There is so much to explore when it comes to our world! So many places to visit, explore and experience. Unfortunately, there are many factors that limit where we can actually travel and see in person.
That is one reason why Kids Activities Blog is so crazy about certain apps for kids. Like a great book, a good app can teach and enhance. Here are 10 of our favorite nature apps for kids!
10 Nature Learning Apps for Kids
Audubon Birds, Trees, Mammals and Flowers is by far my favorite Nature App. There are less expensive versions than the one we bought for just under $20 but I have to tell you the money is extremely well spent. We use it daily more often than not when we are outside examining parts of nature.
Here technology meets hands on exploration. Some days I take a picture for further research on the app later. Other days we look up the information on the spot. You can log sightings, search real time sightings in your area and keep a journal of your discoveries.
My sons love listening to the bird songs and the sounds of the mammals. I love the visuals, where the animals migrate, real life images of the flowers and trees and the range maps.
Parts of Plants and Parts of Animals – A Montessori Approach To Botany & Zoology are some of my son’s favorite learning apps. The apps simulate Montessori’s Zoology and Botany puzzles.
While nothing beats the hands on experience with these puzzles, these apps make for a great extension to the learning. Simple to use, the app clearly label parts and offers a rich learning experience for various difficulty levels.
World Atlas is a National Geographic app that is packed with information about our world. You can search locations and find out just about anything including the current time and weather. It is one of those apps that you can get lost in!
Hippo Seasons is a tour guide for kids to explore the seasons. They can interact with activities like crunching in leaves, rolling a snowball and planting bulbs. The interaction is easy enough for littler kids, but older kids may want to peek over to see what is going on.
National Geographic Kids has a lot of different apps to choose from. Each that we have used were great. You can choose based on your child’s interests. I like the Weird but True! app.
Nature Tap is gorgeous to look at. It is a free app with 28 North American birds, information and even bird calls. There is also more birds, mammals, reptiles & amphibians, insects & spiders as well as wildflowers.
WWF Together is a do-not-miss kinda app! It was named as one of Apple’s 2013 Design Award winners. You can interact with amazing endangered animals to discover how they live. There are all sorts of fun facts that will keep you going back for more!
Geocaching  is great fun and can be an adventure at any place that you might visit.  We are always surprised to find that there are things to find almost anywhere we travel…or even close to home.  Kids love the hunt!
More Educational Fun From Kids Activities Blog
We have a great list of games for you smartboard!
Dear Susan and Stacey: how nice that you apparently have the nature knowledge (seriously, Susan — only those who happen to know the local nature guru are doing it right?) and/or the strong backs to carry multiple field guides along with the rest of your gear when you go out hiking. I used to do that, because that is how my parents taught me, and because there is nothing like being able to figure out what bird/plant/berry you are looking at as you are looking at it.
Then I got injured, and couldn’t carry books anymore. So I’d take a picture of whatever it was, and look it up later. Not the same. But then — along comes the smartphone, and suddenly I can carry a camera and a notepad and a field guide or ten, even a sketchbook…all in one lovely little gadget that fits in my pocket. And when my little guy comes along with me, he gets the same great immediacy of learning that my dad shared with me.
And I should point out that smartphone screens are not easy to see outdoors; you have to tuck them into the darkness under your jacket. Nobody’s going to be spending their hike with their nose stuck in their gadget, anymore than they would spend their hike reading.