Virtual Field Trips for Families

Virtual field trips provide a way for kids a way to follow their curiosity to visit landmarks, museums, art galleries, science exhibits, and more — ANY TIME ANYWHERE.

An interactive view of our planet from Google Earth

Strategies for exploring

Use locations from favorite books
Check out landmarks that you have heard of
Visit pre-set tours from museums, art galleries, or other trip hosts
Explore a tool like Google Maps or Google Earth using street view and 3D features

Types of Virtual Experiences

Virtual Reality Interactive Videos (usually with 360 degree cameras): let you control what a tour guide’s camera is showing you
Virtual Tour Websites: allow you to control how you move inside a space with controls and look 360 degrees around in the spaces and interact with information
Interactive Maps with embedded photos, videos and information with 3D features, and ‘Street View’ that allows you to explore freely around previously captured 360 photos
Live cameras! Always on, real time cameras usually showing nature or animals.
Experiential videos — nonfiction videos, guided by experts that narrate and move you through an experience, often telling stories or sharing info as you go.

Examples…

Adventure: Atlas Obscura Virtual Reality Iceland Shipwreck SCUBA Tour

Atlas Obscura also published the bestselling Explorers Guide for the World’s Most Adventurous Kid which has lots of unique spots around the world to look up on Google Maps.

Science (EARTH): Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History Virtual Tours

Narrated Virtual Tours are a video experience guided by experts. They can help kids learn how to use the tools on their own.
Virtual Tours Homepage let’s kids go right to the exhibits to explore and open information tabs and interactive features; Check out the Mastodon!
Follow up your tour with a list of subjects to search for more (videos, photos, info) about online.

Science (SPACE): NASA’s Virtual Tours and Apps

A nice mix of 3D simulations, documentary and 360 degree videos of space exploration, space stations, astronaut training, and more — all from this one conveniently curated page.

Adventure: Search VR + Your Dream Experience

Try Searching for “Virtual Reality (VR) + _____” and see what you get… I searched “VR Space Walk” and found this: BBC’s Virtual Reality Space Walk!

Science (ANIMALS): Live Cams!

Monterey Bay Aquarium Live cams (10am-10pm EST)

San Diego Zoo Live Animal Cams

Cuomo Bridge Falcon Cam

Arts: 20 famous art museums

The Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC has a kids map that they can explore and open up exhibits to explore.
The Louvre (the worlds largest museum in Paris, France) has a Kids Virtual Tour with embedded videos linked to pictures of artwork

Explore Google Earth

Google Earth (online or App) Designed for exploration and detailed viewing of the Earth’s surface.
Provides a 3D representation of Earth with high-resolution satellite and aerial imagery.

Explore any place you’ve ever heard of, or use a book you are reading, a story you’ve heard, or a guide like Atlas Obscura (above) to pick spots to explore!

Google Earth Special Features (different from Maps):

3D Imagery: Offers 3D views of terrain, buildings, and landmarks.
Historical Imagery: Allows users to view changes over time with historical satellite imagery.
Voyager: Provides guided tours and stories about various locations, created by scientists, documentarians, and other experts.
KML Support: Allows users to create and view custom maps and data visualizations using KML (Keyhole Markup Language) files.
Street View: Similar to Google Maps, but integrated with the 3D Earth view.
Measurements: Provides tools to measure distances and areas.

Try this tour on Google Earth or Google Maps*:

Start at the Great Wall of China (search: Great Wall of China)

Zoom in/out, try 3D to get a side angle, use the Street View person to stand on and move through the wall. Look for links on the map to other people’s photos and videos. Then, search for somewhere else (like New York City) to take a flight from the Great Wall, to space, then down to NYC!

*Google Maps (similar experience to Google Earth with more navigation info, and its easier to load on your devices. Better for navigation and getting around, but still fun for tours if Earth isn’t working!