Virtual reality (VR) in education apps have grown in popularity, enabling students to go on field trips to far away (often historic) places, and the ability to perform hundreds of (often inaccessible) science experiments in a virtual laboratory.
Virtual reality apps and games are likely to have powerful effects on children because it can provoke a response to virtual experiences similar to a response to actual experiences. VR educational games can potentially be an effective learning tool for encouraging empathy among children, though most parents are skeptical. Augmented reality also has gone from science fiction to practical reality with some impressive AR apps for Android and iOS devices.
The educational possibilities of VR apps and games to kids are endless. One overlooked benefit is that VR can provide children with an avenue for entertainment and socializing with others. Fifty percent of parents agreed that VR apps would provide a fun way to play as a family. Virtual reality apps can immerse kids and teens in incredible 360-degree visuals.
If you’re getting started with VR on your smartphone, here are the best VR apps and games to explore.
- 1. CoSpaces Edu
- 2. InMind VR
- 3. YouTube VR
- 4. InCell VR (Cardboard)
- 5. Discovery VR
- 6. Google Cardboard
- 7. KingTut VR
- 8. Safari Tours Adventures VR 4D
- 9. Boulevard AR
- 10. VR Space
CoSpaces Edu is a creation app widely used in schools around the world and letting kids easily create their own virtual content. CoSpaces Edu enables students to build, code and explore their own creations in VR or AR, while demonstrating their learnings and developing essential digital skills.
Create anything in 3D: Drag and drop objects from library or build your own, upload images, videos and sounds.
Animate and code your creations: Enjoy ready-to-use animations to bring your creations to life and program them with coding blocks.
CoSpaces Edu is used in many subject areas from STEM and coding, to social sciences, languages, arts and makerspaces.
Trial code: CoSEduAppTrial
Promo code: CoSEduAppPromo for 10% off on any CoSpaces Edu Pro online purchase
Devices: Android, iPhone and iPad
If we missed any of the Best Virtual Reality Apps and Games for Kids, tell us about them!
InMind VR is one of the most exciting VR apps for kids and it is an adventure game about a scientific journey inside the emotions chemistry of human brain. It allows the students to experience the journey into the patient's brains in search of the neurons that cause mental disorder. Neurons and brain tissue have never looked more realistic. Travel into the brain and learn about anatomy with this great app.
Cost: Free
Devices: Android, iPhone and iPad
Using YouTube VR app, kids and teens are able to travel to any countries, experience any adventures like skydiving, science videos, concerts and more. The app is really effective when watching 360-degree videos, putting the users in the centre of the action. YouTube VR is free to download from the Google Play Store and one of our favourite VR apps for kids.
Google Expeditions is an immersive education app that allows teachers, parents and students to explore the world through over 1000 virtual-reality (VR) tours. Teachers and students use mobile devices and VR viewers to virtually explore an art gallery or museum, swim underwater, or navigate outer space, without leaving the classroom.
Cost: Free
Devices: Android
4. InCell VR (Cardboard)
(Android, iPhone, iPad)
InCell VR is an action-packed VR game where players navigate through a world made of human cells. Mixing science and entertainment, players will outrun virus waves, save cells from destruction and experience the microworld of cells. There are not many VR games for kids about science, so it’s definitely worth a look.
This multi-coloured science and racing game takes place in a unique micro-world, which recreates the anatomy of a human cell in impressive detail, giving it an educational angle, too. Players ride along capillaries and connections as they take in inner space. The depth and scaling of the scenes really makes the experience worthwhile, and it has a rousing soundtrack to boot making it one of our favourite VR apps for kids.
Cost: Free
Devices: Android, iPhone and iPad
Discovery VR is full of intense nature adventures you can take without ever leaving your home and one of the best VR educational apps. Students can explore exotic natural locations and interact with our planet in a futuristic way. Parents can immerse themselves in exciting virtual reality stories.
Cost: Free
Devices: Android, iPhone and iPad
Google Cardboard is a kid-friendly, fun, and affordable way of bringing virtual reality to your home. Kids and parents alike will love the immersive and educational experience. It’s free to download and easy to use - watch 360 videos on your phone or stick in a Cardboard headset for an immersive VR experience.
