History Hero App: A Fun New Way for NYC Kids to Explore Museums and Save History

9/19/13 - By Stephanie Ogozalek

Sometimes too much of a good thing can actually turn boring. That even applies to cool cultural outings like going to New York City's world-class museums. My eight-year-old son has explored nearly every inch of several NYC institutions, in particular the American Museum of Natural History. Unless there's a new exhibit or a special way to experience these spots, we don't really want to go. So I'm always on the lookout for fresh ways to keep visits fun.

That's why I was excited to hear about the new History Hero app, a cool, interactive way to tour a bunch of cultural attractions scavenger hunt-style. While the app was designed with tourists in mind, it's an enriching experience for local families, too. Currently, NYC kids can use the History Hero app to explore the Museum of Modern Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the American Museum of Natural History. (If you're planning on traveling, there are tours of famous sites in Washington D.C., Chicago, London, Rome and Paris, too.)

A few weeks ago, I used the History Hero in AMNH with a pair of third graders and we all had a blast. We saw the museum in a whole new way, learned new things about old exhibits, and even discovered a few new-to-us galleries.

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History Hero has a fun sci-fi storyline that both boys loved. "Erasers" are attacking Earth, intent on rubbing out our history by destroying various artifacts. The only way to stop them is to snap digital photos of the relics and upload them to a collective database. You need to move fast since Erasers are lurking around every corner. Armed with a smartphone, we took the History Hero oath, joined team ICE-T (a.k.a. the International Committee on Extraterrestrial Threats) and set out to save history.

During our adventure, we snapped pics of some of the museum's most cherished attractions including the giant Blue Whale, the T.rex skeleton, the Star of India sapphire and the new Theodore Roosevelt statue. We also covered some previously uncharted territory for us, like the Chinese Wedding Chair and Aztec Stone of the Sun. For saving these historic treasures from being erased forever, we received the Medal of Honor. The kids loved earning that virtual badge.

There are three different age-based itineraries for every museum the History Hero app covers. We chose the tour for ages 8 to 13 and accomplished all 15 of our challenges, but there's also an easier itinerary with 10 stops for ages 4 to 7 and another with 20 for teens. At each stop, the app shares a couple of interesting facts and asks the kids to answer a few questions, which encourages them to read the labels and examine the artifacts more closely.

While you can download the History Hero app for free, each itinerary costs $4.99. It never expires but it doesn't change either, so you will only get so many goes out of it. History Hero is available for iPhone and Android.


Looking for other cool apps that help you explore NYC with kids? Check out our post on Stray Boots interactive walking tours.