7 Apps for Summer

Summer can get expensive quickly and it’s hard to find things to entertain the kids every day. Check out these seven free apps that can help you have a little extra fun this summer outdoors or at home!

Project Noah

Give your kids a super-fun experience this summer without leaving your backyard. This free app will act like an interactive field guide, coaching kids on the flora and fauna that can be found right outside their homes. Project Noah lets users upload photos of what they’ve found so they can learn even more about local plants and animals.

GetMyBoat

Nothing beats a day out on the waves, but if you don’t own your own boat it can get pricey fast. Enter GetMyBoat. The free app works just like Airbnb for boats, with more than 35,000 boats, from kayaks to yachts, available for rent in 135 countries around the world.

Back 2 School Countdown

The back-to-school countdown takes on extra intensity this year with school being out of the classroom for nearly six months in most of the country. When your kids are driving you up the wall and it’s doubtful you’ll make it through the summer with your sanity intact, check out Back2SchoolCountdown. For just 99 cents, you can check how much time is left until the first day of school, down to the second. The app won’t magically get your kids to behave, but it’s the next best thing!

SkyGuide

Turn an ordinary night into the extraordinary with this fantastic app. For a one-time fee of $1.99, you’ll have a complete guide to the inky night sky right inside your pocket. Learn how to spot constellations, planets and satellites by pointing your smartphone toward the sky. SkyGuide works well even in weak data signal zones, making it the perfect accessory for your camping trip.

PackPoint

Nothing kills a vacation like pulling open your suitcase only to find you’ve forgotten your cellphone charger. Or your toothbrush. Try the free PackPoint app and never forget an essential item again. You’ll plug in your trip details, whether it’s a family road trip, a business convention or a romantic beachside getaway. The app will use your itinerary and the forecast weather at your vacation destination to draw up a packing list, chargers and toothbrushes included. PackPoint will even save your packing list to make your next trip that much easier.

GeoZilla

If you’ve ever been to a crowded amusement park or music festival and lost sight of your friends, you need to download GeoZilla. The app lets you track your friends or family members, and keep contact with them via group chat or a check-in feature. GeoZilla takes the stress out of a trip — without draining your phone’s battery.

Geocaching

Geocaching is a popular outdoor activity with a technological twist—called the “world’s largest treasure hunt” by Geocaching.com (the main source of geocaching data), this activity takes you out into your city or into nature to hunt for items or “caches” placed there by other geocachers around the country and across the globe.

By using a GPS-connected app to tag the location of each cache, users create the X that marks the spot on public maps, which other users can seek out using their own GPS-connected apps. Once you find a cache, it’s common practice to log your find in your app’s logbook (or a physical logbook in the cache itself). There are many app options to use for geocaching, but we found that c:geo (Android) and Cachly (Apple iOS) came most highly recommended.

Caches are usually filled with inexpensive but interesting items left by other geocachers. It’s common practice to designate “tradable” items in the cache which you are free to take as a keepsake and leave an item of similar value behind for the next treasure hunter. Some also contain puzzles, journals, art pieces, or “trackables” which are items with a unique serial number on them that cachers are encouraged to take and move to another geocache in their area. Trackable items have been known to move across entire continents or even around the globe one cache at a time!

Geocaching can be a rewarding hobby, but remember that safety always comes first. Children and young adults should always check with a parent or have adult supervision to make sure an area is safe before making a geocaching trip. Even adults should be aware of their surroundings while geocaching. Changing conditions out in nature could make a previously accessible cache unsafe to visit, and thinking twice before venturing into unfamiliar parts of civilization should be standard practice for every geocacher. If anything seems unsafe or out of the ordinary, it’s best to find a safer or more familiar place to do your treasure hunting. Remember, there are lots of caches out there, so you’ll always have other options!

If you want to learn more about geocaching, visiting Geocaching.com or reading this quick reddit wiki can help you better understand the lingo and difficulty ratings before you start your first adventure.

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