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A new iPad app that uses video storytelling to teach kids about the “Malama Honua” voyage of the Hokule‘a canoe will be launched today.
The “Malama Honua My Voyage” app was created by the Ho‘omalamalama Foundation in partnership with the Polynesian Voyaging Society and Malama Honua Public Charter School, which serves students in kindergarten through grade 3 in Waimanalo.
The app will sell for an introductory price of 99 cents for the first four days. Profits will be split among the three nonprofit entities to support their educational missions.
The first episode, aimed at children age 5 to 8, offers interactive activities, video storytelling and animation that takes users from the mountains to the sea. Along the way, children learn about Hawaiian culture, environmental sustainability, geography, math and logic.
“Children learn about how the greatest navigators in history constructed double-hulled canoes out of natural materials, and they learn that protecting those natural resources is imperative for a healthy future for all of us,” said Nainoa Thompson, master navigator and president of the Polynesian Voyaging Society.
If the app succeeds, the foundation will create more episodes to chronicle lessons from the Hokule‘a’s ongoing four-year, 47,000-nautical-mile voyage around the world.
To check out the app, visit malamahonua.com.