Osmo – Coding Starter Kit for Fire Tablet – 3 Educational Learning Games – Ages 5-10+ – Learn to Code, Coding Basics & Coding Puzzles – STEM Toy (Osmo Fire Tablet Base Included)
Our family has had OSMO since the very beginning of OSMO, and I must say, it’s certainly come a long way. We got this Coding Starter Kit for our math-brained 6 year old as a surprise for him during quarantine, and here we are almost a year later. The allure and enthusiasm lasted a few days where he eagerly played this on his own, but now this has become more of a “find something to do that isn’t TV or video games” alternative that he has been working on as something educational. The “coding” is really just sequencing, or laying the tiles provided in the correct order to move the Yeti on the screen through the mazes (example: up, down, right right, left, right).
i should note that we use OSMO with our Fire 7 tablets, which have been very glitchy from time to time. At times, the tablets don’t recognize the OSMO readers at all, othertimes, OSMO doesn’t load, and just spins and spins. I’ve exchanged emails back and forth several dozen times with the OSMO team, and their answers and problem solving are always delayed and frustrating, as waiting for an email isn’t the same as jumping on the phone to help solve an issue for a game that isn’t the cheapest. Long story short, we’ve had to totally wipe the tablets and do a factory reset, and re-download the OSMO games several times now.
I had a really nice video made of our 6 year old playing this, but Amazon no longer allows pictures or videos of minors in their reviews.
Overall, I think this is a good tool to use in a homeroom classroom or as an educational alternative to TV time. We do like, but not LOVE, this game, but would definitely wait for a sale to purchase.
I was fascinated by the complications and, at the same time, the simplicity of the product. Setup takes less than 30 seconds; simply get your iPad to cover the camera so it sensor the real figures on the table and play! This is the first game my kids cry when I tell them it is time to pack it up. It is smart and addictive. I am clapping both of my hands for creation. Yes, the price range could be hesitant to purchase, but it is a long-term investment for your child. It forces to produce logic and common sense with reaction during this game. Overall I am satisfied and defiantly would recommend this product. This is a quite expensive gift for someone you love, but it is way. worth i
Dieses Set macht meinen Kindern wirklich Spa. Logisches Denken wird gefordert und auch die Grafik ist ansprechend. Manchmal schwirren Frage/ Ausrufezeichen ber den Bildschirm. Wieso haben wir noch nicht verstanden.
Dieses Set macht meinen Kindern wirklich Spa. Logisches Denken wird gefordert und auch die Grafik ist ansprechend. Manchmal schwirren Frage/ Ausrufezeichen ber den Bildschirm. Wieso haben wir noch nicht verstanden.
Dieses Set macht meinen Kindern wirklich Spa. Logisches Denken wird gefordert und auch die Grafik ist ansprechend. Manchmal schwirren Frage/ Ausrufezeichen ber den Bildschirm. Wieso haben wir noch nicht verstanden.
Both kids love this Osmo set and playing Coding Awbie. I feel good letting them have this screen time to learn a new skill that may help them in the future. Osmo does a good job of making learning fun.
Very cool concept and my son had fun, but the “coding” is just sequencing. Which I know has a lot to do with coding but he knew how to sequence and has done other programs (for free) that taught that. He was disappointed it didn’t have the actual code that you would input into the computer to do all of these things, that’s what he wants to learn.
Also osmo products unless caught on sale are extremely expensive. And you would think buying add ons would be cheaper but nope the kits are less expensive than buying the add ons because you aren’t really buying the plastic stuff they send you, your buying the digital games that goes with it. I checked their site and they have an add on for the genius kit that has check marks for you to say you have the physical pieces needed before it will let you purchase the digital downloads for 60 dollars. Just a heads up, if you think it worth it by all means, but I’m a bit let down.
Very cool concept and my son had fun, but the “coding” is just sequencing. Which I know has a lot to do with coding but he knew how to sequence and has done other programs (for free) that taught that. He was disappointed it didn’t have the actual code that you would input into the computer to do all of these things, that’s what he wants to learn.
Also osmo products unless caught on sale are extremely expensive. And you would think buying add ons would be cheaper but nope the kits are less expensive than buying the add ons because you aren’t really buying the plastic stuff they send you, your buying the digital games that goes with it. I checked their site and they have an add on for the genius kit that has check marks for you to say you have the physical pieces needed before it will let you purchase the digital downloads for 60 dollars. Just a heads up, if you think it worth it by all means, but I’m a bit let down.
Very cool concept and my son had fun, but the “coding” is just sequencing. Which I know has a lot to do with coding but he knew how to sequence and has done other programs (for free) that taught that. He was disappointed it didn’t have the actual code that you would input into the computer to do all of these things, that’s what he wants to learn.
Also osmo products unless caught on sale are extremely expensive. And you would think buying add ons would be cheaper but nope the kits are less expensive than buying the add ons because you aren’t really buying the plastic stuff they send you, your buying the digital games that goes with it. I checked their site and they have an add on for the genius kit that has check marks for you to say you have the physical pieces needed before it will let you purchase the digital downloads for 60 dollars. Just a heads up, if you think it worth it by all means, but I’m a bit let down.
Very cool concept and my son had fun, but the “coding” is just sequencing. Which I know has a lot to do with coding but he knew how to sequence and has done other programs (for free) that taught that. He was disappointed it didn’t have the actual code that you would input into the computer to do all of these things, that’s what he wants to learn.
Also osmo products unless caught on sale are extremely expensive. And you would think buying add ons would be cheaper but nope the kits are less expensive than buying the add ons because you aren’t really buying the plastic stuff they send you, your buying the digital games that goes with it. I checked their site and they have an add on for the genius kit that has check marks for you to say you have the physical pieces needed before it will let you purchase the digital downloads for 60 dollars. Just a heads up, if you think it worth it by all means, but I’m a bit let down.
This is a great product, my 5yo likes playing with it but she hasn’t quite mastered the coding concepts yet. I think it’ll be better when she gets a bit older.
The software (coding with awbie app) is a little buggy and sometimes freezes when the counter reaches 1. I reported this to their support people and after many many hours of bog-standard support suggestions (turn it off and on again, etc etc) they eventually advised to report it as a bug. It seems to trigger less often if you make sure there aren’t any stray pieces scattered near the program you’ve laid out.
I’m a programmer myself. This seems to be a good easy way to introduce coding to kids. The characters look pretty funny, and my kids (5 & 7) are enjoying this. I can see lots of progress already.
I got this for my 5 and 7 year old girls. Very easy to set up. You do need a fire tablet. The tablet cannot be in a case to use this product, which is a downfall considering we’re talking about kids here. For that I took off a start. I added a screen protector to their tablet in hopes that the times they use this product, it’ll be enough to protect it.
Anyway, the set up was very easy. Under the parent account, you download the appropriate apps, and share it to your children’s account. Upon first login, the parent registers their information and afterwards, they kids take over. My girls can play on it for hours. I love that the games and activities are engaging and sparking an interest in coding. I highly recommend this coding set!
My son loves this game. He said it is his favorite out of all the Osmo games we have (which is coding, pizza co., detective agency, and creative). This one came with another base that we didn’t need, so now we have two. This program is great because they learn as they play.
Wir haben schon andere Pakete von Osmo, dieses Paket wollte ich schon eine Weile als Ergnzung, um spielerisch (erste) Erfahrungen mit logischer Befehlsfolge erlernen zu lassen.
Sicherlich eine gute Basis fr logisches Denken und sptere Schulbildung im MINT-Bereich.
Hindernis war bisher nur der Preis – jetzt habe ich bei einem Angebot zugeschlagen und das Komplettpaket gekauft (gnstiger als der Erweiterungssatz bisher angeboten wurde).
Somit kann ich die doppelte Basis mit den alten, ersten Spielen fr kleinere Kinder an mein Patenkind weitergeben – da haben alle was davon…
Wie fr alle anderen Pakete von Osmo bentigt man ein Tablet, auf das ein Spiegel aufgesteckt wird.
Die Software “schaut” ber den Spiegel auf den Tisch und erkennt die Funktionsplttchen (hier mit evtl. angesteckten Zahlen oder eingestellten Pfeilen).
Das klappt bei gutem Licht problemlos.
Die Plttchen sind auch hier von guter Qualitt und sehen aus als wrden sie lange halten.
Manchmal gab es in der Software kleine Hnger – aber nie einen Absturz.
Die Software ist leicht verstndlich und motiviert Kinder weiter zu machen und mehr und schwierigere Aufgaben anzugehen.
Fr “uns” fast ein bisschen zu leicht, aber wir haben auch schon andere, hnliche Software (ohne Hardware) benutzt, um Schleifen und Arrays kennenzulernen.
Das Highlight bei uns ist Coding Jam, mit dem man mit logischen Befehlsketten eigene Musik / Rhythmen erzeugen kann.
Aber auch die anderen beiden Spiele haben schon fr mehrere Stunden Spa gesorgt.
Einziges Manko ist, dass die Form der stapelbaren Verpackung gendert wurde:
jetzt gibt es stapelbare Kunststoffboxen statt ber Magnet zusammenhaftende Kartons – und leider sind die Formen und Gren nicht kompatibel zwischen alt und neu… 🙁
Dennoch: klare Kaufempfehlung – zum Angebotspreis 😉
Wir haben schon andere Pakete von Osmo, dieses Paket wollte ich schon eine Weile als Ergnzung, um spielerisch (erste) Erfahrungen mit logischer Befehlsfolge erlernen zu lassen.
Sicherlich eine gute Basis fr logisches Denken und sptere Schulbildung im MINT-Bereich.
Hindernis war bisher nur der Preis – jetzt habe ich bei einem Angebot zugeschlagen und das Komplettpaket gekauft (gnstiger als der Erweiterungssatz bisher angeboten wurde).
Somit kann ich die doppelte Basis mit den alten, ersten Spielen fr kleinere Kinder an mein Patenkind weitergeben – da haben alle was davon…
Wie fr alle anderen Pakete von Osmo bentigt man ein Tablet, auf das ein Spiegel aufgesteckt wird.
Die Software “schaut” ber den Spiegel auf den Tisch und erkennt die Funktionsplttchen (hier mit evtl. angesteckten Zahlen oder eingestellten Pfeilen).
Das klappt bei gutem Licht problemlos.
Die Plttchen sind auch hier von guter Qualitt und sehen aus als wrden sie lange halten.
Manchmal gab es in der Software kleine Hnger – aber nie einen Absturz.
Die Software ist leicht verstndlich und motiviert Kinder weiter zu machen und mehr und schwierigere Aufgaben anzugehen.
Fr “uns” fast ein bisschen zu leicht, aber wir haben auch schon andere, hnliche Software (ohne Hardware) benutzt, um Schleifen und Arrays kennenzulernen.
Das Highlight bei uns ist Coding Jam, mit dem man mit logischen Befehlsketten eigene Musik / Rhythmen erzeugen kann.
Aber auch die anderen beiden Spiele haben schon fr mehrere Stunden Spa gesorgt.
Einziges Manko ist, dass die Form der stapelbaren Verpackung gendert wurde:
jetzt gibt es stapelbare Kunststoffboxen statt ber Magnet zusammenhaftende Kartons – und leider sind die Formen und Gren nicht kompatibel zwischen alt und neu… 🙁
Dennoch: klare Kaufempfehlung – zum Angebotspreis 😉
Love this ! I have two Boys , 7 & 8 that are loving it so far ! My big kids even like it, 12 & 13 ! Lol. It has little rewards , and hints along the way . It really engages them and leaves them wanting to learn more .
My 6 yr old granddaughter played with this on Christmas Day. She enjoyed it and was proud to announce that she could advance a level! Fun and educational!
Osmo is a great way to teach kids coding. The three games included with this kit address different areas related to coding at various stages- from beginner to advanced. Setup is easy when the apps are working and available (they tend to have problems when Amazon updates the Fire software). The physical pieces are high quality and easy to use. The camera picks up their placement well, so it makes interacting with the apps easy. If you have a Fire 8 10th Gen like me, you need to also have an adapter. It can be purchased separately or you can get it a bit cheaper together with the kit as a bundle. I do think they should make a bigger deal about the adapter since you can’t use the product on the latest Fire 8 without it.
I got this for my 6yo to use.
My 3.5 yo is to young to do the games.
My 6yo is excited to learn coding and picked it up quickly with these games.
I really like the quality of the materials and packaging. The pieces all store and stack nicely in the provided container. They stack with other Osmo kits as well.
If I had to change one thing about this kit it would be that the coding pieces were labeled on the side edges so when they are stacked away you can still see what they are.
The kit comes with 3 games. Each game is a separate iPad app. It’s a little cumbersome to get all the apps downloaded but ones it’s done – it’s easy. Word or warning – don’t accidentally download an app you don’t actually have the product for. I accidentally clicked on the Princess app and now I can’t get it out of the Osmo World options. Now it’s all my daughter asks about!!
It’s a little frustrating that there are apps that show up in the Osmo World screen for products you don’t have and apps that aren’t downloaded. They definitely push the sale if other app games – can’t blame them.
I use this on an iPad mini 2. I don’t have any issues – I was worried as this iPad isn’t supported on the latest iOS releases. I don’t have any issues!
So many great learning apps!
Entertaining and educational. This Osmo play set is a great cross education and video games. Upfront, it is important to note that this set requires you to already have a fire tablet. With it in the OSMO app, you can transform the brightly colored pieces of the set into a virtual, 3-D world for your child to explore. The kids of had phenomenal fun playing with this. With them spending a lot more time in the house, we thought was important provide creative outlets for them, that didn’t completely revolve around them just staring at a screen all day long. This set not only builds their confidence with colors shapes and patterns, it also helps introduce them to the world of STEM. After downloading the app for them, they were very easily able to figure out the set on their own. It’s very entertaining to watch them play for hours with us as multiple different games and programs included With a set provide in your limitless worlds of educational opportunities for them. There’s a great supplement for the young ones at home or in between days in the classroom.