One of the best VR apps for kids, Google's Tilt Brush is a great VR app for budding artists which is available on either Oculus Rift or HTC Vive, lets you paint in 3D space with virtual reality. Google Earth VR lets you go anywhere in virtual reality - whether it's the canals of Venice, or the Empire State Building.
Cost: Free
Devices: iPhone and iPad
7. KingTut VR
(Android, iPhone, iPad)
King Tut VR lets you experience the Tomb of the legendary Egyptian King Tutankhamun on your mobile phone in Virtual Reality and get lost in the secret chambers full of hieroglyphics and treasures. The full 360 degree virtual environment lets you get an personal view of these impressive historical artifacts without having to worry about the curse of the Pharaohs.
Children across the globe can now experience the rich history of Egypt as it unfolded through a Virtual Reality experience. The immersive Virtual Reality tour technology allows students to learn by experiencing history, thus increasing understanding and knowledge retention. Learning in this 3D immersive environment is an excellent alternative to traveling the world to a historical site, and it provides significant improvement in cost and productivity to traditional classroom based training techniques such as looking at photographs and reading textbooks.
Cost: Free with in-app purchases
Devices: Android, iPhone and iPad
8. Safari Tours Adventures VR 4D
(Android)
Safari Adventures VR brings to you the most thrilling and adventurous experience of a Jungle Jeep Safari. With Amazing 3D environment of Jungle and realistic graphics and animations of the animals, the app provides you with the perfect environment for Safari ride across the beautiful yet deadly Jungle. Save yourself from the deadly wild animals as they don’t spare those who enter their territory.
Kids will be able to move around physically to explore the Safari Park. You can use VR Glasses such as 4DUD, Google Cardboard glasses, etc.
Cost: Free with in-app purchases
Devices: Android
9. Boulevard AR
(iPhone, iPad)
Boulevard VR lets you you pay a visit to some of the world’s best art museums without leaving an art class. Thanks to this VR technology, students can now tour up to six art museums, interact with famous works of art and learn about them. For educational purposes, this is arguably even better than having a field trip to a museum. In Boulevard, you can explore 3D renderings of various museums and cultural sites located throughout England and San Francisco.
Boulevard AR will save you time and money so you can focus on what is actually important to you as an art student.
Cost: Free with in-app purchases
Devices: iPhone and iPad
VR Space is one of the VR apps available to learn about space. Kids will become virtual astronauts as they blast off into space to investigate the Solar System. Kids will learn all about the different planets in our Solar System and can guess some of space’s greatest facts.
Cost: Free with in-app purchases
Devices: Android
Frequently Asked Questions
How is VR used for education?
Virtual reality helps education by creating immersive lessons that are engaging, memorable and impactful for students. Virtual reality experiences accelerate learning and nurture key interpersonal skills, such as empathy, teamwork, and social skills, essential for future thriving.
What makes virtual reality education apps and games to be a good learning experience tool?
Virtual reality apps can be used in classrooms to enhance student learning and engagement. VR can transform the way educational content is delivered; it works on the premise of creating a virtual world - real or imagined - and allows users to interact with it. For educators who are already using or planning to use VR to supplement their curriculum, below list of VR educational apps can help innovate the way they teach in the classroom.
Are Virtual Reality apps and games safe for children?
It’s important to consider that there are age restrictions in place for the majority of VR headsets. The general rule is that no child under 7 years of age should use a VR headset – with the main manufacturers setting the following age restrictions: Oculus Rift (13yrs+), Samsung Gear VR (13yrs+), Sony PlayStation VR (12yrs+) and HTC Vive: they do not specify any age restrictions, but do advise against young children using their product.
Minecraft VR, one the world's most popular games is now out on the Oculus Rift and Samsung Gear VR. With the VR headset on, monsters you can encounter are brought to life, while the 3D audio makes the game even more immersive.
Lamper VR app allows the users to play as little Lamper, a brave lighting bug travelling through woods and caverns to save his friends from the mean spiders! With the use of power ups and fireballs you can blast through your enemies and get closer to your friends making it one of the best VR educational apps.
Instead of spending lots of money to buy the headsets, the Android or iPhone handset in your pocket is a VR device in its own right too, you can download some of the best VR apps for kids to get started with VR on your iOS or Android devices.
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