For Kids · Games

Maps and where we live

Your own town, river and lakes from the air, the compass, which way is north, and how far the next town is.

That home is a place on a map, that lakes and rivers have names, the four directions, and following an arrow to get somewhere. The map is a real satellite picture of the family's own area.

The games

Game · about 15 min

Fly Over Home

Fly geese, monarchs, Jay the blue jay or a jet over your own town, at their real speeds, with a guide naming what's below.

Age 2 Age 4 Age 6

Game · about 6 min

Down the River

Swim or paddle down your own rivers to the sea, dodging rocks, whirlpools and hungry bears.

Age 2 Age 4 Age 6

Game · Only at midday

The Noon Shadow

Only around midday: drag the sun across the sky and watch a shadow swing and stretch.

Age 2 Age 4 Age 6

Story · about 7 min

Where Does the Rain Go?

Follow one raindrop from the clearing, down real rivers, to your own ocean and back.

Age 2 Age 4 Age 6

Story · about 6 min

The Big Stone

Rock, ice and very long ago: how a boulder rode a glacier and stayed.

Age 2 Age 4 Age 6

Then outside

The same idea, with real things

Draw a map of our placeLet's make a map, so a bird flying over would know it's our home.Fly over homeLet's fly like a goose over our own town and find the lake!Adopt a treeLet's choose a tree to be our friend all year.Sound mapClose your eyes. How many sounds can you hear?

And the lessons

An hour outside, five minutes on screen

The shadow clock

Put a stick in the ground and mark its shadow every hour. By evening there is a clock on the lawn that nobody wound.

Sort the stones

Heavy, light, rough, smooth, and then the harder question: can something be both?

Made for where you live

Tell it where you live

The games draw the clearing in your real season and sky, follow your own rivers to the sea, and fly over your own town. A town, postal code or ZIP is all it needs — and it is kept on this device only.

Not about maps, but worth knowing

Game · about 10 min

The Big Jump

Pick a rock or a waterfall and an animal from a frog to a bear — hold, let go, and see the splash.

Age 2 Age 4 Age 6

Game · about 8 min

Land, Water, Sky

Carry each animal to its real home — a den, a burrow, a nest, a lodge, a stream — with real photographs.

Age 2 Age 4 Age 6

Game · about 5 min

Weather Window

Look out of the window, say what the sky is doing, and keep a week of weather.

Age 2 Age 4 Age 6

No ads, ever

The children's pages carry no advertising and no advertising scripts. Nothing is for sale inside a game.

No accounts, no tracking

Nothing to sign up for. No analytics on the children's pages, and no location or name leaves the device.

Read aloud

Every word is spoken by the device's own voice, and lit as it is read, so a child who cannot read yet can still play alone.

Nothing to fail

No scores, no timers, no wrong answers that scold. A wrong box bounces back; the story waits.

Real, and local

Today's weather, tonight's moon, your own rivers and your own town from the air. The game matches the window.

A lock for the grown-ups

One tap takes the whole screen and stops the back button; a press-and-hold gets out. A one-tap sound switch, too.