Marble Math Junior is a member of Moms with Apps, a group of family-friendly app developers. The app is developed for iPhone and iPad and costs $1.99.