I got this for a birthday present for my little niece and she loves playing games! This is a great start for kids of her age (she being age 7). She quickly picked up the aspects of the game and been learning how to combo different steps all at once before pressing the screen to execute the steps she placed on the table.
the game is very intuitive and has a kind of candy crush map interface as you solve puzzles and move around the map, each getting a little more complicated as you go.
Overall very pleased on the execution of the game for learning and setting up was relatively easy. It does take a bit of time to get it installed, but other than that easy to start up the game otherwise.
The pieces has a good case to store them away after play, just make sure they do, since there are a lot of pieces and you dont want to lose them
I use to love Osmo. But they are phasing out some kindles… and it stinks! The apps are always free, so before you buy this, search the app store on your kindle to be sure it’s available.
The app itself is free but you need the pieces for osmo to “read.” It’s a game for basic coding introduction. Probably better for ages 5-7. It will help introduce children to some basic scratch ideas and commands, and help them learn to order things properly. But children will outgrow it in about 6-12 months. However, my kids older still like playing it. It’s a fun educational game that they can all do independently.
Just be sure you’re tablet is compatible still – don’t trust the listing. Search your app store first.
I like the idea but also have trouble getting my 10-year old interested. I like the idea of playfully introducing kids to “programming,” but just like the caterpillar where the order of different segments makes for different “programs,” there is a limited amount of motivation and exploration. The OSMO provides far more flexibility, but also requires an iPad. You place that into a stand and attach a mirror to the top so the camera can look down. That all works quite okay. The problem is that if you already place an iPad in front of them, very few are motivated to not just grab it an play directly.
Great idea, but I am not sure I am fully sold on the overall execution in light of alternatives. Does it really require pieces to place in front of an iPad instead of doing it all on screen. I do not have a good answer for that, but it sure makes it more difficult to travel with or even to keep track of all the pieces. The included storage boxes are great though.
This is an excellent coding game set. My 5 year old really really loves playing it, and my 10 year old likes it quite a bit too. It is pretty intuitive to use, and the in-app instructions make it even easier. Definitely a great way to turn a tablet into something more than just a digital entertainment device. Manipulating the little guy on screen with code blocks off screen is a great concept and this works flawlessly.
This was our 3rd bundled set that our family tried from Osmo, it includes physical pieces that you use to interact with digital characters through the apps (which are free). The Coding Awbie game looks and functions prefect while offering an introduction to coding, my youngest is almost 4 so he technically falls under the age range but he absolutely loves these games. It did take him awhile to learn all the pieces but now he’s really good at Coding Awbie and learning Coding Jam.
We have the Kindle fire HD10 and didn’t have much trouble installing this. It does seem like a lot of different things between the app and the parent have and getting everything connected. It took us a little bit of time to set all this up but man, has it been worth it. We have two daughters and one absolutely loves doing puzzles and this is right up her alley. The other one loves music and this luckily had something for her as well.
first of all, you definitely have to take the case off of your Kindle fire and so we have a rule where you can’t move it off the table while you play with it without its case. We’ve already cracked a couple of laptops in this house so we don’t want chance that again. It suggested you start with Awbie and that truly is the fastest way to learn. It seems somewhat simple in the beginning but it does give you the basics to move further in the game.
My musical daughter loves JAM and you use the same pieces the game comes with to create songs using coding in different sounds. There is every sound you can think of, just about, in this particular game. your children will be able to pick this up and it’s pretty intuitive for them. Honestly, they’re better at it than I could be but I also can’t play Minecraft. They are having a blast and I almost feel like we need to order another instead of letting them share. Overall, this has been a good use of time and they are having fun without even realizing their learning. That’s the best kind of education!
We picked this up for my 8-year old son and he’s really taken to it. The concept for learning ‘coding’ by breaking down your character movements into steps and then running the ‘program’ and see how it goes. It’s like ‘take 3 steps the the right’ then ‘jump up’. You’re getting the kids to start thinking in terms of breaking down the steps to do an action.
Anyway, we are using the Fire 10 tablet version. It has nothing to do with Osmo but the Fire tablet isn’t the most awesome set up. Once you’re in the app, it’s great, but starting up the tablet we found it takes a few steps to get to the app, etc.
My little brothers (8 and 4) love this! It’s very interactive , it’s simple enough for them to use on their own. They especially love the different games they can play. I would buy the other sets to go with it but they don’t come by themselves. Other then that. It’s a great buy. Ver educational.
So I’m reviewing this based mainly on my daughter’s previous experience with her Osmo. When she was playing with it, it was very engaging and teaches kids useful skills. It helps them learn spatial awareness by using real word 3d objects to interact with on-screen activity. My biggest pet peeve is how much of a pain in the #&% it is to get the apps to work with Freetime Unlimited. I’m not a believer in giving my kids an “adult” profile to run apps that don’t run in Freetime, so a lot of apps they want to use they can’t. I was able to get these to load in my adult profile and then approved for hers, but it means downloading the apps twice. My son has been asking for his own Osmo, so I requested this as a future gift. OSMO is a good investment to turn tablet time into learning time. This parent approves.
My daughter doesn’t love school or traditional learning so Osmo has always been a hit for her from the original games. The coding set seemed like it would be a win and it was. She loves the games and animations and figuring out the different tiles to use to make the activities work. It is a great introduction to coding concepts without being too technical or boring. My only con, I wish Osmo would put out a dock that works with the iPad Pro. We have an older ipad that this does work with, so make sure your device is compatible.
When we first received osmo we thought it was only we game. There are 3 games that work with kit. Osmo is so easy to setup that my 3 old niece can do it. My 7 year love to play music jam. Now, this application teaches coding concept but no actual programming code. I did a trial
programming class whitehatjr and they were teaching my daughter the same concept for 37 dollar a class. The only thing is that i wish it was compatible with different ipad with having to buy a new base( like universal) it make a great gift. Download osmo world first and it will guide you to the other apps.
Additional learn that you can use the osmo with the drawing application and regular paper no need to buy anything additional.
Osmo’s software is wonderful and comes packaged to last in high quality tupperware type containers. The coding blocks are magnetic and fun to snap together to help your codie character reach his destination. Despite the fact the software says it’s for 5 to 10 years of age you can tell the software a younger user will be playing it and it shortens the lengths of moves to reach the end goal. I play it with my 3 year old and it gives him visual cues to help with numbers and counting. When a wrong move is made codie will crash into a tree or fall into a pond and start over from last position. I really love the durable construction of all the codie software a pieces and I am positive that it will continue to last through my sons learning and his younger siblings. We use it as a type of preschool learning software to help him prepare for kindergarten and set aside dedicated learning time for it so he isn’t taking the pieces and running off with them. All the Osmo’s world software is a one time use code you plug into the downloadable app and expansions can run anywhere from 50 to 100 dollars making the software better suited to a learning professional than for private use. I find that the software would be especially useful for therapists working with learning disabilities so they can really get the use of it for their money. Osmo’s software is available for iPad or for fire tablet and they are specific to the tablet used. I really do see a change in my son’s learning abilities since we started using the Osmo’s software. He is more inclined to take direction and the games make it so fun he wants to sit down and learn how to play.
I am not a kid ,but I would play with it.
It is easy to get it ready for your kid to play and even most of the kids will be able to do it themselves.
It is not like the normal boring games on tablet that you are clicking 100 times a minute.
With this gaming set the kid needs to think and solve problems and moves.
It is an interactive game and the set includes many physical blocks that the kid plays with.
This is a good way of learning new skills and play games in the meantime.
Also when kids play on tablet, just one kid can play on one tablet.
With this gaming set kids can play together to solve the next move in the game and not fight over one tablet.
This helps kids to learn how to work in team.
If you consider the cost of the actual tablet, then this is looking less good value for money. The base sells for 39.99 on its own, which is quite an outlay for what it is. That makes the games very expensive too. And to add more games that is an even bigger cost. It is great to see the Fire tablet supported and I know that there are so many hardware variations, but it would be nice to see plain old Android sorted too.
This is a great bit of kit for today’s tech-obsessed younger generation. It consists of a stand to hold the iPad in portrait mode plus a reflector that sits over the camera to read the tiles. They are very cleverly designed, slotting together each with multi-function when combined with the arrow and number keys. When you are ready to test your “program” you hit the green play button. It’s like Basic programming but hands on with an excellent tutorial. The fun character and animation provide that Holy Grail of fun while learning and all the kids I’ve seen use this have enjoyed it very much either solo or co-operatively. Expandable with different packs too, this is a great learning toys for 20s youngsters.
First I had to download the apps – Coding Awbie, Coding Jam and Coding Duo. They are all free in the App store. Next I had to put the iPad on the base and the red reflector over the iPad’s camera.
The game is fun and my son loves the animation but it’s still a bit too advance for him so he mostly watches when we play. While browsing the app store I also found some awesome Osmo apps (like the Osmo numbers) that might be more appropriate for his age. But nevertheless it’s still a good coding game that me and my 7 year old nephew enjoy playing.
I got this for my kids (7 & 6) to play with dad. He codes for a living, so I thought “let’s try it out”. We have the other main Osmo kits already, and we like them. As far as these coding kits, they’re pretty good. The kids seemed to like it, but the tiles were a bit fiddly. The app seemed to get confused at times, requiring the kids to remove all the tiles from the visible play area then put them back exactly as they were for it to work. However they did enjoy it, and it seemed to introduce them to some programming concepts which was good.
Coding has become me an entegrated part of our professional and even persons lives. Therefore, it is essential that from our kids to learn coding as soon as possible.
This game set is a fantastic way to introduce your child to the world of coding in a fun and effective way. The fire base package comes with all three levels of the game. The beginners level introduces your child to primers or coding, how to think logically, and how to understand and use simple commands to accomplish a task. All this in a fun and entertaining way!
I shall give an example for one of the games: first you setup the base on a desk/table/floor and install your fire tablet on it. There is a scanner that is placed on top of the fire tablet (please see my photos). The scanner will scan the desk in front of it where your child will use the blocks to interact with the game that is displayed on the fire tablet. One of the games is to take a cartoonish character from A to B where there can be several barriers like trees, river, etc. All this is displayed on the tablet. Your child has to figure out to use the coding blocks step by step to take the character from position A to distination B. The scanner will scan the progress of your child placing the coding blocks and will move the character on the screen accordingly.
This is the simplest game which your child can learn the basics of coding: task in hand, single commands, sequence of commands and finally fulfilling the task.
My 2.5 years old (although probably too young) but enjoys playing this game with my help. You see their improvements after each try. Enjoyable for them and for you too see them learn and progress.
It’s noteworthy to mention that the blocks and bits and pieces of the game are very well organised in sturdy boxes where you can nicely store them.
Osmo game is compatible with a handful of fire tablet versions. Make sure yours is compatible. For example the newest fire 8 pro (version 10) is not compatible.
In conclusion, this is an excellent intellectual game which combines learning with fun games. I highly recommend it.
This is an excellent intellectual game which combines learning with fun games.
I love this series of games, this is the start pack with the iPad stand and all the commands. It is really easy to use and very intuitive for the children, well made and sturdy material, you can put everything back in the box when finished. I will definitely buy the expansion packs soon!
I love this series of games, this is the start pack with the iPad stand and all the commands. It is really easy to use and very intuitive for the children, well made and sturdy material, you can put everything back in the box when finished. I will definitely buy the expansion packs soon!
I know nothing about coding and it’s very different to the basis of computers in the early 1980s when Sinclair introduced home computers that most could afford.
This kit is amazing. If your youngster has an iPad and any interest in App development or the ‘how’ of tablets, this is almost bound to take their interest and encourage development of programming skills. There’s a stand for the iPad and colourful pieces to set them up. Following the guidance provided, they’ll soon be making up their own basic games and more. This isn’t really a toy; it’s an investment in future skills and could well set some up for life. Amazing.
Primary school pupils are introduced to coding with a device called a Turtle, a toy-like object wherein one physically puts in a small number of coding commands which the Turtle obeys. They then go onto a computer program such as Scratch, where blocks of code that perform distinct tasks are joined together jigsaw-fashion to create computer programs such as games.
Osmo, then is a really clever idea that links these two concepts , physical ‘blocks’ that join together . These are read by a tablet – a periscope-like device fits over the front camera and the actions of the coder are transferred in real time to what’s happening on the screen. It’s loads of fun, and is really ingenious in the way it links the two forms of learning together. My seven year old tech-head son, Vinnie, absolutely adores it, and will play with it for hours.
What you get:
* 31 coding blocks in a box.
* The periscope device, called here a Reflector.
* A stand for an Amazon Fire (check that yours is of the correct generation) This seems necessary as it’s obviously been engineered to be at a particular angle and height for the Reflector to function .
* Access to the app, which contains three open-ended programs: A game called Awbie, where you help the titular character move through levels of a funny, colourful video game by coding his next move. A music making suite called Jam, and a puzzle-solving suite called Coding Duo.
All of these can be played as games against other users, and they are all almost limitless in scope and depth – the player will never run out of things to do, which I think justifies the price – It’s really all the stuff on the app your paying for, not the physical objects.
Once the app is installed, you don’t need a wi-fi connection to use it, so it can be played anywhere.
An excellent educational game for young programmers, then. Unreservedly recommended.
This kit is pretty pricey, especially given you need the tablet separately. We were a little underwhelmed when we opened the box, but set it up and got going. It might be worth setting this up before introducing it to the kids – it took a while to find the app, create an account and get going and the kids just wanted to play! On the plus side it’s good for a range of ages and I think it will last. The gameplay was a little clunky at times – occasionally it just didn’t register taps etc, but it wasn’t too much of a problem.
