The world from your home – virtual trips and visits for children and families to enjoy

During the coming weeks while we will mainly be seeing the inside of our homes, it is nice to remember that the world is still out there and the animal kingdom, in particular, is still going about its daily business. We have put together some links to our beautiful planet to watch how it is doing while we wait patiently to re-join it.

If you are sending ideas of activities for children to do at home, perhaps you could pick a location or venue that everyone can visit in place of your summer trip this year. This will certainly be a different experience and will cover aspects of Understanding of the World in an exciting way. It will also provide a sense of belonging in these difficult times when we all long to feel connected.

Here is a list of links to choose from. We have focused on animals but there are many more that you can search for, linking to other areas that you know will be of interest to your children and their families:

Earthcam

www.earthcam.com/network

This as a selection of webcams from around the world. Some of these give views of places that are usually full of life such as time square and the Vatican. These are far from ideal circumstance, but it does give us a unique opportunity to see the detail of such places when they are calm.

Animal livecams from around the world

www.explore.org/livecams

Travel around the world watching animals in their natural habitat. The orangutans are a bit elusive but well worth the wait.

African wildlife

www.africam.com/wildlife

This one will take you across the African Plains. I spent a lovely ten minutes watching elephants at a watering hole while researching these links. It was such a privilege to watch this magnificent herd from across the globe.

Rainforest in Brazil

www.worldlandtrust.org/webcams

You might need to be patient with this one, not much going on when I watched, but I’m sure you will be rewarded eventually!

Aquarium with a variety of cams

www.aquariumofpacific.org/exhibits/webcams

This one is very relaxing; perhaps a good way to relax at the end of the day.

Bondi beach

www.coastalwatch.com/surf-cams-surf-reports/nsw/bondi-beach

A personal favourite! You have to watch this early in the morning or late at night to see the sunshine. The beach is closed at the moment but again, interesting to see our planet’s tourist sites as nature intended

While exploring the world you might feel inspired to start a list of the places you would like to visit one day, or an experience you will treat yourself to, once we are all together again and the world is open for business.

If you are doing this with your children, why not start a passport, or mark on a map of the world each place you visit and see how much of the world you can explore from your living room. See if you can go around the world together without leaving home!

Or of course, you could just watch jelly fish in an aquarium and raise a glass of your choice to staying safe and well.

Bon Voyage!