Have you heard of Africam? This is the coolest thing to share with your kids! I volunteered in my son’s classroom a few weeks ago and they were studying Kenya. As we worked on some different activities, his teacher had this website set up on the big screen in the front of the classroom.
Africam.com is an interactive website, which has cameras hidden on the African plains that show live videos. When my son’s teacher originally pulled up the website, there was not much action on the screen. It showed the Nkoro Pan area, and although we could not see any animals, we could hear the most amazing sounds! It was as though we were right there on a safari listening to this wildlife. The children in the classroom (second grade) were totally mesmerized by the site and could not take their eyes off it.
The website stayed up for most of the day, and although I left school before I saw any wildlife, my son came home ecstatic because they spotted a zebra in class! We jumped on the computer and pulled up Africam.com at home. My son and daughter loved 
listening to the sounds of the African plains and running back and forth to the computer every so often to see if any animals were in view. We finally spotted some birds and some monkeys, which were hilarious to watch.
I am sad to say that I am not much of an animal person, so I love the opportunity to expose my children to animals so they don’t end up like me! The anticipation from your children in seeing an animal stroll across the screen is just priceless. I also loved this site because it is obviously a fabulous geography and science lesson. It is so interesting to them when you explain why it is 4pm here, but 11pm in Africa!
Once your children have taken some time to watch the live cameras, it is fun to surf around on the website and watch some of the prerecorded videos. They also have a facebook link and will put posts up when certain animals are spotted on camera.
Check it out and let me know if you like it! You will quickly learn which times of day will have the most activity and can hopefully log on to spot some action! I hope your kids think it is as cool as mine did!
