Enjoy nature from the comfort of home
Preventing boredom in seniors is a great way to improve mood, reduce agitation and anxiety, and improve quality of life overall.
But finding new activities that your older adult enjoys and is able to participate in can be a constant caregiving challenge.
Many people enjoy nature scenes and observing animals in their natural habitat, but are limited by mobility or what’s near their window or home.
We found a wonderful website called Explore.org that has live camera feeds from places all around the world. The best part is that it’s completely free for anyone to watch.
Seniors can sit in their favorite spot at home and watch horses in Kentucky, a tropical reef aquarium in California, the Northern Lights in Canada, pandas in China, beautiful sunsets in Hawaii, and more!
We explain how to use the Explore.org website and share some of our favorite live camera feeds.
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How to watch free live nature cameras
Watching these live nature cameras is completely free, doesn’t require creating an account, and there are dozens of different animals and nature locations to choose from.
Visit the Explore.org website’s Livecam section and browse the categories shown in the menu across the top section of the page. When you see something that interests you, click on it.
After clicking on a category, you’ll see a scrolling strip of images directly underneath that menu. Hovering over each image shows how many unique livestreams (live camera feeds) are available.
Clicking on a selection in the scrolling strip takes you to one of the livestream cameras. To see the other livestreams in that selection, look for them below the main video player area.
Here’s an example:
- Click the category “Ocean”
- Click the section “Underwater” from the scrolling strip underneath the category menu
- In the main video player, you’ll see a live feed or highlights if the camera is not active at that time. Note: What is automatically shown in the main video player may change over time. Currently, it’s “Tropical Reef Aquarium,” which is one of our favorites – beautiful and soothing.
- Scrolling down to the area below the main video player shows the additional live camera feeds available in the “Underwater” section. Labels will show which feeds are currently live and which are showing highlights of previously recorded footage
- Below the section of additional live camera feeds is an area with more information about what’s showing on the main video player
Explore the site and see our favorites
Get a feel for the variety of animals and locations available by clicking around the various categories and scrolling through the image strip.
Because these are live feeds, what you’ll see depends on when you tune in. Animals may be sleeping, not in camera range, or gone for the season. Some cameras will show highlights during times of no activity.
The Explore.org website also offers free documentary films and live chats on different nature topics.
With so many different choices available, it’s easy to click around and explore the website until you find something interesting.
Our favorites include:
- Bergin Puppies – extreme puppy cuteness
- Panda Bears – adorable and fun
- Kentucky Rescue Equines – beautiful horses
- Waimea Bay & Beach – take a virtual trip to Hawaii
- Zen Den – soothing nature scenes in a variety of locations. Some feeds are “Meditation” style, which means that a soothing soundtrack is played along with the video.
Recommended for you:
- 9 Enjoyable Activities for Seniors with Limited Mobility
- 10 Fun Things to Do with Someone in a Nursing Home or Assisted Living
- 9 Entertaining Activities for Low Vision Seniors with Alzheimer’s or Dementia
By DailyCaring Editorial Team
Image: Locky News
This article wasn’t sponsored and doesn’t contain affiliate links. For more information, see How We Make Money.
Amy
I’m not usually one to comment, but I am so impressed by the explore.org live cams! Kudos to Daily Caring for finding and posting this really entertaining and interesting resource.
DailyCaring
So glad you’re enjoying their amazing live cameras!