Review of Osmo Detective Agency + Ideas For Practicing Basic Concepts
Understanding basic concepts plays such a large role in language development. Are you a speech therapist who always is working on basic concepts in speech therapy or a parent practicing at home? I love using hands-on activities in therapy and at home with my own children.
The Osmo Detective Agency game encompasses learning through play with an engaging hunt around the world while searching for clues to solve a mystery! It includes 8 maps, a map holder, and a magnifying glass that are used alongside the Detective Agency Osmo app. You play the game by getting clues and locating the indicated landmarks or items on a specific map. When you see the item, you put the magnifying glass over it. The Osmo reflector and base allow the app to see your physical movements and tells you if you found the right item for the given clue.
Thank you to Osmo for gifting me their Detective Agency game and base. If you like to incorporate both hands-on play and technology, this is a perfect game for that! With the help of an adult prompting and asking additional questions, there are many ways for children to practice basic concepts while playing this game!
Today I am going to share 3 fun ways to target basic concepts while playing Osmo’s Detective Agency game at home or in therapy!
Spatial Concepts
To practice spatial concepts use the magnifying glass to search for different things on the map (i.e. firetruck, fountain, etc.). You can give hints as to where something is located (i.e. it is next to the school). When the Detective Agency app names a landmark to find (i.e. Eiffel Tower), the child finds it with their magnifying glass. You can ask the child to describe what is near the target landmark using spatial descriptions. A neat feature of the Osmo Detective Agency is that children can click on a button to receive a location hint if they’re having difficulty finding where something is located. The app will outline the map on the screen in red to give a hint of where to look on the physical map.
- Quantitative Concepts
With 8 different maps included, it is easy to target quantitative concepts while playing this game! You can look at one of the maps and ask questions such as:
- Which building has many animal characters outside of it?
- Which area has few characters?
- Which road has the most cars?
- Which road has no buses?
Color Concepts
The 8 included maps are very vibrant and full of landmarks! For children working on color concepts, it is easy to target this skill while playing! You can have the child name the color for each of the prompted landmarks and items. Children can describe other items around the target item they are searching for once they find it.
There are SO MANY ways to target a wide variety of basic concepts while playing the Osmo Detective Agency game, both in therapy and at home! I love how Osmo allows hands-on play. I have many clients who have a much higher interest in an activity when technology is incorporated. There are so many additional language skills that weren’t discussed in this post, that could be targeted while using the Detective Agency game. A few examples are following multi-step directions, answering wh- questions, describing attributes, and more!
To learn more about the Osmo Detective Agency Game click HERE!
To see other games available from Osmo click HERE!
The Osmo Detective Agency game is recommended for ages 5 and up. The app works on iPad and Fire (devices sold separately). To play the Detective Agency game shown in this blog post, you need an Osmo base and the Osmo Detective Agency game. These items are available to purchase as a bundle which includes both the Detective Agency game plus the Osmo base. The base comes with a red reflector attachment for the top of your device so that your physical movements of the game pieces (i.e. map and magnifying glass) can be seen.
- Are you always looking for more basic concept activities to use in speech therapy? CLICK HERE to see a variety of low and no prep resources targeting basic concepts by Daily Cup Of Speech!
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- Disclosure: The game included in this post was given as a gift in exchange for my honest review. I only share products I love! This post contains affiliate links that result in a small commission to Daily Cup Of Speech, LLC if a purchase is made through them. Affiliate links have no impact on the price for the buyer. All opinions are my own and should not be taken as evaluation, treatment, or therapy advice. This blog post is for informational purposes only. Please consult a licensed speech-language pathologist with any speech and/or language concerns.
