8 Best Apps to Encourage Kids to Go Outside

Surely anything that encourages kids these days to go outside, explore the world and interact with the general outside is a good thing right? Well, what about if the very device that keeps them inside: the family iPad, their iPod Touch or their Phone actually encouraged them outside. Or if you just want a more fun way to have a day out with your kids or the sun is shining and you want a digital, interactive way to play with them outside then we’ve got some great game choices.

We’ve selected a list of 8 of the best apps and games for kids to encourage them to go outside. These apps are available for varying platforms and so you’re likely to find something on this list that will suit your preferences for sure. So here are 8 best apps to encourage kids to go outside.

Elmer’s Photo Patchwork (iOS – $1.99)

Elmer’s Photo Patchwork is a great little game that utilises the camera and the outdoors for your children. It encourages them to look at different textures, explore different colours and more. If they can’t find the right colour inside (greens etc.) they’re more likely to find it outside and so will want to embark outside. Simply, this game gives you patchwork animals with sections, you select the sections and then take images with the camera to get the closest colour to the animal or thing needed.

Star Walk Kids (iOS/Android – $2.99/$2.99)

Star Walk Kids is an incredible application that will not only amaze your children, but may well amaze you too. Star Walk kids allows you to hold your device up to stars at night and the application with pick out the constellations based on your location. It will present the constellations with fun drawings, animations and facts to educate your children on what they’re seeing.

Sesame Street Family Play (iOS – $0.99)

Sesame Street Family play is an iOS-only application that offers a great idea. The great idea is that Sesame Street Family Play offers you great game ideas no matter what situation you’re in. Whether you’re at home with the kids, whether you’re out a restaurant or whether you’re on the road, this app will have a game for you. All you need to do is tell it how many people are playing and which situation you’re in and it will recommend games to play that don’t even require the device and encourage the kids to use their imaginations, brains and learn new skills.

Adventure Time Game Wizard (iOS/Android – $4.99/$4.99)

Adventure Time Game Wizard is a brilliantly innovative game (despite the long title) that offers your kids a whole new way to play games. This game allows your kids to print off a starter sheet and then draw in their very own levels with “glyphs”, coins, power-ups, lava and other obstacles. Then they scan the level back in and it plays like an in-game level.

TeleStory (iOS – Free)

TeleStory is a great application that really allows your kids to do what they’ve always wanted to do – be on TV! TeleStory allows your kids to pick a theme, record 30 seconds of footage doing different things and then it will stitch it together to create a short little TV Show for them. It’s a really fun and interactive experience that can bring limitless fun.

Gruffalo: Photo (iOS – Free)

Gruffalo: Photo is a great little application that allows you to place your children in their favourite scenes from the best-selling children’s book: The Gruffalo. It also allows you to post stickers related to the book on original images. It encourages woodland photography though due to the theme throughout the story and the application, encouraging your children outside once again.

FriendStrip Kids Pro (iOS/Android – Free/$1.99)

FriendStrip Kids Pro is another application that will have your kids running around the house with the family iPad on your new Samsung Galaxy phone. It’s a great application that allows them to create comic strips via templates that are given to them. What’s nice about FriendStrip is that all the templates and comic book strips were created by professional comic book artists and so they all exude quality.

Curious Words (iOS – $1.99)

Curious Words is another one of those applications that keeps your children entertained for ages and can also produce some really nice content as well. Curious Words asks your kids to respond to random words via one-second videos and then stitches the videos together to create a sentence. It’s a really fun exercise and one that could even potentially be used for adults.