We compiled our list of favorites to help you keep your kids engaged and entertained.
Online exhibits on various topics.
There’s only one view of the museum currently available.
Ievgeniiya Ocheretna / Getty Images
The Metropolitan Museum of Art is home to over 5,000 years of art from around the world.
you could see some of it from the comfort of your home.
Take a virtual stroll through part of the museum using Google Street View.
Nickelodeon
Best Tour of Space: NASA
The volume of space videos.
The approachable aspect of the videos.
So much more to see on the site.
It’s not easily searchable unless you know what you’re looking for.
Each video is a mini virtual tour that will awe kids and encourage interest in science and space.
Best Virtual Planetarium: Stellarium
Realistic night sky simulation.
Mobile apps are available.
Includes a telescope control module for experienced astronomers.
Can be difficult to navigate.
The mobile apps aren’t free, but the money supports the project.
Stellarium Web is an online planetarium created by two brothers.
It offers mobile apps for Android and iOS that aren’t free.
The money goes toward paying server and development costs for the two-person project.
See inside and outside the White House.
Offers views of 140 paintings.
Once inside a tour, it’s hard to know what you’re looking at.
Every President since John Adams has occupied the White House and now your children can visit it, too.
The 360-degree images let kids explore to their heart’s desire.
Best Living-History Virtual Tour: Colonial Williamsburg
Next best thing to being there.
The virtual scavenger hunt.
The virtual tours are highly interactive.
Virtual tour models can load slowly.
Condensation or inclement weather can obstruct the webcam views.
Best European Museum Virtual Tour: The Louvre
It’s the Louvre.
The website offers a list of online family-friendly activities.
The virtual tours include a map and an information button.
The website offers limited language options.
Sure, we’d love to jet off to France and tour its fabulous museums personally.
But if that’s not an option, the Louvre has several virtual tours available on its website.
The offerings include exhibitions on the body in movement, founding myths, Egyptian antiquities, and more.
Best National Park Virtual Tour: Yellowstone
Offers multiple tours.
Lots of historical information.
Lots of written information that can turn off some kids.
Yellowstone offers seven virtual tours appropriate for older elementary and middle school ages.
Best Natural History Tour: Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History
So many exhibits to see!
Easy, clickable maps.
Nickelodeon
Quick and easy to navigate.
It’s not always easy to read the signs in the exhibits.
This iconic museum is dedicated to understanding the natural world and humanity’s place in it.
There’s so much to see it can’t possibly be listed here.
However, the museum offers an online tour of most of its exhibits.
Split this tour up into multiple lessons, so kids don’t get overwhelmed.
Zoonar RF / Getty Images
Skip the ground floor and go straight to the first or second floors.
Best General Farm Tour: FarmFood 360
360-degree views of the farm.
Offers a free app for Android and iOS.
It can be hard to see things on a mobile gear.
FarmFood 360 gives an inside look at the activities of a Canadian farm.
Best Aquarium Virtual Tour: National Aquarium
Easy to find exhibits.
Fun to explore using the 360-degree options.
Some scenes spin quickly, which can frustrate young learners.
Baltimore’s National Aquarium features more than 20,000 aquatic animals.
Explore eight areas, such as the Amazon River, a tropical rain forest, and jellyfish.
Best Tours of the World: AirPano
Bright, well-produced videos and images.
Offers tours of numerous countries.
Includes video and still frame-images.
What’s not to like?
AirPano has a variety of tours in China, Portugal, Switzerland, and more countries.
Best Tours of Nature: Nature Works Everywhere
Tours are narrated and easy to follow.
Provides student handouts, vocabulary, and discussion questions.
We wish there was a larger library of tours!
Explore nature around the world with The Nature Conservancy’s virtual tours.
The tours are narrated and give great, quick facts to help kids learn in simple, straightforward ways.
Best Slime-Based Virtual Tour: Slime in Space
Nickelodeon
It’s playful and educational.
It’s a video, not an interactive virtual tour.
What happens to Nickelodeon’s iconic slime when it’s in space?
That’s the concept behind the Slime in Space virtual field trip.
Along the way, it answers burning questions like, “Is slime a solid or a liquid?”
and “Can you slime a person in space?”
(The answer is: yes, very slowly.)
Best Virtual Zoo Tour: San Diego Zoo
Live cams of the animals.
A variety of educational videos.
Fun games and activities.
Fixed camera angles mean you’re not always guaranteed to see the animals.
The San Diego Zoo is home to more than 3,500 animals of more than 650 species and subspecies.
It’s widely considered one of the best zoos in the world.
But, if you could’t make it to California, it has a robust virtual experience online.
you’re able to peek in on the animals through live cams.
There are also zoo-related games and activities kids can do at home.
360-degree views of the factory.
Best General Virtual Tour Resource: Discovery Education
An eclectic variety of virtual field trips.
Watch live or on demand.
Trips come with a companion guide packed with activities.
A schedule of when field trips go live would be nice.
Discovery Education offers a variety of virtual field trips for kids learning from home.
you might watch the field trips live or catch the videos later on-demand.
