The questions are coming thick and fast these days, ‘Mummy how is air made?’, ‘How do we think?’, ‘What are shadows made of?’ and most recently, ‘Mummy when can we go to Mars?’ I thought I had a few more years of being able to confidently answer all his questions, but apparently not! He’s not even five and I’ve been stumped on more than one occasion. But I know there’s always a fun way for us to discover these answers together and I love searching out the best apps to feed curious little minds. Thanks to a recent birthday present of a toy wooden rocket, moon buggy and satellite set, many of his questions are now about our night sky, stars and especially satellites. We found two apps which have (thankfully) provided us with a wealth of fascinating information about our night sky, so I can keep those answers coming! These really are beautifully made apps, a joy to use and 100% engaging for all ages. I’m loving using them as much as the kids are.
Sky Guide
We started off using the fantastic Sky Guide app which allows you to hold the iPad up to the sky and identify the stars above your head, or below your feet if you point it downwards. It’s a spectacular app which even shows satellites moving across the sky much to the deep delight of L Star (aka Mr 4 and three quarters). It’s aimed more at an adult audience but is still very accessible for the younger folk. L Star had no problem navigating around. We were very happy with it until we found…
Star Walk Kids – Astronomy for Children
This app is spot on in design, content and delivery of information. It uses cartoon like graphics which appeal to the kids and has nice simple controls. Again like Sky Guide it uses your position to display location specific information as you move your iPad around you. You can simply browse the sky around you or search for planets, stars, constellations and even the Hubble Telescope and the International Space Station. Many of the planets and constellations have accompanying informative videos, in one of which I learnt we are only 15 years away from establishing the first Lunar Colony!
Technology Courses for Kids & Adults 