My kids have played Osmo and love it, and when we saw the new game Pizza Co. they couldn’t wait to try it! Zac started asking when it would arrive before I’d even told him he could have it, and continued asking every day until it came. Finally it did and the boys have been playing it a lot ever since!
In the Pizza Co. game, your child is taking over a pizza restaurant while the owner goes on vacation. They are given goals to try to meet, like making a certain amount of money or serving a certain amount of customers, all while dealing with making pizzas according to customer’s specifications, taking payments, and making change. The game is so much fun that the kids will want to keep playing- and they won’t even realize how much they’re learning!
Math: Kids work on learning math in this game in a few different ways. The most obvious way is that they collect payment for their sales and must make change in most cases.
You can choose the level of difficulty for this task- beginners can work with just dollars, while kids with more advanced math skills can work with a variety of coin settings, from quarters-only all the way to pennies. Your child earns more tips based on how difficult their level is set, so it really gives them an incentive to really work hard and go for it!
Kids also work on math skills when purchasing upgrades to their shops, figuring out how far they are from goals, and looking at their profit and loss reports after each round.
Nonverbal Communication: The customers in the game do not speak. Their orders are shown as a picture for you to copy or as ingredients that they like or don’t like, and other than that your child must read their body language.
Characters get impatient, they show their disgust at incorrect orders, and they jump for joy when your child makes them the perfect pizza. Even Zac, who is three, often mentioned the feelings of the characters in the game! He made it his personal mission to make every customer leave as a “smiley face”.
Time Management and Multi-Tasking: I have to admit that I am a huge fan of this game as well and even play it myself when the kids are done! I love games where you have to multi-task and watch your time management and this is that type of game.
Your child has to learn how to take orders, physically put toppings onto a cardboard pizza, slide it into the oven to bake it, take payment from customers who are done, give change, deliver the pizza when it’s done, and keep track of all that money and the toppings all at the same time. There’s even a “rush hour” section during each round where the pace is picked up!
Both of my boys really love this game {and there’s a Junior Mode for Zac!} and it’s something that we play often in our house. Shane is really into video games right now which is great, but I especially like it if he’s playing an education game.
This game is perfect because it keeps them interested, teaches them new skills, and keeps them learning- even during the summer! It may even inspire your kids in other ways- after a long afternoon of playing Osmo Pizza Co., the boys were craving pizza so they made their own for dinner, which was a fun way to bring it into the real world!
You can pick up the Pizza Co. game from Osmo for $39.99 in stores like Best Buy or Amazon or on the Osmo website. You will also need the Osmo Base {$19.00} to play. {You will also need an iPad- read more about technical specifications here.}