Initially thought of my nephew for this. He’s 8 and loves chess and any other games that require planning and strategic thinking. He thrives on knowing the “rules” and sticking to them – he gets upset if others try and cheat when playing games. He’s also learning to play the piano so this seemed perfect for him. He likes it, it feels like a computer game to him rather than learning. He loves feeling that he is in control of the adventure! I think he will get through the levels relatively quickly but hoping they will add some new ones.
His sister has just turned 6 and wanted to have a go too. She has a different character – very resourceful and if she can find a loop-hole or way round the rules she’ll use it! She is more creative and enjoyed the game too but was less concerned about moving up the levels, she just had fun trying it out. As the product is recommended for 5-10+ she will probably grow into it a little, but I’m not sure it will be her favourite.
It also connects in with their learning at school so that’s good. I think it made more sense to my nephew than most of the rest of the family! Their mum is a primary school teacher and she was happy for them to use this for limited times, and it was nice they could share his tunes. No wifi is required once it’s downloaded so great for travel, and also feel safe leaving the kids to play on their own as they’re not online.
You get the base and the reflector, the ipad slips into the base and the reflector sits on the top. You do need to download an app from the appstore to get it to work, but it is seamless set up, its so easy.
Its easy to use and understand, you play games with the idea that coding becomes second nature. Now i cant understand it at all, my brain is just all nahh but my littles ones love it.
This is amazing good kit that keep equipped children and also they learn a lot.
Bought this for my nephew who 8 years old, got this for his birthday gift, when he open gift from wrapping he was surprised because he was asking from his parents from long time.
Because he is taking online coding classes and he was very keen to get one to start from home. As he said in the box have everything whatever he need just need to use fire tablets it’s also has stand. It has 3 hands on coding games Coding Awbie, Coding Jam and Coding duo.
Kids can learn coding concept and creative side, collaboration with team work and learn how to solve problems. Different kind of learning ways like coding Annie, coding jam, coding duo and self guided. Osmo has wide range of learning skill. He loves to play and make different music.It’s perfect activity for kids. That keep them busy also learning for long hours.
Keeps kids equipped, learn about coding, team work, best gif
This kit includes everything you need to teach and help kids learn to code (except tablet). The coding of course isn’t advanced but it teaches them the basic gist of it and how code is sequential. They’ve found it quite engaging when working together as a team.
The thing I despise the most about this kit is that it only works with the fire tablet. That really annoys me and I would’ve made this 3 stars if it wasn’t for the fact that everything else works really well. I personally think if they made this available to as many tablets as possible, this product would get out to more people and overall sell more! This means that if you don’t already have a fire tablet, you need to pick one up, and if you’re short on money, or already have a tablet, that’s pretty annoying.
Aside from the fact that this requires a fire tablet, I think it’s a great learning tool to introduce kids to technology. I also think this would be a great gift for example as a Christmas present. I’d highly recommend this if you’re looking to get your children into coding and already have a fire tablet to use with it.
I have 2 daughters aged 5 and 10, the eldest of the 2 has done some coding with school so she was really excited to use this. This was my youngest daughters (and mine) first experience of coding and using an Osmo kit.
Firstly the box looks exciting and grabbed my daughters attention straight away. They both wanted to get all the little parts out and explore. The quality is excellent. Everything is well made and seems incredibly robust. It took 5 minutes to download the Osmo world app on my daughters iPad, along with the 3 game apps which were:
Coding Awbie – the beginners game which my 5 year old loved and found very easy to pick up (after a little assistance) and is great for helping her with adding numbers and problem solving skills in a way she’s really enjoying.
Coding duo – once you get up to speed with the first game this one is more advanced and challenging. Love the fact my daughters can work it out and play together/compete with this one
Coding jam – this one makes music with coding and seems good fun from initial look and play (we need more practice)
I loved that my older child wanted to show my youngest what to do and they have played with this together.
Set up was super easy, just register an email address and you’re ready to go. The iPad sits very securely on the stand and the red reflector slots easily in the top of the iPad (this reads the pieces you lay out in front).
This gets a huge thumbs up for me. Excellent, interactive gaming that both of my children are finding really fun and simple to use, helping them (especially my 5 year old) with important problem solving skills, counting and coding whilst having fun. Highly recommend
I’m not technically minded but it states on the product description for use on ipad and amazon fire. My son has a basic android tablet and this worked perfectly.
I had never heard of coding yet when my son saw this advertised he recognised something and asked if he could have it.
The set up was very simple, the instructions inside the box were approx 3 mines long, giving a webpage to visit and follow the instructions which were very simple.
I was shocked to to recognise the coding system, not the same program but the concept was the same that my son’s school use.
The set up really was very simple, pop the tablet into the block and place the red part on top of the tablet (as seen in photo’s).
This isn’t just for children, my husband and i had great fun going through the games.
Under the current climate with home schooling and children missing out on education this kit is great to keep young children entertained while learning.
First, it works fine with Kindle Fire. App installed in no time, was up and running in just a minute or two.
This is for absolute beginners, and this is really a critical thinking game, to make the child stop and think through a problem. The pieces are shaped like scratch code commands, so you become familiar with lining up commands. At the beginning you’re doing just one command at a time, but it builds, which is the goal.
They ask for an email to set up an account, so you can save progress. This is optional. Otherwise I didn’t notice any privacy concerns.
The characters are very cute. It’s picture oriented, not much reading required, great for struggling readers.
The work is with the pieces, not on the tablet itself. The attachment is a reflector, put over your camera and it views the pieces you’re lining up.
We just got this today and I started playing with my 3 yo daughter since she seemed interested and eager to try. Though it says for kids 5-10 I thought why not, I am with her guiding her anyway. So we opened up, and downloaded the apps. The coding jam seems to be cool, she can do the beginning basic levels but she seems to be lacking the skill or confidence to rotate the little arrow on the piece… but other than that she gets the idea and verbally provides me with the correct answer. Intellectually she is more like a 4 to 5 yo in some aspects, so it wasn’t too difficult for her. It seemed to be a bit fun, but I could see how this could lead to her sustained interest in computer games down the road, which I am not sure I would like to go… But so far I think with a little guidance and monitoring, I’ll let her explore a little bit and see where things go. I believe in exposure however I wouldn’t let her nor is she interested in playing with this all day long. It would be included in her screen time of 1-2 hours per day.
This box comes with an Osmo Base & reflector for iPad. To set it up, you firstly visit the App Store and download Coding Awbie, Coding Jam & Coding Duo for free. Then just slot your iPad (not included!) into the base and clip the reflector to the top and you’re away!
I couldn’t find instructions in/on the box for what to do with all the coding block bits included in the kit, but once we got started on Coding Awbie it was pretty obvious what you had to do and my 4 yr old and 7 yr old were happy to tackle it taking turns, with very little adult intervention required.
This is such a clever way to teach children coding skills from a young age, in a fun way. We will definitely be buying more Osmo games in future, as they keep the children entertained for ages and are secretly educating them while they play!
Got this for when my cousins children visit (anything that keeps them busy and is educational is a win!), the starter set is great and comes with a few different games that utilise the tiles to solve the puzzles, I found it was a little difficult for the 5y/o but if they work together with their 7y/o brother they are able to do it. It was a little fiddly to setup (possibly partly my fault) but once up-and-running it’s a great little educational game and because it’s got that computer game feel to it they seem to be more engaged than they would be doing something that’s just pen-and-paper based. Great product and would recommend.
Coding Jam is a great addition to the Osmo. I was an original Kickstarter backer of Osmo and I’m glad it’s succeeded in making learning fun for kids. The kids spend a lot of time creating music and sharing with friends and family. Got this for my 7 year old who is really enjoying it. If it helps make learning fun it’s got my vote!! Would also make a fantastic present for birthdays or Christmas
We learned during this pandemic that our six year old son likes games that involve coding after seeing how much he loved playing the Foos though his school technology class. After he solved all of those coding puzzles we weren’t sure what games would be similar but still age appropriate for a child his age. The pieces for this set are very similar to the buttons on the Foos game. What I like about this game is it gives him tangible pieces to use to do the coding puzzles. These coding games have held the attention of my 6, and 8 year old children for over a month. We originally got the iPad version of this set and then opted to get the Fire version so we can have multiple kids play the same games at once. If you have iPad and Fire tablets you can use the same OSMO account and all of the game pieces on either platform, but you will need different base/reflector sets for each tablet since the bases are quite different. We liked the coding games enough to try out other OSMO games for our kids.
This starter set is great if you don’t already have the base and reflector for the Fire tablet. I do wish the reflector top was able to fit over the tablet while it is in a case, but there isn’t much wiggle room. Perhaps if you have a very thin case on the tablet it might work, but I wouldn’t fit over the case we have.
I would absolutely recommend this coding set if you have a child who is interested in learning to code. It’s also a fun game for the child who likes to figure out puzzles. It’s a bit pricey, but compared to the cost of a subscription for some coding games for kids online, this is actually pretty reasonable.
I am really impressed with the quality of this product.
My 5 year old son loves it and keeps asking to play it.
Not too interested in the word game at the moment, but loves the numbers and tangram.
All the osmo apps are free but you do need the osmo stand and reflector for the iPad or tablet (we use iPad).works perfectly, the dock is well made with a non slip coating, the top reflector works really well just slide it over the top camera for it to pick up the coding blocks.The coding blocks are colourful and magnetic so they snap together really well.
It was amazing watching the kid get the hang of using the system, and learning to use the right “commands” to play the games available.
Best of all, add-ons are available for purchase, so when he gets bored of the starter kit , there’s additional sets that will potentially aid in his learning.
my son actually looks forward to learning more by using this.
So with coding, even at the young-kid level, has a lot of potential for learning about reality, how things work and also introducing people to potential jobs later on in life.
With my kid, he loves computers, games and technology in general so the coding Osmo was pretty common sense.
I really enjoyed seeing him go through the software and grow his skills. The software is understanding of kids and does a good job keeping them interested, also works great with our iPad.
This is a great educational toy that helps to teach kids the basics of coding, it’s a great start to coding, my boy loves this kit, he’s 9 and is following the many modes really easily.
The design of the product is really good, the build is even better.
The game itself is really fun, keeps my boy quiet for hours and the best part about it is he learning
So, I have a tiny wee small nephew and he luuuuurves his toys, Lego, M.U.S.C.L.E., Superzings, Transformers, Turtles, Nintendo, pirate stuff, Egyptian stuff, comic book things, if it costs a small fortune, he’s into it. It’s all well and good, but none of it is exactly “educational”.
Sure, I’m one of those who believe you should be a kid for as long as possible, but his mother often laments the sheer volume of toys he has, and thinks that his academic prowess is lagging a little bit.
So, when this Osmo kit showed up, I snapped one up.
When it arrived, everything looks great, solidly built, smacks of quality. There’s not much by way of instructions, but it’s simple enough, whack in your iPad on the base (iPad Air 2 in this case), snap on the camera hood doodah, download the App (Osmo World), throw around the tiles, and away you go (errr after watching a YouTube video or two).
I was a bit dubious at first, as there doesn’t appear to be 100 worth of “stuff” in there, but after a short while of use, the money you’ve spent is in the learning and thought processes that the youngling develops as they use the system, particularly logical thinking and problem solving.
It was amazing watching the kid get the hang of using the system, and learning to use the right “commands” to play the games available. That there is worth the price of admission.
Best of all, add-ons are available for purchase, so when he gets bored of the starter kit (he’s a kid I’m surprised he’s not bored now), there’s additional sets that will potentially aid in his learning.
I have never heard of Osmo since this kit and I look forward to trying the other kits that are available, this year has been hard home schooling since lockdown and this coding kit is a fantastic addition to make learning fun! Or a little easier I should say 🙂
The Osmo coding starter kit comes in a well informed and colourful box, Easy to setup instructions and the box layout has been thought out well, with the trays being able to slide out and a back perforated pop out section that you can use as a photo surround to make your child look like an astronaut to start your adventure.
It maybe worth installing the required apps and getting everything setup prior to your child starting, i had my son next to me and it took around 5-10 min for me to setup everything ready so he was getting a bit bored quickly as was so keen to start.
I have an iPad 2nd gen and it works perfectly, the dock is well made with a non slip coating, the top reflector works really well just slide it over the top camera for it to pick up the coding blocks, there are 3 apps that I noticed that you can use to code, we started with the Aubie adventure the story is brilliant, it starts off really simple and gets harder as you progress through the game world on your adventure, lots of content to keep you entertained, I like that you feel part of the world as you progress through the story, the music is nice to listen to and is not repetitive, this is a well thought out learning kit as your coding skills also get rewarded with longer code.
The coding blocks come in a well made plastic case, I found that the best position of the blocks is about 6 inches from the front of the base, there is a shaded section on the screen that lets you know if the reflector has picked up the blocks and this also helps for you to plan your moves, to activate the sequence tap the screen then a 3 second countdown timer starts to give you the time to take your hands away so the reflector picks the blocks up again.
There are subroutines and loop blocks in the kit that at first will even get an adults brain working I’m sure.
The symbol blocks let’s you assign a particular pattern to it.
There is a parent app to keep track of your child’s progress like screen time and stats, this is separate to the game apps.
The coding blocks are colourful and magnetic so they snap together really well.
I must say that I am really impressed by this kit and my son actually looks forward to learning more by using this, I can see many years of use with this. thank you.
We were so excited to get this set and honestly I am blown away at this interactive educational game for my kids.
The set up was pretty easy, go to playosmo.com/start and set up an account on your ipad. From there you will select which start kits or kits that you have and it will load a page of all the apps you should download for those. Some games will require you to put in a code and you will need your username/password for that. You can also add your children and set up their account here – this way when they log in they just select their character/name – I did this for my children as they are 5 & 7.
