Osmo is Amazing!!!

This is when I disclose the emabrassing full truth. I totally saw a Facebook advertisement at 1 am, I seriously thought a friend had shared it, and went down a rabbit hole. I didn't realize it was a rabbit hole of amazing and I am so glad I fell down it. I found a few youtube videos of kids trying it out and knew that we had to have it! I hate that Facebook targeted me and I fell for it hook line a sinker, but maybe just this once I will be ok with it. No more clicking Facebook targeted adds.

I quickly learned that if I bought one I could gift one to my children's homeschool academy. I patiently waited 7 days to participate in the buy one gift one program. That says a lot since I suck at patience and it would have been so much easier to just run down to the Apple Store and buy one. We both win so it was worth the wait.

Shipping was pretty quick considering it came from California to Florida in 7 days. It is an amazing time we live in. Not as quick as Amazon Prime but worth the wait.

I love the packaging! All the boxes magnet to each other. The boxes themselves have a magnet in the lid. There is a place for everything to be neatly put away. It is nice and compact and easily fits in my mom bag. 

So what can it do? A better question would be what can't it do. There are many features we haven't even explored yet. I have briefly browsed the teacher curriculums. Even though we haven't tried every single feature I am absolutely in love with this product and so glad I purchased it for my children. They want to play with the words and are excited to build puzzles. Having children that range from 2-10 this is a product I see myself using for years to come. Osmo is rated through 6th grade. It is something I enjoy sitting down with my children and playing with them. I may have played tangrams while they were sleeping. <shhh don't let them know>

First impressions:

THIS is what it is all about! Do you see that face? It is the face of joy associated with sneakily working on letters. No way learning and having fun?!

Osmo is not made for tiny people. I was trying to figure it out and the 2 year old decided she needed to try. 

I absolutely love all the different word levels. It isn't broken up by grade specific levels. It allows a child to sit down and build words and solve for missing letters without being labeled into age but rather skill level. 

The tangrams starts off at easy and builds out into a tree of super cool shapes to build. I played around in the medium level which takes away the color and goes to just black shapes. The kids really love the tangram puzzles! 

We had a meet up with other homeschool kids and I let them give it a try. Everyone who touched it really liked the things it had to offer. 

Concerns:

The different word levels are a little confusing. I haven't fully figured out how to get to exactly what I want on the first try. I eventually find it though. I am hoping (and the documentation says it will) that different levels will work well for a wide range of ages.

There is downloadable content to work on small 3 and 4 letter words but I would LOVE to see more content added that focuses on each letter sound. So far all I see is A words. It would be also great if they created a pre k level for learning letters. Since all the letters are already there it would be fairly easy to add content for early letter sound learning.

Users! There really should be log ins for multiple users. I can see issues with children doing the tangrams and getting upset that puzzles have been unlocked by siblings and they have lost their place.  My 10 year old opened most of the levels. Now it is odd to load up and be unsure where "you" last left off for the 6 year old.

My daughter had trouble with the art tracing. I think it is something you just have to practice with.

The adults even gave it a try tracing cursive letters (that is hidden and I haven't found it again). Once you let go of having to be "perfectly" inside the lines it is much easier.

Ready to buy one for yourself?? You won't be disappointed. <ok maybe you will be but I am in love!>