Tech on Tuesday: AR Apps to Encourage Kids to Continue Learning Outside the Classroom

It’s no secret, the weather this winter has made playing outside a challenge.

With spring still a few weeks away, you may be struggling to find ways to keep your kids entertained.

In this week’s Tech on Tuesday, we break down four augmented reality apps that will entertain your kids while encouraging them to continue learning outside of the classroom.

If your child is always asking “How does that work?” we’ve got the perfect app for them. JigSpace offers AR models of common objects like alarm clocks, toasters and batteries, that your child can take apart piece-by-piece. The app includes step-by-step breakdowns of the role each plays in the whole.

Once you’ve explored some everyday items, you can move on to some more exciting objects like a lightsaber or a NASA lunar lander.

Love biology? Froggipedia allows your kids to examine a life-size frog’s skeleton, nervous system and major organs. With the help of a virtual scalpel, your child can walk through a simulated dissection of the amphibian. The app includes pressure sensitivity to make sure your virtual cuts aren’t too deep!

With this app from the World Wildlife Fund, your child can see the difference building dams with sustainability in mind can have on the environment and local communities. You can interact with a detailed landscape of hills, rivers and a local farming ecosystem.

GeoGebra AR takes 3D graphs of mathematical equations and turns them into virtual objects you can walk around. You can place the math objects on any surface, walk around them and take screenshots from different angles. The app’s guided activities lead your kids to discover math in the real world by taking screenshots from different perspectives.