What you get:
-Osmo Base & Reflector for iPad
-31 tangible coding blocks including: Walk, Jump, Hand, Magic, Rest, Quantifiers (Numbers), Repeat, Subroutines
-Stackable storage for game pieces
3 Game Apps:
Coding Awbie -learn basic coding fundamentals
Coding Jam – Get creative with code and make your own music
Coding Duo – Show off yours skills in this advanced puzzle game
COMPATIBILITY FOR IPAD: Compatible iPads: All iPads
Ages 5-10+ – My five year old and seven year old both play this – I will say that my seven year old moved through pretty quickly while my five year old did take a bit longer to get the hang of the game.
The fact that this is a hands on and your child will need to move the arrow to the correct direction which the character will need to move – the OSMO reflector will scan and see what direction the arrow is facing and move the character – hopefully in the right direction.
This kit is great for teaching kids coding, my daughter is 6.
Due to her age, it did take her sometime to get used to what she had to do and how it worked, but once she had a good grasp of it, she was off. She played with it for hours amazed with how she could get a character on the iPad to move.
She loves playing the games, we also got the Frozen 2 version, of which she loves. You draw items on a pad and it comes to live on the screen.
This is game style teaching programme for young children to learn the basics of coding.
My son is a programmer and runs his IT business and so he was pleased to get this for his son to play with and spark his interest
With real time audio and visual feedback children are encouraged to learn coding through play.
The children are using coding commands to control a character called Awbie through their own adventure.
They can make their own music and hear it happen through the coding puzzles and games
At the moment this is compatible only with the Fire 7 -7th generation (which is NOTincluded) but there is an Osmo base and Reflector included in the box for the ~Fire tablet.
This is a great idea for the new generation of children. Coding is something that a lot of children will find interesting. It is a shame that this is only compatible with the Fire 7.
I also think it is rather expensive for what you get.
The truth is that Osmo is rarely played in my house, but I figured lets give it a shot again with coding. We have both ipads and fire tablets, but we realize that the accessories are interchangeable. The base is unique and you need to get the right base for your tablet, but the game pieces doesn’t matter, the are the same whether you use it for iPads or Fire tablets. From our experience, if you want to get the most out of Osmo, then you need to get a tablet case that is easily removable. You see, your case will be the #1 reason why you won’t be playing Osmo as much as you would like to. The nuisance of removing tablet from case, putting it back, removing it, putting back.. this is the #1 deterrent. We have those colorful, thick, and hard to remove rubber cases for our children, and I know it’s the reason why I don’t encourage the kids to play osmo as much as I should.
Get an easy to remove case if you want to get the most out of your Osmo kits...
This worked great with my kid’s 7th Generation Fire HD 10″! Had no issues installing the app, or getting it to read the pieces. She’s 8 and loved it, even the simpler game. I think she did gain some interest in coding while playing, but mostly because both of her parents code. She wants to move on to learning scratch next, and then some easy python stuff. What would be really cool is if they had an Osmo app that taught the troubleshooting side of tech too!
Update: a few months later and after becoming completely obsessed with osmo coding jam my daughter’s now declared that osmo coding is for little kids and moved onto making scratch games! She always looked at scratch as something that was over her head, so I consider it a huge improvement.. even if she has actually lost interest in osmo for now. This was a great first step into coding!
This worked great with my kid’s 7th Generation Fire HD 10″! Had no issues installing the app, or getting it to read the pieces. She’s 8 and loved it, even the simpler game. I think she did gain some interest in coding while playing, but mostly because both of her parents code. She wants to move on to learning scratch next, and then some easy python stuff. What would be really cool is if they had an Osmo app that taught the troubleshooting side of tech too!
Update: a few months later and after becoming completely obsessed with osmo coding jam my daughter’s now declared that osmo coding is for little kids and moved onto making scratch games! She always looked at scratch as something that was over her head, so I consider it a huge improvement.. even if she has actually lost interest in osmo for now. This was a great first step into coding!
This worked great with my kid’s 7th Generation Fire HD 10″! Had no issues installing the app, or getting it to read the pieces. She’s 8 and loved it, even the simpler game. I think she did gain some interest in coding while playing, but mostly because both of her parents code. She wants to move on to learning scratch next, and then some easy python stuff. What would be really cool is if they had an Osmo app that taught the troubleshooting side of tech too!
Update: a few months later and after becoming completely obsessed with osmo coding jam my daughter’s now declared that osmo coding is for little kids and moved onto making scratch games! She always looked at scratch as something that was over her head, so I consider it a huge improvement.. even if she has actually lost interest in osmo for now. This was a great first step into coding!
This worked great with my kid’s 7th Generation Fire HD 10″! Had no issues installing the app, or getting it to read the pieces. She’s 8 and loved it, even the simpler game. I think she did gain some interest in coding while playing, but mostly because both of her parents code. She wants to move on to learning scratch next, and then some easy python stuff. What would be really cool is if they had an Osmo app that taught the troubleshooting side of tech too!
Update: a few months later and after becoming completely obsessed with osmo coding jam my daughter’s now declared that osmo coding is for little kids and moved onto making scratch games! She always looked at scratch as something that was over her head, so I consider it a huge improvement.. even if she has actually lost interest in osmo for now. This was a great first step into coding!
Osmo is such a fantastic idea! What kid doesn’t love screen time? And what parent isn’t interested in helping their child learn and explore, by using tactile, hands-on items? This set really is the best of both worlds! The game is visually appealing, interactive, and keeps a child’s attention, while introducing at a basic level the skill of the future, coding. I love that it mixes screen time with actual hands on items. Osmo uses a base to help your iPad stand upright, and a mirror that mounts on top to use your iPad’s camera to register what physical pieces are being put together, and change what the character is doing on screen. It’s just such an ingenious concept. Great product!
The Osmo code kit is pretty great. We ordered it to supplement this year’s slightly more virtual and remote way of learning due to Covid hybrid school models that will keep them home more. It seems like a good supplemental activity for kids that is learning disguised as play.
It comes with a base (i pad Stand it sits on) and a mirrored piece that goes over the top of the iPad where the camera is. That is what they mean by “starter set” in that it comes with the base and mirror. If you already have an Osmo iPad base and mirror you would just want to get the coding set that just has the coding pieces and not the “starter set” version.
Note that this doesn’t work with all the iPads that are out there. You need to check the compatibility of your iPads before getting this. Two of the newer iPads we own in the house happened to be very ones that were not compatible at ALL with Osmo. We luckily had an older model that works with this, but please check models first- as after trying 2 iPads unsuccessfully we were very frustrated and wondering if we would ever get it up and running.
Not knowing anything about coding myself, I didn’t know what to expect in the games and the set. It’s a lot more reasonable for the kids to figure out than it sounded to me in my head. They use plastic pieces that are color coded and have only symbols on them alongside numbered pieces to move around and make things in combination and sequences. I like that even if the kid is too young to read (grade k) they can still intuitively use the set, as it doesn’t require reading skills. They are also really good at starting the kids off with one move and then working up the skills as it goes to then do two, then add numbers, etc so that it builds as the games go as they learn and grow more comfortable. There also seems to be lots of helping prompts- so that if the kid isn’t making any moves it seems to pop up some pictures of what piece they will need to find.
We also own another set of Osmo pieces with 6 other games and my 5 year old only seems to want to play and use these coding games- so it’s clearly the favorite if the Osmo things we own so far. I think it feels more like a video game to him.
There’s an adventure game where you tell a little monster how to move around and pick up things using the game pieces and numbers. My kid seems to really love this one. I think because it feels like a video game to him where he’s moving the guy around and going on “missions”.
There’s also another very open ended game with music and you use the different pieces to compose parts of a song in different directions for different instruments, chimes, etc and then it strings all the musical parts they made together and they always seem to sound pretty good together as a song they make up. My 3 year old liked to watch this game as the music being made by the 5 year old seemed to interest him. The 3 year old was touching and playing with the game pieces for this and the 5 year old involved him a little but it’s really geared more towards 5 and up. I don’t think 3 year old could manage to play any of these without a parent basically doing it for them.
My kid is 5 and he spends a good hour totally independently doing these games when he picks up the kit. The first time he used it I played it with him and helped him figure it out but he seems good on his own with it now.
There’s 3 games (Apps) total, but my kid mostly uses the music and adventure/ maze game so Those are the ones I know the most about.
Overall I’d recommend it.
5 year old loves it. Great supplement for remote learning time.
I bought the genius starter kit for my 6 and 8 years old. They are so excited to have the coding game added to their collection.
My kids are learning violin and love to create their own music while learning these basic coding skills.
It’s definitely a great way to introduce coding. My kids love making their own music while learning to code.
The Osmo has self-explanatory and with the parent app, it shows me how many game achievements and lines of code my kids had done.
We love this system, my kids are learning while playing. I’m very impressed with Osmo. You cannot go wrong with Osmo games.
No addition fee on apps. Very entertaining and educational learning games. Highly recommend!
I got this for my 8-year-old son to give him something educational to do with his iPad instead of just playing regular games. I liked the fact that he can interact with real objects while still using the iPad. The 3 games included with the starter kit teach you to think in a logical and organized way that is critical for learning how to write computer code. He has played with this for hours without getting tired of it. I am also going to get him one of the add-on packs that give him additional games that he can play.
This is perfect to help children to learn coding. It takes you on an adventure where you have to save a character. In the begin it will seem like it’s hard and impossible to learn how to code but as you continue to follow the steps, you will see how easy it is to code. I decided to get this for my youngest so. Since my 2 older kids are in robotics and code all the time, he started to take an interest in it as well, but is t old enough yet. This coding kit makes him feels like he can do it too. It’s super fun and easy to work with. As in the words of my 8 yr old son…”It’s Amazing!” I recommend this for all children that have an interest in coding. This definitely will make a great gift.
This is perfect to help children to learn coding. It takes you on an adventure where you have to save a character. In the begin it will seem like it’s hard and impossible to learn how to code but as you continue to follow the steps, you will see how easy it is to code. I decided to get this for my youngest so. Since my 2 older kids are in robotics and code all the time, he started to take an interest in it as well, but is t old enough yet. This coding kit makes him feels like he can do it too. It’s super fun and easy to work with. As in the words of my 8 yr old son...”It’s Amazing!” I recommend this for all children that have an interest in coding. This definitely will make a great gift.
As a long-time web programmer, I love finding educational items that teach kids to code from very early ages. THis set is great because it interests kids from early learners (5) up to preteen and I even see how non-coding adults can learn from this with the family games! I love that its expandable and hope that they come out with even more add-ons for this set! Perfect for new homeschoolers or parents looking for extracurricular home activities.
We love using Osmo for our kids, and this coding set is no different. Just download the app, set up an account, and connect the base. It took all of 5 minutes to get going. The kids love the game included (a little like Zelda moving around the screen) and its teaching them the basics of coding. “Move forward 3 times, then jump, then turn and move 2 times. Then loop back.” The pieces are well made and it includes a great storage case. We’re big fans of this new addition.
This is one of the best educational iPad apps I have in my arsenal to keep the kids busy. The BEG to play this and I feel good about letting them do so.
In the box:
Osmo base
Osmo Coding Family Bundle
To get started, you download the Osmo app and indicate which package you have. After doing that, it instructs you to download several other games depending on the Osmo bundle that you purchased. For this coding bundle, it works with three different free to download Coding Awbie, Coding Jam, and Coding Duo.
Coding Awbie – “Start here to learn basic coding fundamentals”
Coding Jam – “Get creative with code and make your own music”
Coding Duo – “Show off yours skills in this advanced puzzle game”
Because all three of the kids want to play at once, I ordered a Osmo Genius starting bundle so that I could get a second base as well as get another game. I have tried to have two kids use the coding apps at one time (I downloaded the game onto two iPads) which kind of works. The kids run out of some of the basic pieces like the “Walk”. It can be done but be prepared for some squabbling if the kids don’t share pieces well.
The one minor complaint I have, and it really is minor, is how the boxes stack together when you start having more than one set of Osmos. They made it so that the base can stack nicely onto the rectangle sized coding box. They also made it so that the Genius bundle set, which has square boxes half the size), can stack nicely on top of the coding box. But because the boxes from the Genius set has a lip on them, it makes it so you can’t stack the coding box on them or the base. If they had made a notch in the box for the coding set or under the Osmo base itself, it would make it so that you’d be able to stack it. Again… such a minor thing that I don’t mind it that much for such a great product.
The OSMO is a fantastic learning tool. The goal behind it is to integrate your visual learning with your tactile learning. It accomplishes this by using a special reflect that attaches to your device and the mount for the device to engage the child and tablet and surface together.
The OSMO website states this is the method of play:
1) Put your device in a compatible Osmo Base with the red reflector over the device’s camera.
2) Play with physical game pieces — draw, code, spell, and more.
3) Osmo scans the table and your child’s creations come alive on the screen!
I found this to be an accurate portrayal! My kids instantly took to it with a few minutes of tinkering and had a lot of fun unpacking things and playing with them.
Something to keep in mind is you’ll need to remove your tablet from the protective cover for it to properly fit in the cradle.
The way that this makes coding approachable for kids is just brilliant, allowing them to peek and poke along the screen and execute their ‘program’ at the touch of a button. I think it will be great for any kid to engage and have fun together.
This interactive program for children coding is very good because it is very interactive with the pieces it contains to play along with your iPad.
It is incredibly fun and easy to use.
It is very colorful, and the characters are very cute.
My kids were very entertained playing and learning with this game.
You can play 3 different games that you download and play with the pieces in this set.
The base would be better if it was wider since my iPad didn’t fit with the protector I had, so I had to take it off in order for it to fit on the base.
Still, I think its an awesome product and program!
I really like the osmos systems. I do find though that the younger kid ones tend to hold my kids attention that are that age better than the more advanced ones. Although my 7 year old does like this he just doesn’t want to play with it as much as his younger brother wants to play with his.
These are pretty straightforward. Your basically paying for the app with a few gadgets and piece that make it possible for the apps to see what your doing with you hands and the pieces to do so.
The only real complaint I have with these is that if you have a case on your iPad you will need to take it off to fit it in the base and to put on the mirror thing. Personally I think if you make products for kids you should assume that most people have a protective case on there iPads and for good reason too! But I would still recommend this it is fun for the kids and helps them learn too!
