To steal a phrase from Ms Austen; it is a truth universally acknowledged that children these days spend far too little time outside. Losing touch with nature and what it means to play outside is a massive problem for lots of children, and it was something that Hannah Catmur wanted to address.
Having had plenty of opportunities to play outside when she was growing up, and with fond memories of long days running about in her grandparents’ garden and the surrounding countryside of Harrold, she has come up with a very modern way to help solve the problem: she has designed an app to encourage children to interact with the outside world. She designed Get Out! Explorers , with support from The National Trust, the RSPB, and The Wildlife Trusts.
Children are more digitally aware than ever – so Hannah’s app is designed to be a way of engaging kids in nature and the outside world through a medium that children are already very comfortable with accessing. The app allows you to track and record your trails, suggests activities like kite flying, raft building, bug hunting and other, secret missions which you can complete and earn points for reward. It encourages you to record your journeys and adventures outdoors, to share photos and videos on your profile, and offers a leaderboard function so you can track your progress, and unleash your competitive side! It’s a way of using the indoors technology to get kids outdoors, and enjoying their natural surroundings.
Check out the website for a proper look at the great things kids can do with this app, but excitingly, Hannah is now looking for 200 parents to sign their kids up to test the app over a six week period. Testers will receive exclusive access (via download) to the app and website with activities, trails and missions. There is also an option to trial the ‘membership’ option, this comprises of premium content and a Get Out! box that will include fun stuff for children to do and make: worksheets, bug nets, seeds etc. This is optional and will cost a one-off £5.
If you’d like to get involved in the trial, please enter your email on www.getoutexplorers.com .
If you’d like to read more about Hannah and her exciting app-designing journey, you can do so here:
