4.9
Where to Buy

Star Walk Kids – Explore Space & Planets App Review

App Info

Price: $2.99

Overview

Star Walk Kids offers a comprehensive and accessible introduction to astronomy for users young and old. The app uses the user’s location and the gyroscope to show the night sky above your location, names the objects in the night sky, and gives information about them.

Features include:

  • Simple, intuitive controls
  • Video and audio explanations of stars, planets, constellations and more
  • Shows star chart matching location and season
  • Easy-to-understand explanations
  • Objects named when touched

Quality

This is a creative high-quality app that will give your family hours of enjoyment. In the daytime, it’s easy to pretend you are looking at the stars. Many videos and audio clips demonstrate complex concepts in simple ways suitable for younger learners, offer facts and statistics about each star, planet and constellation, and more. At night, it shows a detailed star chart reflecting your geographic location and the season. The controls are intuitive, so little instruction is needed. It can be learned simply by using it. It would perhaps be reassuring, though, to include a parents’ area that briefly goes over the uses of the app, its features, and ways to engage children. Without this sort of a guide, I was a bit uncertain that I had unlocked all of the app’s possible features, and I had difficulty figuring out how to locate and get information about specific constellations.

Education

Star Walk Kids is a wonderfully educational app that will take a glimmer of interest in the night sky and run with it. There’s a whole world of beauty and science to explore, not to mention the history of the cultures reflected in the constellations. Star Walk Kids does a great job of latching onto the wonder of looking up into the night sky and connecting it back to the world of science. The app includes dozens of information sections about planets, nearby stars, and constellations. Each section contains the basic information, but most also include audio clips of interesting facts. Some even include videos! And be sure to click the audio file icon several times: most entries have three or more recordings.

Entertainment

This app has a lot of entertainment value, especially for children or families that enjoy spending time together outdoors. The developers have upped the stakes by making the app responsive to your location. It shows the night sky just as it looks to you in that area and at that time of the year. This feature alone puts it several cuts above most astronomy information apps for kids. In addition, the app includes simple and clear video and audio assets that will engage young users. The videos are animated with a simple, clean style that supports rather than confounds the information, and the audio clips are short and easily-digestible.

Value

Star Walk Kids is a good value. For only a few dollars, children can have access to a wealth of information about outer space and astronomy, as well as a hands-on learning tool that simply wasn’t available in years past.  Think of how many adult astronomers would have given anything for an interactive star map that showed them what was in the sky above tailored to their specific location! This app has the potential to set your child on a path to a life-long hobby or even a career.  It’s worth every penny.

Child Friendliness

Star Walk Kids is very child friendly. Parents can rest assured that their young users will have a great hands-on science experience while knowing that personal information, such as location, are protected.

  • NO external links
  • NO social media
  • NO in-app purchase
  • NO 3rd party ads
Star Walk Kids – Explore Space & Planets
Star Walk Kids - Explore Space & Planets
Star Walk Kids-Explore Space and Planets is a wonderful adventure into the science and culture of the nighttime sky. It will encourage interest in astronomy and also allow families to explore the beauty of the night together.
Quality
Education
Entertainment
Value
Child Friendly
4.9
Where to Buy