We learned during this pandemic that our six year old son likes games that involve coding after seeing how much he loved playing the Foos though his school technology class. After he solved all of those coding puzzles we weren’t sure what games would be similar but still age appropriate for a child his age. When I was presented with the opportunity to try out this coding set, I decided to give it a go and see how my son did with it. When the set arrived the pieces for this set were very similar to the buttons on the Foos game. What I like about this game is it gives him tangible pieces to use to do the coding puzzles. My son was very excited about this Osmo set and has been playing with it every day since it arrived for about an hour at a time. We like this set and the games for it enough to get a second set so two of our kids can play with the game at the same time for our homeschool technology class. This was our first experience with Osmo, but it got us hooked and we have picked up a few other games for the kids. This starter set is great if you don’t already have the base and reflector for the iPad. I do wish the reflector top was able to fit over a wider variety of iPad cases. I can slide it over a very thin case I have, but it will not fit over my slim Speck case.
I would absolutely recommend this coding set if you have a child who is interested in learning to code. It’s also a fun game for the child who likes to figure out puzzles. It’s a bit pricey, but compared to the cost of a subscription for some coding games for kids online, this is actually pretty reasonable.
Homeschooling the kids this year and we wanted to have our two older kids start working with learning Coding.
Osmo is a system that uses your iPad with a base and reflector to read tiles. The tiles are actual pieces of plastic that you lay on the table in front of your iPad. The projector reads the images on the tiles and interacts with the game. This kit includes the Osmo base, reflector, 31 interchangeable coding blocks, and three games.
Your kids are introduced to coding with the “Coding Awbie” game. This game uses coding blocks to help the character in the game reach a certain point. You can walk and jump a number of times in any direction. All you need to do is set the correct action tile with the direction the way you want the character to move.
The second game we used was “Coding Jam”. In this game, our kids made music with rhythm, melody, and harmony. They learned to create music with patterns and loops using the 300+ musical sounds.
The last game is “Coding Duo”. This game consists of various puzzles that can be completed on their own or with a partner.
The recommended age range is 5 years to 10 years. Our three grandsons have a blast playing the different games and are learning at the same time.
It’s a great system that can be expanded with the purchase of additional games and tiles.
Great learning system that works with your iPad, learn coding with three fun games
This is a great addition to the Osmo collection. Osmo Coding Starter Kit includes everything your little one needs to have hands on coding while having fun playing games. This set includes three games. Coding Awbie, Coding Jam, and Coding Duo. Coding Duo allows two player so you can play with a friend. We love that you are able to add the pieces from the original Coding Awbie which was great for two player. This way they had the extra pieces to complete the puzzles together without having to put one character asleep. This set can still be played without the extra pieces. There are a few changes they made to the magnetic pieces. This set, the numbers no longer magnetize to the move piece. Our daughter preferred the magnetic numbers. Doesn’t affect the play though. They have also made the base for the iPad thicker and more durable than the original iPad base. The top mirror connector for the iPad also magnetizes to the base for easy storage and no longer is loose and held together with the cardboard sleeve. Comes with a storage case that holds all your move pieces together and can be stacked with previous Osmo games for easy stack and store on a shelf or desk. We keep ours in the original box and store in a canvas basket. Daughter loves it and there are lots of laughs and little giggles while playing. Makes learning extra fun.
This is a great addition to the Osmo collection. Osmo Coding Starter Kit includes everything your little one needs to have hands on coding while having fun playing games. This set includes three games. Coding Awbie, Coding Jam, and Coding Duo. Coding Duo allows two player so you can play with a friend. We love that you are able to add the pieces from the original Coding Awbie which was great for two player. This way they had the extra pieces to complete the puzzles together without having to put one character asleep. This set can still be played without the extra pieces. There are a few changes they made to the magnetic pieces. This set, the numbers no longer magnetize to the move piece. Our daughter preferred the magnetic numbers. Doesn’t affect the play though. They have also made the base for the iPad thicker and more durable than the original iPad base. The top mirror connector for the iPad also magnetizes to the base for easy storage and no longer is loose and held together with the cardboard sleeve. Comes with a storage case that holds all your move pieces together and can be stacked with previous Osmo games for easy stack and store on a shelf or desk. We keep ours in the original box and store in a canvas basket. Daughter loves it and there are lots of laughs and little giggles while playing. Makes learning extra fun.
This is the kit with the base. If you already have the base, get the “Osmo – Coding Family Bundle for iPad & Fire Tablet” which has the same stuff and games without the base.
The coding games are a lot of fun. You’re teaching sequences of instructions. With the physical manipulatives they can see and feel what they’re doing and they’re not just tapping. I really like what my five year old is learning with these osmo apps.
The base itself is sturdy and works, but it won’t work with most cases. We wouldn’t like this near enough except we found the osmo ipad case for cheap used on amazon. With the osmo case, we like it a lot but we wouldn’t want to use this without the osmo case. The osmo app does advertise their other apps a lot to your kid which I wish it would only do in the osmo parent app.
It’s fun, it’s different, and it’s good learning. I like the hands-on approach! We now have the coding bundle, and the two genius bundles. I like it overall and would like to add a couple more sometime.
I bought this for my precocious four year old to help him learn basic coding. The pieces are very high quality and are easy to put together even for a younger kid. Some of the logic will take him some time to figure out, but it’s a good parent/child activity for us. He is having fun getting Awbie to do stuff on the game even if its not quite what he should be doing ;). I think with time he will be able to independently learn to build more complex code sequences. This is a great choice for a parent that is looking to help their child learn while playing fun games.
Fun and easy to learn. Sequencing leads to coding and I love the new built in direction manual!!! 5 year old going into first grade played by himself and he was happy.
I got this for a 5 year old that is highly interested in tinkering/building big Lego sets, and generally quite interested in science. He does have a good attention span for a 5 year old, which I think always helps with this sort of toy. Now, as for the toy, as usual with Osmo the toy pieces intended for the kid to manipulate are very high quality, so the only issue is keeping one from getting lost. As for the games…I was an engineering major in college, and had no intro to coding before I “had” to take the course and learn it. I actually think it’s a great idea to expose kids who are into science early, and there aren’t too many ways to do it. The kid I bought this for had just had his STEM coding summer camp cancelled due to COVID. I really appreciate the goal of this product.
My kids love the Osmos coding starter kit. The 3 games that are a part of the kit is plenty to keep the kids busy. It helps with their analytical skills and helps in solving problems while they are having fun. This is a great especially during quarantine time and keeps them busy!
Our family has had OSMO since the very beginning of OSMO, and I must say, it’s certainly come a long way. We got this Coding Starter Kit for our math-brained 6 year old as a surprise for him during quarantine, and here we are almost a year later. The allure and enthusiasm lasted a few days where he eagerly played this on his own, but now this has become more of a “find something to do that isn’t TV or video games” alternative that he has been working on as something educational. The “coding” is really just sequencing, or laying the tiles provided in the correct order to move the Yeti on the screen through the mazes (example: up, down, right right, left, right).
i should note that we use OSMO with our Fire 7 tablets, which have been very glitchy from time to time. At times, the tablets don’t recognize the OSMO readers at all, othertimes, OSMO doesn’t load, and just spins and spins. I’ve exchanged emails back and forth several dozen times with the OSMO team, and their answers and problem solving are always delayed and frustrating, as waiting for an email isn’t the same as jumping on the phone to help solve an issue for a game that isn’t the cheapest. Long story short, we’ve had to totally wipe the tablets and do a factory reset, and re-download the OSMO games several times now.
I had a really nice video made of our 6 year old playing this, but Amazon no longer allows pictures or videos of minors in their reviews.
Overall, I think this is a good tool to use in a homeroom classroom or as an educational alternative to TV time. We do like, but not LOVE, this game, but would definitely wait for a sale to purchase.
I was fascinated by the complications and, at the same time, the simplicity of the product. Setup takes less than 30 seconds; simply get your iPad to cover the camera so it sensor the real figures on the table and play! This is the first game my kids cry when I tell them it is time to pack it up. It is smart and addictive. I am clapping both of my hands for creation. Yes, the price range could be hesitant to purchase, but it is a long-term investment for your child. It forces to produce logic and common sense with reaction during this game. Overall I am satisfied and defiantly would recommend this product. This is a quite expensive gift for someone you love, but it is way. worth i
Great gift for the kids to learn and grow with!!
Dieses Set macht meinen Kindern wirklich Spa. Logisches Denken wird gefordert und auch die Grafik ist ansprechend. Manchmal schwirren Frage/ Ausrufezeichen ber den Bildschirm. Wieso haben wir noch nicht verstanden.
Dieses Set macht meinen Kindern wirklich Spa. Logisches Denken wird gefordert und auch die Grafik ist ansprechend. Manchmal schwirren Frage/ Ausrufezeichen ber den Bildschirm. Wieso haben wir noch nicht verstanden.
Dieses Set macht meinen Kindern wirklich Spa. Logisches Denken wird gefordert und auch die Grafik ist ansprechend. Manchmal schwirren Frage/ Ausrufezeichen ber den Bildschirm. Wieso haben wir noch nicht verstanden.
Quite a fun way for kids to get familiar with coding.
Both kids love this Osmo set and playing Coding Awbie. I feel good letting them have this screen time to learn a new skill that may help them in the future. Osmo does a good job of making learning fun.
Also osmo products unless caught on sale are extremely expensive. And you would think buying add ons would be cheaper but nope the kits are less expensive than buying the add ons because you aren’t really buying the plastic stuff they send you, your buying the digital games that goes with it. I checked their site and they have an add on for the genius kit that has check marks for you to say you have the physical pieces needed before it will let you purchase the digital downloads for 60 dollars. Just a heads up, if you think it worth it by all means, but I’m a bit let down.
Also osmo products unless caught on sale are extremely expensive. And you would think buying add ons would be cheaper but nope the kits are less expensive than buying the add ons because you aren’t really buying the plastic stuff they send you, your buying the digital games that goes with it. I checked their site and they have an add on for the genius kit that has check marks for you to say you have the physical pieces needed before it will let you purchase the digital downloads for 60 dollars. Just a heads up, if you think it worth it by all means, but I’m a bit let down.
Also osmo products unless caught on sale are extremely expensive. And you would think buying add ons would be cheaper but nope the kits are less expensive than buying the add ons because you aren’t really buying the plastic stuff they send you, your buying the digital games that goes with it. I checked their site and they have an add on for the genius kit that has check marks for you to say you have the physical pieces needed before it will let you purchase the digital downloads for 60 dollars. Just a heads up, if you think it worth it by all means, but I’m a bit let down.
Also osmo products unless caught on sale are extremely expensive. And you would think buying add ons would be cheaper but nope the kits are less expensive than buying the add ons because you aren’t really buying the plastic stuff they send you, your buying the digital games that goes with it. I checked their site and they have an add on for the genius kit that has check marks for you to say you have the physical pieces needed before it will let you purchase the digital downloads for 60 dollars. Just a heads up, if you think it worth it by all means, but I’m a bit let down.
This is a great product, my 5yo likes playing with it but she hasn’t quite mastered the coding concepts yet. I think it’ll be better when she gets a bit older.
The software (coding with awbie app) is a little buggy and sometimes freezes when the counter reaches 1. I reported this to their support people and after many many hours of bog-standard support suggestions (turn it off and on again, etc etc) they eventually advised to report it as a bug. It seems to trigger less often if you make sure there aren’t any stray pieces scattered near the program you’ve laid out.
Was a gift to my granddaughter. Therefore unable to rate this item.
I’m a programmer myself. This seems to be a good easy way to introduce coding to kids. The characters look pretty funny, and my kids (5 & 7) are enjoying this. I can see lots of progress already.
I got this for my 5 and 7 year old girls. Very easy to set up. You do need a fire tablet. The tablet cannot be in a case to use this product, which is a downfall considering we’re talking about kids here. For that I took off a start. I added a screen protector to their tablet in hopes that the times they use this product, it’ll be enough to protect it.
Anyway, the set up was very easy. Under the parent account, you download the appropriate apps, and share it to your children’s account. Upon first login, the parent registers their information and afterwards, they kids take over. My girls can play on it for hours. I love that the games and activities are engaging and sparking an interest in coding. I highly recommend this coding set!
My son loves this game. He said it is his favorite out of all the Osmo games we have (which is coding, pizza co., detective agency, and creative). This one came with another base that we didn’t need, so now we have two. This program is great because they learn as they play.
Wir haben schon andere Pakete von Osmo, dieses Paket wollte ich schon eine Weile als Ergnzung, um spielerisch (erste) Erfahrungen mit logischer Befehlsfolge erlernen zu lassen.
Sicherlich eine gute Basis fr logisches Denken und sptere Schulbildung im MINT-Bereich.
Hindernis war bisher nur der Preis – jetzt habe ich bei einem Angebot zugeschlagen und das Komplettpaket gekauft (gnstiger als der Erweiterungssatz bisher angeboten wurde).
Somit kann ich die doppelte Basis mit den alten, ersten Spielen fr kleinere Kinder an mein Patenkind weitergeben – da haben alle was davon…
Wie fr alle anderen Pakete von Osmo bentigt man ein Tablet, auf das ein Spiegel aufgesteckt wird.
Die Software “schaut” ber den Spiegel auf den Tisch und erkennt die Funktionsplttchen (hier mit evtl. angesteckten Zahlen oder eingestellten Pfeilen).
Das klappt bei gutem Licht problemlos.
Die Plttchen sind auch hier von guter Qualitt und sehen aus als wrden sie lange halten.
Manchmal gab es in der Software kleine Hnger – aber nie einen Absturz.
Die Software ist leicht verstndlich und motiviert Kinder weiter zu machen und mehr und schwierigere Aufgaben anzugehen.
