Do you ever find one of those Instagram ads pulling you in? I was scrolling through my feed and up popped an ad for something called an Osmo. I watched the video a few times and thought it looked pretty cool!
I had to stop in at my local Apple store to fix my broken phone screen and as I was waiting I looked over and saw the Osmo! I decided to finally check out the system and see what it was all about. I was gifted an Osmo Starter Kit to try out, and I’m so excited to stay we LOVE it, and we want to share all about why it should be at the top of your gift list this year!
We were provided the Osmo Creative Starter Kit and Super Studio Frozen 2 to try out.
Que my resident tester who basically took over this whole process for me since it was so easy to set up! He read the instructions out loud, and in minutes he was playing away.
The Osmo makes hands-on learning games that are so interactive it’s amazing to see. Using my iPad (or a Fire Tablet) you can make the games come to life – the Osmo Reflector bounces an image of the player’s game piece arrangement or drawing into the device camera. The Osmo app processes the image and recreates it on the tablet screen, or it translates its effect onto the story.
The Osmo is simple to use, and all you really need is a compatible device to make it work. You put your device into the Osmo base with the red Osmo reflector over the camera. Next you will need to download the app for the game you are about to play, and then use the physical game pieces to play while it all comes alive on the screen.
It’s important to note that the Osmo uses a covered reflector so it only captures images in a bounded area – it does not capture an image of your child so their privacy is protected.
The Creative Starter Kit included the Osmo Essence Base for iPad, the Reflector, the Creative Board, 4 dry erase markers, microfiber eraser pouch, and three game apps – Monster, Newton and Masterpiece.
The Monster game brings drawings to life while solving story problems, and the Newton app is all about problem solving and teaching some early physics. The creative drawing skills in Masterpiece was the one my son loved the most – he plays all three games but really loves this one!
Seeing what he draws on the creative board coming to life on the screen is really cool, and gets him excited to play.
Most of the Osmo games are designed for children aged 5-12, although the Monster and Super Studio are appropriate for ages 4+. The Osmo Little Genius Starter Kit includes for games are suited for children aged 3-5.
Osmo games are designed to foster social-emotional skills such as problem-solving and creativity. The games that Osmo offers focus on math, drawing, coding, spelling, physics, spatial relational skills and world geography.
We also had the chance to try out the new Super Studio Disney Frozen 2. It includes the Super Studio Game App, Super Sketchpad, Super Studio Markers and the Super Sweeper. The characters in the story came to life, and then it’s your child’s turn to sketch the characters. The app gives sketch lessons and help, and the drawings come to life in the story.
What I love about having the starter kit is that it’s easy to add in more games as we go. Many of the games come with actual game pieces (the Pizza Co. Game includes a pizza and toppings, and the Detective Agency game includes 4 double-sided maps, a map holder and a magnifying glass), and as our son gets older we can continue using the system with some of the more advanced coding games.
My son has been playing with the Osmo non-stop since it’s arrived. He’s been giggling at what the monster does with his drawings, and having fun playing all of the games. It’s been a big hit, so I would definitely recommend it as a gift this holiday season! It’s a lot of fun, and I love that they are learning along the way!
You can purchase Osmo at www.playosmo.com, Amazon, Target, BestBuy, the Apple Store, and other retailers.
Items in this post may have been provided to me for review, but all opinions are fabulously my own.
