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With Brooke in kindergarten and Olivia in preschool, we have been nonstop on the education express. I love teaching my girls hands on and I’m thankful to have discovered Osmo. I’ve shared my love for Osmo in the past and they simply just do not disappoint. My girls love their learning games, and I do too because it’s screen time that my kids are getting in that is filled with purpose! Come on, what parent doesn’t want that?
Osmo was built around the research that children learn best from hands-on education. It is a learning system that attaches to an iPad or Amazon Fire tablet and turns it into an interactive game experience using the tablets camera. Each Play Osmo Starter Kit (the Genius Kit for kids ages 5 and up or the Little Genius Kit for younger kids) comes with the reflector, pieces for a number of included Osmo games and a Osmo base for the tablet. You can buy additional games to do even more with your game system or stick with the original ones. They have drawing games, STEAM, Coding, Math, Words games and more!
Osmo recently released a new math series, Math Wizard for ages 6-8 (GRADES 1 & 2) that included Magical Workshop and Secrets of the Dragons. Today they announced 2 more games in the collection AND WE GOT TO BETA TEST ONE OF THEM! You guys, this games are a must own. We already had the Magical Workshop and Brooke was gripped by the magical engagement of learning addition and subtraction. Now with the release of Amazing Airships, she has found a new favorite.
Amazing Airships focuses on mathematical thinking. So what’s mathematical thinking? Exploring, questioning, working systematically, visualising, conjecturing, explaining, generalizing, justifying, proving. It is turning math from drudgery to artistry. And yes your child will learn this by playing these math games!
The game is housed on a durable and reusable storage “toolbox” that has all the game pieces your child will need on their learning adventures. Reminder – this is an add on game so you need to already own an Osmo base to play. One of my favorite parts of the toolbox is that it has a card behind the game pieces that breaks down all the included pieces in detail. This is great for making sure all items have been accounted for when your child is done playing.
In this game, your child will join Rupert the robot mouse in building and designing airships for the many islands of Spellbarrow Port. Combing your child’s mathematical thinking plus Rupert’s magical wrench, your child will help deliver packages and navigate through challenges.
Here’s why I love the Math Wizard and the Amazing Airships:
- Self-guided learning
- Healthy screen time
- Builds math confidence
- Rewards along the way
This is what your child will learn:
- Building and balancing equations
- Addition and subtraction practice
- Solving for an unknown value
- Introduction to algebraic thinking
Here’s how the game works. Your child will start off at a very basic entry level for math knowledge. And gradually increases in difficulty as your child plays more. When playing, Rupert gets a call from one of the local citizens about an issue they are having and how they need an item/items delivered to help solve their problem. These items become cargo pieces when playing the game. The basic equation for the game is cargo pieces + ship pieces = balloon pieces. Your child will begin building an airship by placing the number of cargo pieces that are needed on the game board. Now it’s time to visualize the base of the ship. Begin placing the ship pieces under and around the boxes to secure the cargo in place. Your child will completely customize this part to their liking. Don’t forget the balloons. Depending on certain challenges, your child may be asked to refrain from using certain game pieces to increase the difficulty. The game will add all the pieces on the screen for your child when they press on the picture of Rupert’s magic wretch. Once the airship is ready to fly your child will watch the magic of Osmo come to life as their ship sets sail in the sky’s of Spellbarrow Port. If your child does the math formula incorrectly, the game will let them know that the ship is unable to fly and an answer will be provide for how many balloons to add or subtract to get the correct formula.
I love this part most! As Brooke progressed in the game she made a few additional errors. But she never lost her confidence. She never got frustrated or lost interest. Instead she understood from the animation that she added incorrectly and went back and started counting again to make sure she got the right target number for her ship to fly. I’ve noticed that this specific feature is what helps keep her moving forward in the game. Her having the independence of problem solving without having to involve me is a huge win for her.
Even though the games are geared towards 1 & 2 graders, Brooke who is in kindergarten had no issue navigating or understanding the math problems. For the last week and a half she has been asking to play Amazing Airways everyday after we finish our school lessons at home. And you know what? I’m all for it! Her algebraic skills are enhancing and I love watching her flourish.
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Do you play math games at home with your kids? What do you play?
House of Wildflowers 