Fr “uns” fast ein bisschen zu leicht, aber wir haben auch schon andere, hnliche Software (ohne Hardware) benutzt, um Schleifen und Arrays kennenzulernen.
Das Highlight bei uns ist Coding Jam, mit dem man mit logischen Befehlsketten eigene Musik / Rhythmen erzeugen kann.
Aber auch die anderen beiden Spiele haben schon fr mehrere Stunden Spa gesorgt.
Einziges Manko ist, dass die Form der stapelbaren Verpackung gendert wurde:
jetzt gibt es stapelbare Kunststoffboxen statt ber Magnet zusammenhaftende Kartons – und leider sind die Formen und Gren nicht kompatibel zwischen alt und neu… 🙁
Dennoch: klare Kaufempfehlung – zum Angebotspreis 😉
Wir haben schon andere Pakete von Osmo, dieses Paket wollte ich schon eine Weile als Ergnzung, um spielerisch (erste) Erfahrungen mit logischer Befehlsfolge erlernen zu lassen.
Sicherlich eine gute Basis fr logisches Denken und sptere Schulbildung im MINT-Bereich.
Hindernis war bisher nur der Preis – jetzt habe ich bei einem Angebot zugeschlagen und das Komplettpaket gekauft (gnstiger als der Erweiterungssatz bisher angeboten wurde).
Somit kann ich die doppelte Basis mit den alten, ersten Spielen fr kleinere Kinder an mein Patenkind weitergeben – da haben alle was davon…
Wie fr alle anderen Pakete von Osmo bentigt man ein Tablet, auf das ein Spiegel aufgesteckt wird.
Die Software “schaut” ber den Spiegel auf den Tisch und erkennt die Funktionsplttchen (hier mit evtl. angesteckten Zahlen oder eingestellten Pfeilen).
Das klappt bei gutem Licht problemlos.
Die Plttchen sind auch hier von guter Qualitt und sehen aus als wrden sie lange halten.
Manchmal gab es in der Software kleine Hnger – aber nie einen Absturz.
Die Software ist leicht verstndlich und motiviert Kinder weiter zu machen und mehr und schwierigere Aufgaben anzugehen.
Fr “uns” fast ein bisschen zu leicht, aber wir haben auch schon andere, hnliche Software (ohne Hardware) benutzt, um Schleifen und Arrays kennenzulernen.
Das Highlight bei uns ist Coding Jam, mit dem man mit logischen Befehlsketten eigene Musik / Rhythmen erzeugen kann.
Aber auch die anderen beiden Spiele haben schon fr mehrere Stunden Spa gesorgt.
Einziges Manko ist, dass die Form der stapelbaren Verpackung gendert wurde:
jetzt gibt es stapelbare Kunststoffboxen statt ber Magnet zusammenhaftende Kartons – und leider sind die Formen und Gren nicht kompatibel zwischen alt und neu… 🙁
Dennoch: klare Kaufempfehlung – zum Angebotspreis 😉
My 6 yr old granddaughter played with this on Christmas Day. She enjoyed it and was proud to announce that she could advance a level! Fun and educational!
My son loves this. He’s still just on the first coding game but has learned a lot. Can’t wait for him to advance.
Osmo is a great way to teach kids coding. The three games included with this kit address different areas related to coding at various stages- from beginner to advanced. Setup is easy when the apps are working and available (they tend to have problems when Amazon updates the Fire software). The physical pieces are high quality and easy to use. The camera picks up their placement well, so it makes interacting with the apps easy. If you have a Fire 8 10th Gen like me, you need to also have an adapter. It can be purchased separately or you can get it a bit cheaper together with the kit as a bundle. I do think they should make a bigger deal about the adapter since you can’t use the product on the latest Fire 8 without it.
My niece fell in love with it and is hooked! she loves to play with it!
I got this for my 6yo to use.
My 3.5 yo is to young to do the games.
My 6yo is excited to learn coding and picked it up quickly with these games.
I really like the quality of the materials and packaging. The pieces all store and stack nicely in the provided container. They stack with other Osmo kits as well.
If I had to change one thing about this kit it would be that the coding pieces were labeled on the side edges so when they are stacked away you can still see what they are.
The kit comes with 3 games. Each game is a separate iPad app. It’s a little cumbersome to get all the apps downloaded but ones it’s done – it’s easy. Word or warning – don’t accidentally download an app you don’t actually have the product for. I accidentally clicked on the Princess app and now I can’t get it out of the Osmo World options. Now it’s all my daughter asks about!!
It’s a little frustrating that there are apps that show up in the Osmo World screen for products you don’t have and apps that aren’t downloaded. They definitely push the sale if other app games – can’t blame them.
I use this on an iPad mini 2. I don’t have any issues – I was worried as this iPad isn’t supported on the latest iOS releases. I don’t have any issues!
So many great learning apps!
Entertaining and educational. This Osmo play set is a great cross education and video games. Upfront, it is important to note that this set requires you to already have a fire tablet. With it in the OSMO app, you can transform the brightly colored pieces of the set into a virtual, 3-D world for your child to explore. The kids of had phenomenal fun playing with this. With them spending a lot more time in the house, we thought was important provide creative outlets for them, that didn’t completely revolve around them just staring at a screen all day long. This set not only builds their confidence with colors shapes and patterns, it also helps introduce them to the world of STEM. After downloading the app for them, they were very easily able to figure out the set on their own. It’s very entertaining to watch them play for hours with us as multiple different games and programs included With a set provide in your limitless worlds of educational opportunities for them. There’s a great supplement for the young ones at home or in between days in the classroom.
Looks great but can’t give fair review as bought for Christmas gif
Looks great but can’t give fair review as bought for Christmas gif
I got this for a birthday present for my little niece and she loves playing games! This is a great start for kids of her age (she being age 7). She quickly picked up the aspects of the game and been learning how to combo different steps all at once before pressing the screen to execute the steps she placed on the table.
the game is very intuitive and has a kind of candy crush map interface as you solve puzzles and move around the map, each getting a little more complicated as you go.
Overall very pleased on the execution of the game for learning and setting up was relatively easy. It does take a bit of time to get it installed, but other than that easy to start up the game otherwise.
The pieces has a good case to store them away after play, just make sure they do, since there are a lot of pieces and you dont want to lose them
I use to love Osmo. But they are phasing out some kindles… and it stinks! The apps are always free, so before you buy this, search the app store on your kindle to be sure it’s available.
The app itself is free but you need the pieces for osmo to “read.” It’s a game for basic coding introduction. Probably better for ages 5-7. It will help introduce children to some basic scratch ideas and commands, and help them learn to order things properly. But children will outgrow it in about 6-12 months. However, my kids older still like playing it. It’s a fun educational game that they can all do independently.
Just be sure you’re tablet is compatible still – don’t trust the listing. Search your app store first.
Great idea, but I am not sure I am fully sold on the overall execution in light of alternatives. Does it really require pieces to place in front of an iPad instead of doing it all on screen. I do not have a good answer for that, but it sure makes it more difficult to travel with or even to keep track of all the pieces. The included storage boxes are great though.
This is an excellent coding game set. My 5 year old really really loves playing it, and my 10 year old likes it quite a bit too. It is pretty intuitive to use, and the in-app instructions make it even easier. Definitely a great way to turn a tablet into something more than just a digital entertainment device. Manipulating the little guy on screen with code blocks off screen is a great concept and this works flawlessly.
This was our 3rd bundled set that our family tried from Osmo, it includes physical pieces that you use to interact with digital characters through the apps (which are free). The Coding Awbie game looks and functions prefect while offering an introduction to coding, my youngest is almost 4 so he technically falls under the age range but he absolutely loves these games. It did take him awhile to learn all the pieces but now he’s really good at Coding Awbie and learning Coding Jam.
My 8year old is really enjoying learning to code CIA these games.
We have the Kindle fire HD10 and didn’t have much trouble installing this. It does seem like a lot of different things between the app and the parent have and getting everything connected. It took us a little bit of time to set all this up but man, has it been worth it. We have two daughters and one absolutely loves doing puzzles and this is right up her alley. The other one loves music and this luckily had something for her as well.
first of all, you definitely have to take the case off of your Kindle fire and so we have a rule where you can’t move it off the table while you play with it without its case. We’ve already cracked a couple of laptops in this house so we don’t want chance that again. It suggested you start with Awbie and that truly is the fastest way to learn. It seems somewhat simple in the beginning but it does give you the basics to move further in the game.
My musical daughter loves JAM and you use the same pieces the game comes with to create songs using coding in different sounds. There is every sound you can think of, just about, in this particular game. your children will be able to pick this up and it’s pretty intuitive for them. Honestly, they’re better at it than I could be but I also can’t play Minecraft. They are having a blast and I almost feel like we need to order another instead of letting them share. Overall, this has been a good use of time and they are having fun without even realizing their learning. That’s the best kind of education!
We picked this up for my 8-year old son and he’s really taken to it. The concept for learning ‘coding’ by breaking down your character movements into steps and then running the ‘program’ and see how it goes. It’s like ‘take 3 steps the the right’ then ‘jump up’. You’re getting the kids to start thinking in terms of breaking down the steps to do an action.
Anyway, we are using the Fire 10 tablet version. It has nothing to do with Osmo but the Fire tablet isn’t the most awesome set up. Once you’re in the app, it’s great, but starting up the tablet we found it takes a few steps to get to the app, etc.
So I’m reviewing this based mainly on my daughter’s previous experience with her Osmo. When she was playing with it, it was very engaging and teaches kids useful skills. It helps them learn spatial awareness by using real word 3d objects to interact with on-screen activity. My biggest pet peeve is how much of a pain in the #&% it is to get the apps to work with Freetime Unlimited. I’m not a believer in giving my kids an “adult” profile to run apps that don’t run in Freetime, so a lot of apps they want to use they can’t. I was able to get these to load in my adult profile and then approved for hers, but it means downloading the apps twice. My son has been asking for his own Osmo, so I requested this as a future gift. OSMO is a good investment to turn tablet time into learning time. This parent approves.
My daughter doesn’t love school or traditional learning so Osmo has always been a hit for her from the original games. The coding set seemed like it would be a win and it was. She loves the games and animations and figuring out the different tiles to use to make the activities work. It is a great introduction to coding concepts without being too technical or boring. My only con, I wish Osmo would put out a dock that works with the iPad Pro. We have an older ipad that this does work with, so make sure your device is compatible.
programming class whitehatjr and they were teaching my daughter the same concept for 37 dollar a class. The only thing is that i wish it was compatible with different ipad with having to buy a new base( like universal) it make a great gift. Download osmo world first and it will guide you to the other apps.
Additional learn that you can use the osmo with the drawing application and regular paper no need to buy anything additional.
It is easy to get it ready for your kid to play and even most of the kids will be able to do it themselves.
It is not like the normal boring games on tablet that you are clicking 100 times a minute.
With this gaming set the kid needs to think and solve problems and moves.
It is an interactive game and the set includes many physical blocks that the kid plays with.
This is a good way of learning new skills and play games in the meantime.
Also when kids play on tablet, just one kid can play on one tablet.
With this gaming set kids can play together to solve the next move in the game and not fight over one tablet.
This helps kids to learn how to work in team.
Hopefully my review was Helpful for you.
If you consider the cost of the actual tablet, then this is looking less good value for money. The base sells for 39.99 on its own, which is quite an outlay for what it is. That makes the games very expensive too. And to add more games that is an even bigger cost. It is great to see the Fire tablet supported and I know that there are so many hardware variations, but it would be nice to see plain old Android sorted too.
I requested this for my 3 year old but it’s more appropriate to older kids so I always supervise and teach him how to play the game.
CONTENTS:
– Osmo Base
– Reflector
– Coding blocks (31)
– Storage container
First I had to download the apps – Coding Awbie, Coding Jam and Coding Duo. They are all free in the App store. Next I had to put the iPad on the base and the red reflector over the iPad’s camera.
The game is fun and my son loves the animation but it’s still a bit too advance for him so he mostly watches when we play. While browsing the app store I also found some awesome Osmo apps (like the Osmo numbers) that might be more appropriate for his age. But nevertheless it’s still a good coding game that me and my 7 year old nephew enjoy playing.
Coding has become me an entegrated part of our professional and even persons lives. Therefore, it is essential that from our kids to learn coding as soon as possible.
This game set is a fantastic way to introduce your child to the world of coding in a fun and effective way. The fire base package comes with all three levels of the game. The beginners level introduces your child to primers or coding, how to think logically, and how to understand and use simple commands to accomplish a task. All this in a fun and entertaining way!
I shall give an example for one of the games: first you setup the base on a desk/table/floor and install your fire tablet on it. There is a scanner that is placed on top of the fire tablet (please see my photos). The scanner will scan the desk in front of it where your child will use the blocks to interact with the game that is displayed on the fire tablet. One of the games is to take a cartoonish character from A to B where there can be several barriers like trees, river, etc. All this is displayed on the tablet. Your child has to figure out to use the coding blocks step by step to take the character from position A to distination B. The scanner will scan the progress of your child placing the coding blocks and will move the character on the screen accordingly.
This is the simplest game which your child can learn the basics of coding: task in hand, single commands, sequence of commands and finally fulfilling the task.
My 2.5 years old (although probably too young) but enjoys playing this game with my help. You see their improvements after each try. Enjoyable for them and for you too see them learn and progress.
It’s noteworthy to mention that the blocks and bits and pieces of the game are very well organised in sturdy boxes where you can nicely store them.
Osmo game is compatible with a handful of fire tablet versions. Make sure yours is compatible. For example the newest fire 8 pro (version 10) is not compatible.
In conclusion, this is an excellent intellectual game which combines learning with fun games. I highly recommend it.
I love this series of games, this is the start pack with the iPad stand and all the commands. It is really easy to use and very intuitive for the children, well made and sturdy material, you can put everything back in the box when finished. I will definitely buy the expansion packs soon!
