Osmo Coding Jam and Kaleidoscope

Osmo is a good way to introduce some constructive play and makes for a better use of the ipad than watching SSundee or Ryan’s Toy Review endlessly.

There’s a couple of new offerings in the series which lets kids animate and interact with the Osmo world on the ipad and Amazon Fire tablets.

Osmo Kaleidoscope has kids use their Osmo to make interesting kaleidoscopic effects with everyday objects; toys, art materials, or items from nature. You just hold whatever you like over the camera and the software will record it and let you turn it in to a whirling zooming kaleidoscopic effect, pretty sweet.

Awesomely, Osmo Kaleidoscope is free to download for the next two weeks.

Some of the learning experiences with Osmo Kaleidoscope include kinesthetic engagement, collaborative learning, the discovery of symmetry in STEM,  1–30 number display, fine-motor skills and spatial reasoning, and alphabetised themes and shapes.

Osmo Coding Jam introduces programming through music, kids 5–12 use coding blocks to experiment with rhythm, tempo and melody.

Kids can use the coding blocks to manipulate the sound-making characters on screen. You can speed up or slow down a beat, introduce a melody and add layers and loops to create an original jam.

Sound options include prehistoric cave beats, interplanetary pings and sciencey techno grooves.

Once they’ve composed a song, kids can share it with friends, family and the jam community, safely.

The coding blocks are transferrable across Osmo Coding Jam and Coding Awbie which has kids guide Awbie through a strawberry munching adventure. Osmo bills them as the world’s first tangible coding system.

Magnets make the blocks easy to add, swap and remove from a coding sequence and they’re made to be durable. The blocks are made from strong plastic to withstand rough play and if a block gets lost Osmo will replace it for free.

Coding Jam and Coding Awbie each come with their own unique assortment of blocks and the more blocks you have, the more you can do to experience either game’s programming potential.