Osmo Genius Starter Kit and Numbers

Welcome to Part 3 of the Series

Welcome to Part 3 of my 5 Part series about the Osmo Genius Starter Kit and Numbers.

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If you missed Part 1 click here.  In Part 1, I talked about the Osmo Genius Starter Kit, the basics, what games are included, and what accessories are included, as well as the tangram game.  

If you missed Part 2 click here.  In Part 2, I talked about the Masterpiece Game that is included with the Osmo Genius Starter Kit.

In Part 3, I’m going to talk about the Numbers Game that is included with the Osmo Genius Starter Kit.

How it all began

As I mentioned in Part 1 of the series, a few weeks ago I was gifted an Osmo Genius Starter Kit for my kids. It wasn’t the full set but enough to give us an idea of what exactly it was. I’ve been watching my kids learn the games and looking at the benefits of the game as well as to see if the full kit is worth the money.  

Today, we are going to talk about the third game in the package – Numbers.

Game 3 – Numbers

What is the game about

 The game starts on a quest in the sea.  You start at number 1 and work your way down to larger numbers.  There are categories for:

• Count
• Add
• Connect
• Multiply

Each of the categories goes along the same premise, you complete the first number and work your way to the next number.

For this, you need the number tiles.

How do you play it

Count

For the count category, you use the number tiles (the ones that look like the side of a dice) and place them under the screen in the correct combination to make the numbers shown on the screen.  For example, if there is a number 3 above, you would use either 3 x 1 pieces or a 1 and a 2 piece.  This pops the bubble and you get points.

For the Add, Connect, and Multiply categories you use the number tiles with actual numbers on them.  With the same concept as for the count category – you have to come up with the equation that will give the number in the bubble.

Add

With Add, you add numbers to get the value in the bubble.  For example, the bubble number is 5, so you would add 3+2.  The more advanced you get in the game, the more difficult the math becomes.

Connect

Connect is more challenging still as it uses larger numbers. So you are connecting numbers and adding them to get the answer you need.  For example, the bubble number is 29, so you connect a 2 and a 9, or you can create a 26 with an individual 2 and 6 and then add 3.  This can get a bit complicated for little ones, but once they get the hang of it it’s fun.

Multiply

Multiply is a game that you learn the multiplication tables with. Again, numbers are in bubbles, which are the answers.  You need to combine 2 numbers to give you that answer.  For example, if 16 is in the bubble, so you would need to put a 4 and a 4 or a 2 and an 8.  It’s important to note that if the numbers are spaced apart, the system things of it as an adding function, and if the numbers are touching, it multiplies.

With all of these games, the more you play, the more advanced the questions become.

How much supervision is required? 

With small kids just learning math, this requires quite a bit of supervision at the start.  Once my kids understood the concept of each activity less supervision was required.  But I found this was not a game they wanted to play by themselves, yet.

Game score – do my kids like it

My kids have played this game for about 3 weeks now, and they think…

” Mommy, Daddy, can you play this with me, please?”

Tips to reduce cost

This game requires the number tiles that Osmo sells.  You can buy the numbers as a stand-alone item here for about 35% (~$40) of the total cost of the whole Genius Starter Kit.  

But this requires you to have a base which is about $40 alone.   

This would put the game at an $80 value. 

Recreating the numbers tiles might be possible, but Osmo has set up each number in a different color which would prove very time consuming to make.  I have not been able to reproduce numbers that the system recognizes.

Final Thoughts on Game 4 – Numbers

The Osmo Genius Starter Kit and Numbers  is a very good game to help kids learn simple numbers and the first steps of math.  I really like this game, but my kids are a bit hesitant to play this game alone.

I like that it starts with the basics and builds on those skills.  

Part 4 is here!

Check out Part 4 Here!

Stay tuned until Part 5!

Stay tuned for Part 5! There I will give my final thoughts on the whole package, is it worth it?  Would I buy the whole thing?  Do my kids really like it?  All these questions and more will be answered!

Stay tuned!

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