New app helps kids discover the Gardens

A new app will make the Botanic Gardens even more of an adventure playground for younger visitors.

The Agents of Discovery augmented reality app will be trialled at the Gardens for seven months from Friday 21 December. The themes will change according to the seasons and it will launch with “Discover Summer”.

A piwakawaka (fantail) character will guide people through the app.

Using smartphone technology and the app, which can be downloaded for free from Google Play  or the App Store, children can experience the Gardens through a blended virtual world seen through a mobile phone or tablet.

The Canadian-designed app is customised to the Christchurch Botanic Gardens environment and will feature quizzes, fun challenges, sounds and pictures targeting two different age groups - four to seven-year-olds and eight to 12 year-olds. 

The “agent” character for the Gardens is a cartoon piwakawaka (fantail).

Botanic Gardens Director Wolfgang Bopp says it will engage and educate children and encourage them to explore new parts of the Gardens.

“We think the app will connect young people with nature by helping them interact with it in a different way. There are challenges in the app that will ask them to do things like throw honeycomb to catch bees or answer questions about what they see around them.

"It will work in tandem with our READiscover the Gardens reading programme over the summer and make the Gardens an even more enjoyable and exciting place to visit."

It’s the first time the app, which is used at public attractions around the world, will be available in the South Island.

The app can be downloaded at home or at the Gardens using the Visitor Centre WiFi.

It is similar to the Magical Parks app which has been offered previously at other Christchurch parks but is more comprehensive, Mr Bopp says.