Osmo makes hands-on learning games in which players use objects in the real world to interact with the digital world shown on their ipad, iphone, or fire tablets.
Osmo makes hands-on learning games in which players use objects in the real world to interact with the digital world shown on their ipad, iphone, or fire tablets.
At Osmo, we believe in the decades of research that illustrate children learn best from hands-on education. Osmo’s games are geared toward embodied learning, meaning our games teach abstract concepts by connecting them to objects and actions in the physical world. Osmo games promote embodied learning through physical-digital interactions.
Our in-house team of child development researchers work with our designers to make sure every Osmo game reflects the principles of embodied learning. In Coding Awbie, for instance, players learn how to write lines of code by connecting and arranging physical coding blocks. Players of Pizza Co. must make quick calculations with topping and money tiles to deliver yummy pies and correct change to waiting customers. And in Tangram, players think through spatial relations to build increasingly complex shapes from smaller ones.
At Osmo, we take pride in creating learning games that are at once delightful and designed to grow young minds. We offer games for a wide range of academic subjects, including:
In addition to teaching traditional subject matter, Osmo games foster social-emotional skills like problem-solving, creativity and perseverance. Every Osmo game requires the player to use reasoning to arrive at the correct answer, or even to chart a new path entirely.
In Monster, for example, players draw pictures with the Creative Board to shape the story that Mo the Monster is telling on their screen. When kids play Monster together, they learn how to communicate and collaborate in order to progress in the narrative. In this way, Monster is a useful tool for growing interpersonal skills in early childhood.
Most Osmo games are designed for ages 5–12. Monster and Super Studio are appropriate for ages 4+.
For younger children, we recommend the brand-new Osmo Little Genius Starter Kit, which includes four games designed specifically for kids ages 3–5. These games teach pre-reading, storytelling and fine motor skill development.
The Osmo Reflector bounces an image of the player’s game piece arrangement or drawing into the device camera. The Osmo app then processes this image and either recreates the image on the screen or translates its effect onto the story in the digital world. Because Osmo uses a covered reflector to only capture images in a bounded area, your child’s privacy is always protected.
To play any Osmo game, you will need:
A compatible device that’s connected to the internet. Osmo works with most iPads, Amazon Fire tablets and iPhones. To confirm that your device supports Osmo, please see below for the full list of compatible devices.
The appropriate Osmo base and red reflector for your device. Every Osmo kit includes the Osmo Classic Base and Reflector for iPad. Bases and reflectors for Amazon Fire tablet and iPhone are available for purchase in our store.
Select Osmo games require additional pieces that are not included in our kits. You can purchase pieces for Detective Agency, MindRacers, Pizza Co. and Osmo Coding games in our store.
Compatible iPads: iPad 2, iPad (3rd Generation), iPad (4th Generation), iPad (5th Generation), iPad (6th Generation), iPad Mini, iPad Mini 2, iPad Mini 3, iPad Mini 4, iPad Mini 5, iPad Air, iPad Air 2, iPad Air 3, and the 9.7-inch and 10.5-inch iPad Pro. Osmo is currently NOT compatible with the 11-inch and 12.9-inch iPad Pro. The minimum iOS version needed is iOS 9.
Compatible Fire Tablets: 7th Generation Fire 7, 7th Generation Fire HD 8, 7th Generation Fire HD10, 7th Generation 2019, 8th Generation Fire HD 8
Compatible iPhones: iPhone 6, 6s, 6 Plus, 6s Plus, 7, 7 Plus, 8 and 8 Plus
For lost or broken game pieces: We’re happy to replace lost or broken game pieces free of charge, within reason, for the first 90 days. You can request replacement pieces through your myOsmo account by selecting “Replacements” from the dropdown menu and filling out the form. We’ll send an email confirmation once you submit your request, as well as a notification when your replacement ships.
For a lost or broken red reflector or base: Replacement reflectors and bases are available for purchase in our store.
Osmo Monster is available in both English and Spanish. Osmo Monster’s Spanish narrator is noted actor Jaime Camil of Jane the Virgin and Coco.
We currently do not offer narration in languages besides English for our other games at this time; however, you can opt to have on-screen prompts translated into Danish, Dutch, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Simplified Chinese, Spanish, Swedish, and Traditional Chinese by changing your device’s language settings.
We currently offer Osmo Words tiles for the standard western alphabet only.
Visit our Help Centre for more information.