16 Amazing Free Virtual Aquarium Tours for Kids of All Ages
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Updated: 6/26 My family loves to go on field trips, but sometimes it isn’t always practical. I’m finding that it is harder to make field trips work with our schedule as my kids get older. Thankfully, there are quite a few virtual aquarium tour ideas available online.
A virtual field trip offers a few benefits:
- Free
- No sitting in traffic or searching for a parking lot
- You are not limited to only going at certain times
- There are no lunches, snacks, or water bottles to pack
- Go on a virtual visit to multiple aquariums in one day – regardless of location
- Quick and easy
- Watch the live streams from the comfort of your own home
- You don’t need to worry about trying to see around larger groups
- Great for any age group
- Some virtual field trip locations offer printable free resources
I searched aquarium websites all over the United States so that I could compile a list of all of the free virtual aquarium tours. Technically, these ideas are live cams. Many of the aquariums offer their own versions of guided virtual field trips and education programs, but those options are not free.
I recommend watching the free webcams and saving your field trip dollars for a day when you can go in person and get the full field trip experience. If you want to take advantage of one of the paid virtual aquarium programs, try to get a small group to join you so you can share the cost (and the fun).
These virtual aquarium tour suggestions are all hosted on official aquarium websites, not the YouTube website. YouTube isn’t always the best place for young children, and I wanted this list to be full of safe online places. Hopefully, keeping the webcams on the official aquarium sites will prevent kids from clicking away to something not intended for little eyes.
There are a few ways to use these virtual aquarium tour ideas for almost any grade level:
- Watch animals as part of a school lesson
- Take breaks during the day to check out the amazing animals
- Check out their favorite animals as a reward for finishing schoolwork
Virtual Aquarium Tour Ideas
Some virtual aquariums charge an access fee or restrict viewing to members only. This list contains only free virtual tours.
1. Georgia Aquarium
- Underwater Puffin
- Beluga Whales
- Sharks – multiple shark species
- African Penguin
- Alligator
- Southern Sea Otter
- California Sea Lions
- Jellyfish
- Indo-Pacific Barrier Reef
- Ocean Voyager
The Georgia Aquarium has fantastic educational resources. The education team has put together lesson plans for elementary school, middle school, and high school levels.
2. Tennessee Aquarium
- Sharks Exhibit (includes a green sea turtle)
- North American River Otter
- Macaroni Penguin
- Secret Reef Cam
- Lake Sturgeon
- Island life
- Chattanooga Weather
3. Maui Ocean Center
- Shallow Reef
- Mid Reef
- Deep Reef
- Green Sea Turtles
Related: Tips for a Great Maui Ocean Center Field Trip
4. Shedd Aquarium
Shedd Aquarium has an online program called Stay Home. You can watch the entire series or choose to learn about a specific animal. There are even educational craft activities and exclusive activity sheets. They look like fun activities! This is a fantastic free resource.
- Penguins
- Turtles
- Sharks
- Fish
5. National Aquarium
- Blacktip Reef Shark
- Jellyfish
- Pacific Coral Reefs
6. Oregon Coast Aquarium
- Shark
- Seabird
- Otter
- Weather
The Oregon Coast Aquarium offers lesson plans for grades 3 – 8 in the ‘teacher resources’ section.
7. Seattle Aquarium
- Sea Otters
Related: Seattle Area Field Trips
8. Aquarium of the Pacific
- Penguin Habitat
- Underwater Penguin Habitat
- Shark Lagoon
- Tropical Reef
- Blue Cavern
- Coral Predators
Make the most of your Aquarium of the Pacific virtual aquarium tour with the free resource kits. These kits contain multiple lesson plan ideas about things like ocean habitats, animal adaptations, and conservation of the world.
9. California Academy of Sciences
- African Penguins
- Philippine Coral Reef
- Farallon Island Live Cam
10. Birch Aquarium
- Kelp Forest
- Penguin
- Seadragon
- Scripps
The Birch Aquarium offers a printable food web activity.
11. Mystic Aquarium
- Beluga
- Penguin
12. The Dallas World Aquarium
- Manatee
- Underwater Rainforest
- Sharks
- Grouper
- Lionfish
The Dallas World Aquarium offers educational resources and lesson plans. The plans are divided by grade level and also by topic.
13. Clearwater Marine Aquarium
- Dolphin
- Otter
- Pelican
- Sea Turtle Rescue
14. Ripley’s Aquarium
- Penguin
15. Monterey Bay Aquarium
- Aviary
- Jelly fish
- Kelp Forests
- Spider Crab
- Penguin
- Shark
- Moon Jelly
- Open Sea
- Sea Otter
- Monterey Bay
The Monterey Bay Aquarium offers lesson plans in the Educators Resource Library.
16. San Diego Zoo
Yes, technically, this is a zoo, not an aquarium, but I am sharing two live cams that feature water. The polar bear and hippo exhibits feature a large marine environment for the animals to enjoy.
- Polar Bears
- Hippo
Bonus: Virtual Zoology: The Animal Kingdom Branch of Biology
A teacher reached out to me to let me know about this awesome resource that his students found. Thanks for sharing it with me, Harry, Kelly, and the rest of the student volunteers!
The virtual zoology site has links to a ton of animal webcams. There are both marine animals you would find in an aquarium and animals that you might find in a zoo. Of course, there is some overlap between these categories.
Aquarium:
- Platypus
- Flamingo
- Farrallon Islands live webcam
- Osprey
- Turtles
Zoo:
- Lion
- Baboon
- Panda
- Bison
- Meerkat
- Humboldt Penguins
- Giraffe
- Elephants
- Rhinos
- Bats
- Siamang Monkey
- Sloth
- Koala
- Mountain Lions
- Eagles
- Hippos
- Puppies (My family fosters puppies, so this is definitely one of my favorites!)
Need ideas on how to incorporate these awesome virtual aquarium tours into homeschool lessons? Here are a few ideas:
- Geography – Check out different animals and aquatic life that live in a part of the world you are studying.
- Language arts – See real examples of aquatic animals found in books. For example, if there is a jellyfish in a story, hop online and view some of the real jellyfish at Ripley’s Aquarium.
- Science – Take a virtual aquarium tour while studying biology or marine biology
- Documentaries – After watching a documentary about an animal, see if you can watch the animal online.
Online tours can be a great way to have a unique educational experience. You can see so many animals that you would never be able to see otherwise!
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