Milton Keynes Council’s popular free-to-play Love Exploring app which encourages children and young people to get active and explore their local area has had a festive makeover.
Love Exploring launched in autumn with Halloween-themed ‘augmented reality’ graphics that display on smartphones as you walk around MK. More than 4,000 children and young people have taken to parks and streets since the launch.
An update for the game, Winter Fairy Trail, is now available to download and play. The clever technology brings magical Christmas fairies to MK’s woodlands, parks and streets, with more than 20km of specially designed trails in six different locations.
Suitable for all ages, the app is packed with local history and little-known facts, and uses interactive maps, guided tours and quizzes to bring landmarks to life. Simply download the Love Exploring app on your smartphone, select a local park or visitor attraction and scan away using the camera on your device.
The MK version of the app has been developed by Milton Keynes Council with assistance from The Parks Trust and parish councils. New games are planned to launch throughout next year, each in time for the school holidays.
Cllr Jane Carr, Cabinet Member for Inequalities and Child Poverty, said: “We’ve been really pleased by the response to this app – which is a simple way to encourage children and young people to connect with local places. There is such a wealth of local history and nature on our doorsteps in MK and new walking trails are added every week. The app is packed with facts and good for fitness but most importantly, it’s about having a bit of fun!”
The Love Exploring app is now live and available via Google Play and the App Store.
Need help to use the app?
- Go to your mobile phone app provider e.g. the App Store or Google Play.
- Search for ‘Love Exploring’ and download the app to your smartphone.
- Open the app and select Milton Keynes; it will show the available games and trails.
- Identify the location of the game or trail that you wish to complete.
- Visit the park and open the app, selecting the game or trail for that location.
- Follow the map - when you are close to a character on the map open your camera and a target circle pop up.
- Move closer and the character will shortly appear.
- Once you have seen the character and answered the question you can take pictures.
- When you are ready to move on open the map and see if you can find the next character.