The one really good thing that lock down brought us, was the chance to think about innovative ways to keep our kids busy and entertained. Even though travel opportunities have been limited, it turns out that the beach and bush have never been nearer!
Webcams are a fantastic way for your children to be fascinated by wildlife, whilst diverting them at the same time towards good screen time. You can encourage the younger kids to keep a list of all the birds, animals or fish they see, whilst the older one can group them into herbivores, carnivores and omnivores, or collect lists of mammals, birds, reptiles, fish and insects.
We’ve put together a list of highly recommended webcams for you and your children to check out – try going on a virtual safari, diving under the ocean, seeing what goes on inside a bee hive, or bird watching from a nest!
- WildEarth: founded by Emily and Graham Wallington, whose vision was to create LIVE wildlife content from all over the world. LIVE by its very definition allows people to interact in real time, giving them a sense of actually being transported to that place, whilst seeing the good, the bad and the ugly of what really goes on in nature. Viewers can also join safariLIVE, hopping onto the largest safari vehicle in the world and joining other like-minded people in the search for Africa’s most iconic animals.
https://wildearth.tv/login/ - Explore: a leading philanthropic live nature cam network and documentary film channel, it’s mission is to champion the selfless acts of others, create a portal into the soul of humanity and inspire lifelong learning.
https://explore.org/livecams - Africam: founded with the key objective of connecting wildlife enthusiasts with live sightings in the African bush, it’s primary purpose is to showcase Africa’s wildlife live and generate conservation awareness amongst as wide an audience as possible.
https://www.africam.com/wildlife/ - Smithsonian’s National Zoo: check out the Giant Panda’s, Mei and Bei Bei.
https://nationalzoo.si.edu/webcams - Houston Zoo: take a turn at directing the angle of the webcam lens!
https://www.houstonzoo.org/explore/webcams/ - Two Oceans Aquarium: see what is going oninside the Ocean Exhibit
https://www.aquarium.co.za/ - Monterey Bay Aquarium: be soothed by the motion of the jellyfish.
https://www.montereybayaquarium.org/animals/live-cams - Vancouver Aquarium: laugh at the antics of the sea otters.
https://www.vanaqua.org/live-cams