I love this series of games, this is the start pack with the iPad stand and all the commands. It is really easy to use and very intuitive for the children, well made and sturdy material, you can put everything back in the box when finished. I will definitely buy the expansion packs soon!
I know nothing about coding and it’s very different to the basis of computers in the early 1980s when Sinclair introduced home computers that most could afford.
This kit is amazing. If your youngster has an iPad and any interest in App development or the ‘how’ of tablets, this is almost bound to take their interest and encourage development of programming skills. There’s a stand for the iPad and colourful pieces to set them up. Following the guidance provided, they’ll soon be making up their own basic games and more. This isn’t really a toy; it’s an investment in future skills and could well set some up for life. Amazing.
Osmo, then is a really clever idea that links these two concepts , physical ‘blocks’ that join together . These are read by a tablet – a periscope-like device fits over the front camera and the actions of the coder are transferred in real time to what’s happening on the screen. It’s loads of fun, and is really ingenious in the way it links the two forms of learning together. My seven year old tech-head son, Vinnie, absolutely adores it, and will play with it for hours.
What you get:
* 31 coding blocks in a box.
* The periscope device, called here a Reflector.
* A stand for an Amazon Fire (check that yours is of the correct generation) This seems necessary as it’s obviously been engineered to be at a particular angle and height for the Reflector to function .
* Access to the app, which contains three open-ended programs: A game called Awbie, where you help the titular character move through levels of a funny, colourful video game by coding his next move. A music making suite called Jam, and a puzzle-solving suite called Coding Duo.
All of these can be played as games against other users, and they are all almost limitless in scope and depth – the player will never run out of things to do, which I think justifies the price – It’s really all the stuff on the app your paying for, not the physical objects.
Once the app is installed, you don’t need a wi-fi connection to use it, so it can be played anywhere.
An excellent educational game for young programmers, then. Unreservedly recommended.
Initially thought of my nephew for this. He’s 8 and loves chess and any other games that require planning and strategic thinking. He thrives on knowing the “rules” and sticking to them – he gets upset if others try and cheat when playing games. He’s also learning to play the piano so this seemed perfect for him. He likes it, it feels like a computer game to him rather than learning. He loves feeling that he is in control of the adventure! I think he will get through the levels relatively quickly but hoping they will add some new ones.
His sister has just turned 6 and wanted to have a go too. She has a different character – very resourceful and if she can find a loop-hole or way round the rules she’ll use it! She is more creative and enjoyed the game too but was less concerned about moving up the levels, she just had fun trying it out. As the product is recommended for 5-10+ she will probably grow into it a little, but I’m not sure it will be her favourite.
It also connects in with their learning at school so that’s good. I think it made more sense to my nephew than most of the rest of the family! Their mum is a primary school teacher and she was happy for them to use this for limited times, and it was nice they could share his tunes. No wifi is required once it’s downloaded so great for travel, and also feel safe leaving the kids to play on their own as they’re not online.
My son 5.5years old love it so much. The price is cheaper than normal shop as well!
This is for iPad only.
You get the base and the reflector, the ipad slips into the base and the reflector sits on the top. You do need to download an app from the appstore to get it to work, but it is seamless set up, its so easy.
Its easy to use and understand, you play games with the idea that coding becomes second nature. Now i cant understand it at all, my brain is just all nahh but my littles ones love it.
This is amazing good kit that keep equipped children and also they learn a lot.
Bought this for my nephew who 8 years old, got this for his birthday gift, when he open gift from wrapping he was surprised because he was asking from his parents from long time.
Because he is taking online coding classes and he was very keen to get one to start from home. As he said in the box have everything whatever he need just need to use fire tablets it’s also has stand. It has 3 hands on coding games Coding Awbie, Coding Jam and Coding duo.
Kids can learn coding concept and creative side, collaboration with team work and learn how to solve problems. Different kind of learning ways like coding Annie, coding jam, coding duo and self guided. Osmo has wide range of learning skill. He loves to play and make different music.It’s perfect activity for kids. That keep them busy also learning for long hours.
This kit includes everything you need to teach and help kids learn to code (except tablet). The coding of course isn’t advanced but it teaches them the basic gist of it and how code is sequential. They’ve found it quite engaging when working together as a team.
The thing I despise the most about this kit is that it only works with the fire tablet. That really annoys me and I would’ve made this 3 stars if it wasn’t for the fact that everything else works really well. I personally think if they made this available to as many tablets as possible, this product would get out to more people and overall sell more! This means that if you don’t already have a fire tablet, you need to pick one up, and if you’re short on money, or already have a tablet, that’s pretty annoying.
Aside from the fact that this requires a fire tablet, I think it’s a great learning tool to introduce kids to technology. I also think this would be a great gift for example as a Christmas present. I’d highly recommend this if you’re looking to get your children into coding and already have a fire tablet to use with it.
Firstly the box looks exciting and grabbed my daughters attention straight away. They both wanted to get all the little parts out and explore. The quality is excellent. Everything is well made and seems incredibly robust. It took 5 minutes to download the Osmo world app on my daughters iPad, along with the 3 game apps which were:
Coding Awbie – the beginners game which my 5 year old loved and found very easy to pick up (after a little assistance) and is great for helping her with adding numbers and problem solving skills in a way she’s really enjoying.
Coding duo – once you get up to speed with the first game this one is more advanced and challenging. Love the fact my daughters can work it out and play together/compete with this one
Coding jam – this one makes music with coding and seems good fun from initial look and play (we need more practice)
I loved that my older child wanted to show my youngest what to do and they have played with this together.
Set up was super easy, just register an email address and you’re ready to go. The iPad sits very securely on the stand and the red reflector slots easily in the top of the iPad (this reads the pieces you lay out in front).
This gets a huge thumbs up for me. Excellent, interactive gaming that both of my children are finding really fun and simple to use, helping them (especially my 5 year old) with important problem solving skills, counting and coding whilst having fun. Highly recommend
I’m not technically minded but it states on the product description for use on ipad and amazon fire. My son has a basic android tablet and this worked perfectly.
I had never heard of coding yet when my son saw this advertised he recognised something and asked if he could have it.
The set up was very simple, the instructions inside the box were approx 3 mines long, giving a webpage to visit and follow the instructions which were very simple.
I was shocked to to recognise the coding system, not the same program but the concept was the same that my son’s school use.
The set up really was very simple, pop the tablet into the block and place the red part on top of the tablet (as seen in photo’s).
This isn’t just for children, my husband and i had great fun going through the games.
Under the current climate with home schooling and children missing out on education this kit is great to keep young children entertained while learning.
This is for absolute beginners, and this is really a critical thinking game, to make the child stop and think through a problem. The pieces are shaped like scratch code commands, so you become familiar with lining up commands. At the beginning you’re doing just one command at a time, but it builds, which is the goal.
They ask for an email to set up an account, so you can save progress. This is optional. Otherwise I didn’t notice any privacy concerns.
The characters are very cute. It’s picture oriented, not much reading required, great for struggling readers.
The work is with the pieces, not on the tablet itself. The attachment is a reflector, put over your camera and it views the pieces you’re lining up.
I couldn’t find instructions in/on the box for what to do with all the coding block bits included in the kit, but once we got started on Coding Awbie it was pretty obvious what you had to do and my 4 yr old and 7 yr old were happy to tackle it taking turns, with very little adult intervention required.
This is such a clever way to teach children coding skills from a young age, in a fun way. We will definitely be buying more Osmo games in future, as they keep the children entertained for ages and are secretly educating them while they play!
Got this for when my cousins children visit (anything that keeps them busy and is educational is a win!), the starter set is great and comes with a few different games that utilise the tiles to solve the puzzles, I found it was a little difficult for the 5y/o but if they work together with their 7y/o brother they are able to do it. It was a little fiddly to setup (possibly partly my fault) but once up-and-running it’s a great little educational game and because it’s got that computer game feel to it they seem to be more engaged than they would be doing something that’s just pen-and-paper based. Great product and would recommend.
Coding Jam is a great addition to the Osmo. I was an original Kickstarter backer of Osmo and I’m glad it’s succeeded in making learning fun for kids. The kids spend a lot of time creating music and sharing with friends and family. Got this for my 7 year old who is really enjoying it. If it helps make learning fun it’s got my vote!! Would also make a fantastic present for birthdays or Christmas
This starter set is great if you don’t already have the base and reflector for the Fire tablet. I do wish the reflector top was able to fit over the tablet while it is in a case, but there isn’t much wiggle room. Perhaps if you have a very thin case on the tablet it might work, but I wouldn’t fit over the case we have.
I would absolutely recommend this coding set if you have a child who is interested in learning to code. It’s also a fun game for the child who likes to figure out puzzles. It’s a bit pricey, but compared to the cost of a subscription for some coding games for kids online, this is actually pretty reasonable.
I am really impressed with the quality of this product.
My 5 year old son loves it and keeps asking to play it.
Not too interested in the word game at the moment, but loves the numbers and tangram.
All the osmo apps are free but you do need the osmo stand and reflector for the iPad or tablet (we use iPad).works perfectly, the dock is well made with a non slip coating, the top reflector works really well just slide it over the top camera for it to pick up the coding blocks.The coding blocks are colourful and magnetic so they snap together really well.
It was amazing watching the kid get the hang of using the system, and learning to use the right “commands” to play the games available.
Best of all, add-ons are available for purchase, so when he gets bored of the starter kit , there’s additional sets that will potentially aid in his learning.
my son actually looks forward to learning more by using this.
So with coding, even at the young-kid level, has a lot of potential for learning about reality, how things work and also introducing people to potential jobs later on in life.
With my kid, he loves computers, games and technology in general so the coding Osmo was pretty common sense.
I really enjoyed seeing him go through the software and grow his skills. The software is understanding of kids and does a good job keeping them interested, also works great with our iPad.
This is a great educational toy that helps to teach kids the basics of coding, it’s a great start to coding, my boy loves this kit, he’s 9 and is following the many modes really easily.
The design of the product is really good, the build is even better.
The game itself is really fun, keeps my boy quiet for hours and the best part about it is he learning
Sure, I’m one of those who believe you should be a kid for as long as possible, but his mother often laments the sheer volume of toys he has, and thinks that his academic prowess is lagging a little bit.
So, when this Osmo kit showed up, I snapped one up.
When it arrived, everything looks great, solidly built, smacks of quality. There’s not much by way of instructions, but it’s simple enough, whack in your iPad on the base (iPad Air 2 in this case), snap on the camera hood doodah, download the App (Osmo World), throw around the tiles, and away you go (errr after watching a YouTube video or two).
I was a bit dubious at first, as there doesn’t appear to be 100 worth of “stuff” in there, but after a short while of use, the money you’ve spent is in the learning and thought processes that the youngling develops as they use the system, particularly logical thinking and problem solving.
It was amazing watching the kid get the hang of using the system, and learning to use the right “commands” to play the games available. That there is worth the price of admission.
Best of all, add-ons are available for purchase, so when he gets bored of the starter kit (he’s a kid I’m surprised he’s not bored now), there’s additional sets that will potentially aid in his learning.
I’m interested to see how he develops.
My kids love the Osmos coding starter kit.
It is surprisingly very interesting
The 3 games that are a part of the kit is plenty to keep the kids busy.
It helps with their analytical skills and helps in solving problems while they are having fun.
This is a great especially during quarantine time and keeps them busy!
My kids love the Osmos coding starter kit.
It is surprisingly very interesting
The 3 games that are a part of the kit is plenty to keep the kids busy.
It helps with their analytical skills and helps in solving problems while they are having fun.
This is a great especially during quarantine time and keeps them busy!
The Osmo coding starter kit comes in a well informed and colourful box, Easy to setup instructions and the box layout has been thought out well, with the trays being able to slide out and a back perforated pop out section that you can use as a photo surround to make your child look like an astronaut to start your adventure.
It maybe worth installing the required apps and getting everything setup prior to your child starting, i had my son next to me and it took around 5-10 min for me to setup everything ready so he was getting a bit bored quickly as was so keen to start.
I have an iPad 2nd gen and it works perfectly, the dock is well made with a non slip coating, the top reflector works really well just slide it over the top camera for it to pick up the coding blocks, there are 3 apps that I noticed that you can use to code, we started with the Aubie adventure the story is brilliant, it starts off really simple and gets harder as you progress through the game world on your adventure, lots of content to keep you entertained, I like that you feel part of the world as you progress through the story, the music is nice to listen to and is not repetitive, this is a well thought out learning kit as your coding skills also get rewarded with longer code.
The coding blocks come in a well made plastic case, I found that the best position of the blocks is about 6 inches from the front of the base, there is a shaded section on the screen that lets you know if the reflector has picked up the blocks and this also helps for you to plan your moves, to activate the sequence tap the screen then a 3 second countdown timer starts to give you the time to take your hands away so the reflector picks the blocks up again.
There are subroutines and loop blocks in the kit that at first will even get an adults brain working I’m sure.
The symbol blocks let’s you assign a particular pattern to it.
There is a parent app to keep track of your child’s progress like screen time and stats, this is separate to the game apps.
The coding blocks are colourful and magnetic so they snap together really well.
I must say that I am really impressed by this kit and my son actually looks forward to learning more by using this, I can see many years of use with this. thank you.
We were so excited to get this set and honestly I am blown away at this interactive educational game for my kids.
The set up was pretty easy, go to playosmo.com/start and set up an account on your ipad. From there you will select which start kits or kits that you have and it will load a page of all the apps you should download for those. Some games will require you to put in a code and you will need your username/password for that. You can also add your children and set up their account here – this way when they log in they just select their character/name – I did this for my children as they are 5 & 7.
