Nanny Resource: A Journey Without a Suitcase

Summertime fun can mean afternoons at the pool, vacation time with family or play dates at the local park.  However, summer days may also include scorching hot afternoons with a dangerous UV index or a rain storm that sends nannies and their charges indoors.  Jazz up the indoor activities for school-aged children to include virtual journeys to faraway places and spaces. This is a great way to incorporate cultural awareness and diversity, map skills, social studies concepts, science, math, reading and writing with the help of some technology. In this nanny resource list, you will find interactive games and virtual tours sure to spark some interesting conversations.

Check out these interactive games that may create curiosity and take you on a journey without a suitcase:

Kid Geo.com Games

1. Latitude and Longitude Game at Kid Geo.com, record your scores and times and make it a competition or play just for fun. Your task is to find Hannah using the Latitude and Longitude clues.
2. US Capitals Match game: You will be shown 21 random US states each round of game play. Your job is to correctly identify the capital of each state as quickly as possible. Use your mouse to click on the button next to the correct answer or next to the name of the capital for the highlighted state. What was your time identifying 21 state capitals?

Play National Geographic Interactive Games

1. Word-O-Rama Physical Geography: Read the clue in the gray box and choose the correct vocabulary word; click next in the upper right hand corner. You will have 10 questions. How many points did you earn?
2. Map Country and Cities: Choose Easy and play. What was your time for the first game? Click Continue and it will advance you to Medium. Now try again. What was your time now?
3. Go to GeoGuessr: Scroll down to Click on the button on the far left– All then choose single player. You will play 5 rounds. Share your final score. Describe one of the pictures you saw and where it was located.Pick any one country, continent or city that interests you. Choose single player. You will play 5 rounds. What country, continent or city did you choose? Share what your final score was. Describe one of the pictures you saw and where it was located.
4. Adventure Island: follow the directions provided by the bus driver Kimo.

Get to Know Virtual Hikes

Go on a Virtual Hike to find animals and plants:

You have 4 choices: Cleveland National Forest, Angeles National Forest, Calgary Zoo, & Royal Botanical Gardens. Read the instructions and go on the hike. Which virtual hike did you choose? Find at least 3 items on your hike. Name the 3 items. Pick one of the 3 items to dig a little deeper to answer the following questions: Where can this plant/animal be found? Watch one of the videos, read the information and share 2 more facts about this plant or animal.

Mr. Nussbaum interactive games

1. Take the Continents and Ocean Quiz: What was your score?
2. Play the Continents and Ocean Games for directions on how to play see this site. To play Continents and Oceans Play the timed game. Did you complete it in the 90 seconds allowed? How many times did you play until you could complete it under 90 seconds?
3. Animalia: find the continent where the animals live. You will have 22 different animals. What color medal did you win?

Central Intelligence Agency website: Kids’ Zone

1. Skills of observation and aerial challenge #1 How much time was left when you assessed the situation and completed all of the questions?
2. World Exploration: Play 3rd to 5th grade to help Ava Shoephone find Mr. Kent.
3. Photo Analysis Challenge: Intermediate level 2 Did you find all 11 differences in the allotment of time? How much time did you have left?

From Owl and Mouse:

1. World Monuments: Choose the Easy game setting. How long did it take you? You may have to Google some of the places in another window to find the answers to complete this task!
2. United States: Choose the Easy game setting. How long did it take you?
3. United States Features: How many did you get on your first try before it started repeating? Name at least 1 you got correct.

PBS Games

1. Play Coast to Coast Geography Game: How many questions did you get correct?
2. Play Where’s Buster at least 3 times. Play at least 3 times and share 3 facts you learned about states in the U.S.

Want to go on a virtual field trip? Check out these virtual tours for an online adventure with your charges:

1. Take one Air Pano tours of the following: Strap on your seatbelt, hold on to your stomach, turn up the volume and enjoy! Don’t forget to click on the small pictures on the right hand side to zoom in on specific sites. Caution this can be additive and give you “the bug” – the travel bug where the only cure is to go out and explore as much as possible!

Grand Canyon, USA
Mt. Everest, Himalayas, Nepal, Part I
Amsterdam, Netherlands
Moscow, the Best – Russia
Dubai, UAE
Cannes, French Riviera, France
Paris, France
National Park Jiuzhaigou, China
Waterfalls Around the World
Venice, Italy

Click on the arrow in the video screen of the country you want to visit (there are 16 pages of videos so you may have to scroll through several to find your tour),wait for it to read 100% loaded and enjoy. Describe your journey by explaining the landforms, housing/buildings, and new facts you learned about this location.

2. This virtual field trip is taking you to the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History for a Panoramic Virtual Tour.

3. View any one of The Seven Wonders of the World Panoramic Views and give a reflection on what you see, where this is located and if you want to visit this place:

Colosseum
The Great Wall
Petra
Taj Mahal
Machu Picchu
Rio De janeiro
Chichen Itza

4. Scholastic Virtual Tour – Global Trek: Pick one country and book a virtual trip. After reading, watching and exploring, share one fact you learned about for each of the following:

• the people
• the weather
• the life of a child there
• the animals or wildlife found there
• the land and landforms
• the history, government, language or currency (pick only one of these)

5. Field trips from Kid Vision VPK for PreK to 3rd grade: here are only a few sites and more can be found if you scroll down the page after visiting one of these below:

Construction Site

Hardware Store

Bank and Money Field Trip

Hair Salon

Dentist Office

Children’s Hospital

6. ESchool News provides a list of ten of the best virtual field trips for children.

Of course hands-on learning that involves real world experiences is best for children.  However, when you are limited on traveling beyond the neighborhood due to weather or financial restrictions, virtual tours and games can be educational and a way to promote curiosity.  Always check out the sites before sharing with the children to ensure they are working and are age appropriate for your charges.  Plan time to do the virtual tours and games with the child to facilitate and extend learning.  More can be gained by discussing and reflecting these online experiences. Avoid using the computer as a babysitter.  Use it as a tool to springboard communication and curiosity.

A special thank you to INA board member Angela Riggs for sharing this blog. Angela chairs the INA’s Education and Exam Committee, is the ECE Director at Sullivan University and the owner of Personalized Educational Adventures.