(This blog is written in paid partnership with Osmo)
Love or loathe it we can’t seem to escape technology these days. It’s become our way of life and in particular our children’s lives. As technology advances, the list of pros and cons grows but when it comes to using technology to support our children’s education.
Today our children are now able to benefit from watching and interacting with TV programmes and apps designed to help learning and Osmo is one of those created to encourage our children to learn through play whilst interacting with technology.
We bought Mason the Creative Set , an interactive magical drawing game with a fuzzy orange monster from Osmo for Christmas as I had been impressed with the reviews I read about it. We’ve been using it since December and I must say not only does Mason enjoy it and often chooses to use it rather than watch TV, as a parent I also really like what it offers and the way it engages children. I've shared Mason playing on it several times on my social media and every time have received lots of messages from parents either curious to find out more or keen to share their love for Osmo too.
When Osmo contacted playHOORAY! about working together it couldn’t have been better timing as soon after the UK government had announced lock-down due to Coronavirus, and I just knew how hard it was going to be having a five year old at home whilst both parents were working full time.
We have been fortunate to explore and use the Genius Starter Kit and Little Starter Genius Kit and I have to say they have saved me on many occasions! The kits are super easy to set up as they are compatible with our iPad and we downloaded the appropriate apps. Once this was complete, Mason was able to follow the instructions on the devices to enjoy the games. I sat nearby as Mason explored and worked his way through the variety of games. His favourite was 'storytime' which he loved that his actions allowed him to shape the outcome of the story.
On a separate afternoon we tried the Genius Starter Kit for children aged 6-10, now bearing in mind Mason is five he did find some of the activities harder than the others but still had a good go! Your little learners will have fun practising maths and spelling; plus play Tangram puzzles and draw with a creative Masterpiece where they can have fun tracing and drawing anything they wish! He said his favourite from this kit was the words game which I believe was because he is quite confident in this area and enjoyed getting the correct answer- don’t we all!! But I like that all of the games encouraged him to think for himself and not rely on me to find the answers!
Every time we’ve used Osmo it has engaged Mason for a good chunk of the day which we all know isn’t easy with an active five year old! As a parent I love to see Mason interacting with the characters, answering the questions and even smiling when he was praised for his great work! What I also love is how open ended it is and allows children to continue their play away from the screen.
As you know I am a huge fan of children learning through play, using interactive and hands on ways to develop their skills. Not only does this make their learning more meaningful, it helps them to put it into context and apply it to everyday life. Children are much more likely to remember skills they have learnt through play and Osmo can really help with this.
Below I have created a free download for you to use at home with lots of ways to expand your child's play and learning.
To learn more about Osmo and the variety of sets available, click this here to visit Osmo for Amazon UK where for a limited time offer 20% off kits and more for a limited time (27th March to 16th April)
And for your chance to win your very own Osmo kit, click on this button below and enter your details! (enter before 16th April 2020)
Happy Playing!
Claire