Common Sense Media Review
By Dana Anderson
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Beautiful AR scenes show ugly reality facing global rivers.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 10+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Download
Videos and Photos
WWF Free Rivers
Parent and Kid Reviews
What's It About?
To play WWF FREE RIVERS, allow the app to access your camera to use the AR features. Then listen to the intro about why it's important for WWF to save free-flowing rivers. Point your device down on a flat surface and rotate and pinch/expand the scene to fit your screen. For more details, tap on the blue icon. Listen to the narrator explain what you're viewing and why it's important to understanding free-flowing rivers and related issues.
Is It Any Good?
Kids can get a unique perspective on global river ecosystems as they view them through this eye-catching AR app. WWF Free Rivers' excellent narrator and clear visuals help kids learn about free-flowing rivers and how dams can change rivers and the ecosystems around them. Kids also learn about hydroelectric and other forms of power, and how changing rivers affects ecosystems, food supplies, animals, and human societies globally. While global river problems may seem like a major downer, WWF Free Rivers' beauty coupled with its narrator's hopeful tone and positive solutions keep this topic light enough for kids to absorb the information without feeling hopeless. Plus, it's a beneficial use of augmented reality that helps kids learn in a fresh way.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about how WWF Free Rivers connects the health of rivers, ecosystems, animals, and humans. In what other ways is human well-being connected to the well-being of animals, land, and water on Earth?
Talk with your kid about the different habitats shown on WWF Free Rivers. Which one is most interesting to them? Why? Follow their interest and help them find out more about that particular habitat and the animals and people who live there.
Check out Common Sense Media's Best Biology Games, Apps, and Websites for Kids list to find more digital resources for kids about life on Earth in all its forms.
App Details
- Devices : iPhone , iPod Touch , iPad , Android
- Subjects : Science : ecosystems and the environment , energy , Social Studies : global awareness
- Pricing structure : Free
- Release date : August 26, 2018
- Genre : Education
- Topics : STEM
- Publisher : World Wildlife Fund
- Version : 1.3.0
- Minimum software requirements : iOS 11.3 or later; Android 8.0 and up
- Last updated : September 30, 2025
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