OLogy: Science for Kids
The American Museum of Natural History gathers science games, videos, comics, and reading in an iPad app, from sea food webs and dinosaurs to astronomy and archaeology. Museum expertise makes it a rich curiosity starter, though it is iPad-only and some activities require reading.
- Route
- Explore
- Ages
- Ages 7–11; strong readers can explore independently
- Best for
- Curious elementary-school children who jump from dinosaurs to ecosystems to space
At a glance
- Developer
- American Museum of Natural History
- Platforms
- iPad
- Cost
- Free
- US App Store
Free iPad app; the museum also offers related OLogy activities on its website.
The short version
A thoughtful pocket of museum science for an iPad. OLogy rewards a child who asks 'how do we know?' with varied subjects and formats, though its reading-heavy parts are better suited to elementary learners than preschoolers.
A question about a T. rex's lunch can lead to a game about life under the sea or an explanation of how astronomers measure distant stars. That range is OLogy's appeal. The American Museum of Natural History draws from its children's science program to mix short videos, reading, comics, and interactive activities on an iPad. Rather than drilling one school subject, it lets a child move among paleontology, biodiversity, archaeology, astronomy, and more. A sea-food-web activity can prompt a conversation about what changes when one species disappears; a fossil story can lead to an entirely different question. The museum says the app's selected activities work offline, a useful detail for travel or classrooms. This is strongest as an invitation to investigate, not as a complete science course. An adult can let a child choose a topic, then ask what surprised them and what evidence a scientist might need. Readers who are still decoding may need help with text, despite the low minimum age displayed in the store. Families also need an iPad: there is no iPhone or Android app listed for OLogy, though the museum's related website offers more activities in a browser. The app has a finite selection and has not had a recent content update, but the mix of credible subjects and playful entry points makes it an unusually good place to begin a science conversation.
What we found
Strengths
- Museum educators worked with scientists on a broad set of age-appropriate topics, including biodiversity, fossils, astronomy, and human cultures.
- Games, videos, articles, and comics offer more than one way into a question, and the museum says the app can be used offline.
- The app is free, with no store-listed in-app purchases, and has a dedicated OLogy app privacy policy.
Watch-outs
- It runs on iPad, not iPhone or Android, despite the companion OLogy website being accessible more broadly.
- Some articles and explanations expect confident reading or an adult partner; Apple's 4+ storefront rating is not a good guide to the content's ideal age.
- It is a curated selection rather than the full OLogy website, and the iOS app was last updated in November 2024.
Before you download
- Age guidance
- The store marks the app 4+ but also labels it for ages nine to eleven. Many early readers will need an adult to read and discuss the articles; independent use fits roughly ages seven to eleven, depending on reading confidence.
- Privacy
- Apple lists product-interaction data that may be collected for analytics without being linked to identity. The museum's OLogy-specific policy says the app does not collect personal information and keeps individual settings on the device; optional surveys are described separately.