What you get:
-Osmo Base & Reflector for iPad
-31 tangible coding blocks including: Walk, Jump, Hand, Magic, Rest, Quantifiers (Numbers), Repeat, Subroutines
-Stackable storage for game pieces
3 Game Apps:
Coding Awbie -learn basic coding fundamentals
Coding Jam – Get creative with code and make your own music
Coding Duo – Show off yours skills in this advanced puzzle game
COMPATIBILITY FOR IPAD: Compatible iPads: All iPads
Ages 5-10+ – My five year old and seven year old both play this – I will say that my seven year old moved through pretty quickly while my five year old did take a bit longer to get the hang of the game.
The fact that this is a hands on and your child will need to move the arrow to the correct direction which the character will need to move – the OSMO reflector will scan and see what direction the arrow is facing and move the character – hopefully in the right direction.
This kit is great for teaching kids coding, my daughter is 6.
Due to her age, it did take her sometime to get used to what she had to do and how it worked, but once she had a good grasp of it, she was off. She played with it for hours amazed with how she could get a character on the iPad to move.
She loves playing the games, we also got the Frozen 2 version, of which she loves. You draw items on a pad and it comes to live on the screen.
My son is a programmer and runs his IT business and so he was pleased to get this for his son to play with and spark his interest
With real time audio and visual feedback children are encouraged to learn coding through play.
The children are using coding commands to control a character called Awbie through their own adventure.
They can make their own music and hear it happen through the coding puzzles and games
At the moment this is compatible only with the Fire 7 -7th generation (which is NOTincluded) but there is an Osmo base and Reflector included in the box for the ~Fire tablet.
This is a great idea for the new generation of children. Coding is something that a lot of children will find interesting. It is a shame that this is only compatible with the Fire 7.
I also think it is rather expensive for what you get.
The three games you’ll play with this are:
Coding Duo
Coding Awbie
Coding Jam
The truth is that Osmo is rarely played in my house, but I figured lets give it a shot again with coding. We have both ipads and fire tablets, but we realize that the accessories are interchangeable. The base is unique and you need to get the right base for your tablet, but the game pieces doesn’t matter, the are the same whether you use it for iPads or Fire tablets. From our experience, if you want to get the most out of Osmo, then you need to get a tablet case that is easily removable. You see, your case will be the #1 reason why you won’t be playing Osmo as much as you would like to. The nuisance of removing tablet from case, putting it back, removing it, putting back.. this is the #1 deterrent. We have those colorful, thick, and hard to remove rubber cases for our children, and I know it’s the reason why I don’t encourage the kids to play osmo as much as I should.
Update: a few months later and after becoming completely obsessed with osmo coding jam my daughter’s now declared that osmo coding is for little kids and moved onto making scratch games! She always looked at scratch as something that was over her head, so I consider it a huge improvement.. even if she has actually lost interest in osmo for now. This was a great first step into coding!
Update: a few months later and after becoming completely obsessed with osmo coding jam my daughter’s now declared that osmo coding is for little kids and moved onto making scratch games! She always looked at scratch as something that was over her head, so I consider it a huge improvement.. even if she has actually lost interest in osmo for now. This was a great first step into coding!
Update: a few months later and after becoming completely obsessed with osmo coding jam my daughter’s now declared that osmo coding is for little kids and moved onto making scratch games! She always looked at scratch as something that was over her head, so I consider it a huge improvement.. even if she has actually lost interest in osmo for now. This was a great first step into coding!
Update: a few months later and after becoming completely obsessed with osmo coding jam my daughter’s now declared that osmo coding is for little kids and moved onto making scratch games! She always looked at scratch as something that was over her head, so I consider it a huge improvement.. even if she has actually lost interest in osmo for now. This was a great first step into coding!
Osmo is such a fantastic idea! What kid doesn’t love screen time? And what parent isn’t interested in helping their child learn and explore, by using tactile, hands-on items? This set really is the best of both worlds! The game is visually appealing, interactive, and keeps a child’s attention, while introducing at a basic level the skill of the future, coding. I love that it mixes screen time with actual hands on items. Osmo uses a base to help your iPad stand upright, and a mirror that mounts on top to use your iPad’s camera to register what physical pieces are being put together, and change what the character is doing on screen. It’s just such an ingenious concept. Great product!
It comes with a base (i pad Stand it sits on) and a mirrored piece that goes over the top of the iPad where the camera is. That is what they mean by “starter set” in that it comes with the base and mirror. If you already have an Osmo iPad base and mirror you would just want to get the coding set that just has the coding pieces and not the “starter set” version.
Note that this doesn’t work with all the iPads that are out there. You need to check the compatibility of your iPads before getting this. Two of the newer iPads we own in the house happened to be very ones that were not compatible at ALL with Osmo. We luckily had an older model that works with this, but please check models first- as after trying 2 iPads unsuccessfully we were very frustrated and wondering if we would ever get it up and running.
Not knowing anything about coding myself, I didn’t know what to expect in the games and the set. It’s a lot more reasonable for the kids to figure out than it sounded to me in my head. They use plastic pieces that are color coded and have only symbols on them alongside numbered pieces to move around and make things in combination and sequences. I like that even if the kid is too young to read (grade k) they can still intuitively use the set, as it doesn’t require reading skills. They are also really good at starting the kids off with one move and then working up the skills as it goes to then do two, then add numbers, etc so that it builds as the games go as they learn and grow more comfortable. There also seems to be lots of helping prompts- so that if the kid isn’t making any moves it seems to pop up some pictures of what piece they will need to find.
We also own another set of Osmo pieces with 6 other games and my 5 year old only seems to want to play and use these coding games- so it’s clearly the favorite if the Osmo things we own so far. I think it feels more like a video game to him.
There’s an adventure game where you tell a little monster how to move around and pick up things using the game pieces and numbers. My kid seems to really love this one. I think because it feels like a video game to him where he’s moving the guy around and going on “missions”.
There’s also another very open ended game with music and you use the different pieces to compose parts of a song in different directions for different instruments, chimes, etc and then it strings all the musical parts they made together and they always seem to sound pretty good together as a song they make up. My 3 year old liked to watch this game as the music being made by the 5 year old seemed to interest him. The 3 year old was touching and playing with the game pieces for this and the 5 year old involved him a little but it’s really geared more towards 5 and up. I don’t think 3 year old could manage to play any of these without a parent basically doing it for them.
My kid is 5 and he spends a good hour totally independently doing these games when he picks up the kit. The first time he used it I played it with him and helped him figure it out but he seems good on his own with it now.
There’s 3 games (Apps) total, but my kid mostly uses the music and adventure/ maze game so Those are the ones I know the most about.
Overall I’d recommend it.
I bought the genius starter kit for my 6 and 8 years old. They are so excited to have the coding game added to their collection.
My kids are learning violin and love to create their own music while learning these basic coding skills.
It’s definitely a great way to introduce coding. My kids love making their own music while learning to code.
The Osmo has self-explanatory and with the parent app, it shows me how many game achievements and lines of code my kids had done.
We love this system, my kids are learning while playing. I’m very impressed with Osmo. You cannot go wrong with Osmo games.
No addition fee on apps. Very entertaining and educational learning games. Highly recommend!
As a long-time web programmer, I love finding educational items that teach kids to code from very early ages. THis set is great because it interests kids from early learners (5) up to preteen and I even see how non-coding adults can learn from this with the family games! I love that its expandable and hope that they come out with even more add-ons for this set! Perfect for new homeschoolers or parents looking for extracurricular home activities.
In the box:
Osmo base
Osmo Coding Family Bundle
To get started, you download the Osmo app and indicate which package you have. After doing that, it instructs you to download several other games depending on the Osmo bundle that you purchased. For this coding bundle, it works with three different free to download Coding Awbie, Coding Jam, and Coding Duo.
Coding Awbie – “Start here to learn basic coding fundamentals”
Coding Jam – “Get creative with code and make your own music”
Coding Duo – “Show off yours skills in this advanced puzzle game”
Because all three of the kids want to play at once, I ordered a Osmo Genius starting bundle so that I could get a second base as well as get another game. I have tried to have two kids use the coding apps at one time (I downloaded the game onto two iPads) which kind of works. The kids run out of some of the basic pieces like the “Walk”. It can be done but be prepared for some squabbling if the kids don’t share pieces well.
The one minor complaint I have, and it really is minor, is how the boxes stack together when you start having more than one set of Osmos. They made it so that the base can stack nicely onto the rectangle sized coding box. They also made it so that the Genius bundle set, which has square boxes half the size), can stack nicely on top of the coding box. But because the boxes from the Genius set has a lip on them, it makes it so you can’t stack the coding box on them or the base. If they had made a notch in the box for the coding set or under the Osmo base itself, it would make it so that you’d be able to stack it. Again… such a minor thing that I don’t mind it that much for such a great product.
The OSMO website states this is the method of play:
1) Put your device in a compatible Osmo Base with the red reflector over the device’s camera.
2) Play with physical game pieces — draw, code, spell, and more.
3) Osmo scans the table and your child’s creations come alive on the screen!
I found this to be an accurate portrayal! My kids instantly took to it with a few minutes of tinkering and had a lot of fun unpacking things and playing with them.
Something to keep in mind is you’ll need to remove your tablet from the protective cover for it to properly fit in the cradle.
The way that this makes coding approachable for kids is just brilliant, allowing them to peek and poke along the screen and execute their ‘program’ at the touch of a button. I think it will be great for any kid to engage and have fun together.
This interactive program for children coding is very good because it is very interactive with the pieces it contains to play along with your iPad.
It is incredibly fun and easy to use.
It is very colorful, and the characters are very cute.
My kids were very entertained playing and learning with this game.
You can play 3 different games that you download and play with the pieces in this set.
The base would be better if it was wider since my iPad didn’t fit with the protector I had, so I had to take it off in order for it to fit on the base.
Still, I think its an awesome product and program!
These are pretty straightforward. Your basically paying for the app with a few gadgets and piece that make it possible for the apps to see what your doing with you hands and the pieces to do so.
The only real complaint I have with these is that if you have a case on your iPad you will need to take it off to fit it in the base and to put on the mirror thing. Personally I think if you make products for kids you should assume that most people have a protective case on there iPads and for good reason too! But I would still recommend this it is fun for the kids and helps them learn too!
We learned during this pandemic that our six year old son likes games that involve coding after seeing how much he loved playing the Foos though his school technology class. After he solved all of those coding puzzles we weren’t sure what games would be similar but still age appropriate for a child his age. When I was presented with the opportunity to try out this coding set, I decided to give it a go and see how my son did with it. When the set arrived the pieces for this set were very similar to the buttons on the Foos game. What I like about this game is it gives him tangible pieces to use to do the coding puzzles. My son was very excited about this Osmo set and has been playing with it every day since it arrived for about an hour at a time. We like this set and the games for it enough to get a second set so two of our kids can play with the game at the same time for our homeschool technology class. This was our first experience with Osmo, but it got us hooked and we have picked up a few other games for the kids. This starter set is great if you don’t already have the base and reflector for the iPad. I do wish the reflector top was able to fit over a wider variety of iPad cases. I can slide it over a very thin case I have, but it will not fit over my slim Speck case.
I would absolutely recommend this coding set if you have a child who is interested in learning to code. It’s also a fun game for the child who likes to figure out puzzles. It’s a bit pricey, but compared to the cost of a subscription for some coding games for kids online, this is actually pretty reasonable.
Osmo is a system that uses your iPad with a base and reflector to read tiles. The tiles are actual pieces of plastic that you lay on the table in front of your iPad. The projector reads the images on the tiles and interacts with the game. This kit includes the Osmo base, reflector, 31 interchangeable coding blocks, and three games.
Your kids are introduced to coding with the “Coding Awbie” game. This game uses coding blocks to help the character in the game reach a certain point. You can walk and jump a number of times in any direction. All you need to do is set the correct action tile with the direction the way you want the character to move.
The second game we used was “Coding Jam”. In this game, our kids made music with rhythm, melody, and harmony. They learned to create music with patterns and loops using the 300+ musical sounds.
The last game is “Coding Duo”. This game consists of various puzzles that can be completed on their own or with a partner.
The recommended age range is 5 years to 10 years. Our three grandsons have a blast playing the different games and are learning at the same time.
It’s a great system that can be expanded with the purchase of additional games and tiles.
This is a great addition to the Osmo collection. Osmo Coding Starter Kit includes everything your little one needs to have hands on coding while having fun playing games. This set includes three games. Coding Awbie, Coding Jam, and Coding Duo. Coding Duo allows two player so you can play with a friend. We love that you are able to add the pieces from the original Coding Awbie which was great for two player. This way they had the extra pieces to complete the puzzles together without having to put one character asleep. This set can still be played without the extra pieces. There are a few changes they made to the magnetic pieces. This set, the numbers no longer magnetize to the move piece. Our daughter preferred the magnetic numbers. Doesn’t affect the play though. They have also made the base for the iPad thicker and more durable than the original iPad base. The top mirror connector for the iPad also magnetizes to the base for easy storage and no longer is loose and held together with the cardboard sleeve. Comes with a storage case that holds all your move pieces together and can be stacked with previous Osmo games for easy stack and store on a shelf or desk. We keep ours in the original box and store in a canvas basket. Daughter loves it and there are lots of laughs and little giggles while playing. Makes learning extra fun.
This is the kit with the base. If you already have the base, get the “Osmo – Coding Family Bundle for iPad & Fire Tablet” which has the same stuff and games without the base.
The coding games are a lot of fun. You’re teaching sequences of instructions. With the physical manipulatives they can see and feel what they’re doing and they’re not just tapping. I really like what my five year old is learning with these osmo apps.
The base itself is sturdy and works, but it won’t work with most cases. We wouldn’t like this near enough except we found the osmo ipad case for cheap used on amazon. With the osmo case, we like it a lot but we wouldn’t want to use this without the osmo case. The osmo app does advertise their other apps a lot to your kid which I wish it would only do in the osmo parent app.
It’s fun, it’s different, and it’s good learning. I like the hands-on approach! We now have the coding bundle, and the two genius bundles. I like it overall and would like to add a couple more sometime.