Unlock the Reading Adventure with Osmo

DISCLAIMER:  I am an Amazon Associate.  As an Amazon Associate, I may earn from qualifying purchases made using the links in this post at no additional cost to you. Osmo gifted Osmo Reading Adventure to my family to share my honest review. As always, all opinions are my own.

Osmo Reading Adventure has helped my child become an independent and confident reader!

Osmo launched their BRAND NEW Reading Adventure just last week on National Literacy Day. It is a magical adventure game with a new approach to reading. Osmo Reading Adventure is a magical dreamworld that provides a hands-on way to build reading confidence in kids! It is innovative and independent and was developed with educators, including lifelong reading advocate LeVar Burton!

What is Osmo?

If you are not familiar with Osmo, it is a supplemental education company that creates educational, hands-on software programs for kids ages 5 – 12. In the past, we have used Osmo to encourage reasoning skills and confidence in reasoning abilities through their many interactive, educational and fun math, coding, and creative games! The games emphasize learning through play and each software program grows with your child in complexity as they grow! While we try to limit screen time for our children, Osmo has truly been an instrument that we do not feel guilty about letting them enjoy on a regular basis. You can check out all of our Osmo reviews here.

What is Osmo Reading Adventure?

Osmo Reading Adventure is a fun, interactive, hands-on, self-paced magical reading endeavor for kids ages 5-7. The full program can be used as supplemental reading practice that covers critical reading skills from kindergarten through 1st grade. It builds reading proficiency with fun games, interactive storylines, speech recognition, leveled books, and customized feedback from their sweet friend, Oliver.

If you do not already own an Osmo, you will need to purchase a kit which includes the Osmo base and reflector for your iPad or tablet. If you already own the Osmo base and reflector, then you will only need to purchase the game. To determine the best reading level for your child, Osmo has a reading assessment available on their website.

Osmo also offers a monthly subscription service through their website that delivers standards-based skill-building books that level up each month. So, Osmo sends books automatically based on your child’s phonics reading level. Even if you do not purchase the subscription service, the apps for the books that you already have will still continue to work.

What is included in Reading Adventure?

All sets include a magical wand and four reading books. The books we received were “Tom the Squirrel” (New Reader level 1), “Will Cat Fit?” (New Reader level 1), “The Fisher” (New Reader level 1), and “Sam is wet” (New Reader level 2).

Each book features:

• large print
• short sentences with
  • sight words,
  • CVC (consonant-vowel-consonant) words,
  • pattern text, and
  • phonemic awareness.

The application features:

• Read alouds with speech recognition technology that gives feedback to the reader,
• individualized, personal challenges and practice based on your child’s reading level as they advance in play,
• interactive games that reinforce new reading skills, and
• reading practice and games that reinforce reading comprehension and retelling.

What kinds of adventures are included in Reading Adventure?

Reading Adventure includes fun, interactive, repetitive games that build reading confidence in addition to read aloud practice.

Educational studies have found that reading to a pet puts children at ease and helps them read more effectively, so they developed the main character, Oliver, a pet dog that becomes your child’s best friend. Oliver is also learning to read, and he reinforces a growth mindset, that trying your best is what is most important. Another character named Nebula, a star, brings the magical adventure to life.

My daughter did not even realize that she was learning because she was having so much fun. She learned and remembered brand new sight words, gained practice sounding out words, and also gained so much confidence in her reading comprehension abilities throughout the magical adventure!

Below is a snapshot of some of the games included:

Do you recommend Osmo Reading Adventure?

YES! The Osmo games have been a treasure in our household for over 5 years now. This Reading Adventure is no different. The hands-on and interactive, fun games are crafted so that my child did not even realize that she was learning, and I watched her reading confidence grow as she progressed through the program! The voice recognition software was a really nice added touch, as I haven’t seen Osmo use this technology in other products yet.

A small note for parents with very beginning readers – This application is independent but is meant to be supplemental practice to reinforce reading skills. Very early beginning readers may need help initially navigating the application to avoid frustration.

As for my 5 year old’s thoughts:

I really liked reading with Oliver and learning to play all the new games.”

As you can see, she loved the character interaction and did not even realize that she was learning!

Check out all the other Osmo games we’ve recommended too!

• Creative Starter Kit
• Coding Starter Kit
• Genius Starter Kit + Family Game Night
• Math Wizard and the Magical Workshop
• Math Wizard Secrets of the Dragon
• Math Wizard and the Enchanted Games
• Math Wizard and the Fantastic Food Truck
• Super Studio Mickey Mouse and Friends Drawing Game

Don’t forget to add this one and others to your holiday gift list this year!

-Kristen