Top Three Earth Day Apps For Kids!

Earth Day is the perfect day of the year to plant some green awareness into our children’s sweet little sprouting brains. While nature is where we want our children to be, exploring, adventuring and playing, technology can actually help to get our kids outside. I wasn’t always a believer, but the more I started looking around and trying some different apps, the more I realized that these seemingly insignificant games on yet another plastic viewer offer a whole new way to teach our children. Apps are educational and help to provide a learning experience that is interactive as well as helpful to all types of learners.

This Earth Day, set your children on a path into nature with these great eco-friendly app games and books, all available on the iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch as well as in different languages.

First, Green Quest allows your child to adventure on and off screen as s/he sets off to engage in actual eco-friendly activities each day. Your child chooses a queen or king character, their clothing, hair and skin color, and the name of their character. Then, the story unfolds to reveal that your child has the power to save Earth in their own kingdom on screen and in real life. The activities for them to complete each day are simple and fun, such as turning off the light when leaving a room or eating one organic fruit. Each of these activities, when done, gets checked on screen and they get a reward in their game. The biggest reward is really the opportunity for your child to learn how to help the Earth in small, yet significant ways. These behaviors are so important to learn when young. My child was quite excited to complete these tasks and share them with friends too! Spreading the green seed!

Second, The Amazing Adventures of Eco Boy takes your child on a great adventure through a story where Eco Boy has the power to clear the land of trash. Children learn in a fun way about the three Rs, reduce, reuse and recycle. There is an option for this story to be read to your child or for your child to read it on his or her own which really allows the child the chance to learn in a way that works best for him or her. The illustrations and colors are engaging and will have most children laughing and intrigued. This fabulous app is also available as a book for those of us parents, and kids, who still want the feel of the pages between our fingers.

Third, ABC Wildlife, although not necessarily an app that gives children specific green tips, provides a very basic and engaging way to learn about animals. The pictures in this app are real and absolutely adorable. There is no way a child can’t fall in love with the picture of the duck or the video of the iguana with the sunglasses. The animals facts are interesting and easy to read as well.

This is a good start to help your children learn more about nature and how to help. It might also be a way for you to begin to become more comfortable with, or dare I say even enjoy, including apps in your child’s learning. Happy Earth Day!