Osmo - Genius Kit Educational Play System (iPad Base Included)

My girls, ages 7 and 5, love OSMO! It is a great learning tool but also makes learning fun. It is a wonderful activity for them. Tangram is delightfully challenging and words is really helping my youngest to start sounding out words.

I was skeptical about this product even though I'd read the reviews and watched some of the videos. The buy in price is a little steep, but this was a gift for my 7-year-old daughter's birthday and I wanted to get her something interactive that wasn't a stuffed animal or video game. This SEEMS like a game, but it's very interactive and requires brain power. The set up was easy (basically download the apps from googleplay or the app store)--unpack it, set up the camera, set up an account (of course) and park your child in front of it and they're all set. I bought the version for the iPad. The things that come with it are cool--my daughter loved the tanagrams game, and she and her brother have teamed up to do the interactive math game quite a bit. The art app is cool, but I think I've used that one more than she has so far. There is also a VERY cool Monster game (separate download, but no additional cost) that she very much enjoys. This is one of the neatest things I've ever seen. You need a white board for it--don't worry about buying the official board or whatever it's called---a small dry-erase board available pretty much anywhere works just fine. Anyway, the character on screen tells her to draw something it describes (star, magic want, ball, etc) and then the character plays with whatever she drew! She loves it, and I can't get over how cool it is. There are a few different variations of this available as well (Princesses and Mickey Mouse) in separate kits. She's just started playing with those so I'll review them in the future. Overall this is cool technology that she's had for a few weeks now and has not seemed to grow tired of at all. Best of all her older brother (9) likes playing with it, too. You can set up more than one account, so they each have their own log-ins. There is also a parents account that controls it all and can monitor play time, scores, etc. This is neat technology, that my kids genuinely appreciate. A lot of thought and care went into this, and it shows in how smoothly it works (we've not run into any hiccups yet, and they've played for hours at this point). Highly recommended for kids of all ages!

Although I hesitated buying a gift creating more iPad time, I have to say my grandchildren ages 8 (boy) and 10 (girl) enjoy playing the various activities which are much more educational than most video games. I don't know if I would put the top age above 11 or 12. The math, spelling and computer 'programming' games are more for ages 5 to 8. That said, included is a drawing app which I enjoyed (age 65) - the user traces a projected image or photo on paper from which OSMO creates a high speed video of your hand drawing and shading the image which makes anyone look like a pro. All in all a great product and neatly packaged.

My wife and I purchased this for our daughter. My wife is a special needs teacher and has had many parents tell her about this product. Our oldest daughter is 2.5 y.o. and we gave this to her for Christmas. I think it was suggested for 4 or 5 year olds, but with our help she does great and we have fun with this. The apps work great and the camera reflector is spot on. We are using this with an old iPad series 2. Works perfectly. A must have!! I am 36 and enjoyed playing the games. I am actually about to purchase the creative board so we can draw. Worth every penny!!

My wife and I work from home with our 3 children. We try and provide engaging activities for the kids while we're working without putting the TV or iPads in charge of baby sitting. That being said, Ipad time can still be great for distracting our 5 year old during an important call or meeting -- enter OSMO, the engaging iPad solution that still provided that "fun" iPad time but is highly educational. Some games require assistance until they're fully learned, but overall easy for a 5 year old with beginning reading skills.

It is important to monitor your child’s progress per level as he/she could eventually just guess by picking one number at a time, for instance, to arrive at the correct answer. With no manipulative guidance as to why, for example, 12 + 13 = 25, other than memory, a child would not be able to fully grasp reasoning of solution. I suggest progressive improvements at a moderate pace as child will plateau if completing levels too fast.

My little one was introduced to this at school and loves it. We even bought an Ipad pro just so she could have Osmo at home. I will say the more challenging it gets as levels are reached the more her favorite games are starting to change but she still loves it. The Newton game seems a bit over the top but we bought this for Osmo Numbers and Tangram so it was extra and haven't really gotten into the Words game yet but it seems pretty neat. What I love is that it's fun, educational and engaging.

My four year old loves it! It will grow with her for quite some time. She does get a little frustrated once in awhile but I think she may be one the young side of the age bracket. She is only in a Pre-K program. Highly recommend it! So much fun, better than lot of learning apps we've tried!