Ever dream of going shark diving or flying into outer space, but find there’s just not enough hours in the day? With the Discovery Virtual Reality Headset, from Sakar International, kids ages 7 and up can explore the world from their own living room.

To begin the adventure, download the free Discovery VR app onto any smartphone and slide the phone into the headset. The headset utilizes the motion sensor of the phone to create a 360-degree view so as kids turn their heads and look around them, they will see different views and uncover new sites.

The app is full of Discovery Channel gold, turning various Discovery TV shows into vivid virtual reality experiences. There are so many categories to choose from to tailor the VR experience to any kid’s interests, including thrills and adventure, science and innovation, nature and wildlife, crime and investigation, travel, and our world.

Kids can watch footage from their favorite Discovery shows such as Everest Rescue, Shark Week, and Gold Rush, and even if they aren’t too familiar with the channel, there is plenty of exciting content to explore that’ll spark their curiosity.

They can enter the “Thrills & Adventure” section to ride more than 4,000 feet of roller coaster at more than 60 miles an hour. With twists and turns from the rickety coaster cart, it’s like they’re really there at their favorite amusement park, and they don’t even have to wait on line.

Buckle up for a journey to the edge of the Earth in the “Science & Innovation” section. Kids can be an astronaut for a day as they are shot more than 90,000 feet into the stratosphere, without having to worry about whiplash or motion sickness.

In some of the VR experiences, facts will pop up as text floating over the landscape so that kids can learn a little bit more about the new places they’re visiting. For example, in the “Travel” section, kids can view Half Moon Bay in New Zealand while listening to sounds of the ocean. New parts of the coastline are revealed as they turn the headset turns left and right, and facts will appear and vanish, like one that says, “New Zealand is the only country with the right to put Hobbit related images on its currency.”

There’s something for everyone, from watching panda playtime at the Wolong National Nature Reserve in China to hunting Bigfoot in Appalachia with the team from Mountain Monsters to riding along with the elite helicopter rescue pilots of Mount Everest. Kids will learn about all the great destinations that make our world tick, and maybe even spark their travel bug so they can see some of these places in real life later on.

While some of the selections involve experiences, such as swimming with hundreds of manatees at Three Sisters Springs in Florida or touring the grounds of Pennhurst Asylum, a site known for high paranormal activity, there is also video footage that kids can watch that read more like a TV show and require less interaction. It’s called Discovery Trvlr and it’s a new virtual reality series within the app featuring different destinations and cultures, with one- to two-minute episodes that can be watched either with or without the headset.

There is so much video content in the app that kids will be able to discover all the ends of the Earth without getting bored. Not only will they have a blast trying all the adventurous things they’ve always wanted to do, but they’ll also open their minds to new cultures and places they’ve never even heard of before, learning tons of new things along the way.

About the author

Jackie Cucco

Jackie Cucco

Jackie Cucco was a Senior Editor of The Toy Book, The Toy Insider, and The Pop Insider. She covered toy trends, pop culture, and entertainment news, and made appearances on national and regional outlets, including CBS, WPIX, News 12, and more. Jackie spends her time watching horror movies and working her way through every Stephen King novel out there.

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