If your kids have caught any World Cup fever this summer, here’s a way to channel it into something that gets everyone off the couch and into a Seattle park.
Seattle Parks and Recreation (SPR) has joined “Summer of Soccer,” a new family-oriented seek-and-find activity campaign of the national Agents of Discovery program. Using the free Agents of Discovery app, local kids and families are invited to explore Seattle parks, complete soccer-themed challenges, and rack up points for Team Seattle — competing against cities across the country for bragging rights.
The challenge runs through July 19, smack in the middle of the 2026 International Soccer Championship buzz.
Agents of Discovery, which won the 2020 Society of Outdoor Recreation Professionals Excellence Award and was honored by the National Association for Interpretation in 2022, is an educational technology platform that enables educators to create their own augmented reality games. The app uses augmented reality and geo-tracking to engage players (called “agents” in the app). Program developers say it’s a lot “like Pokémon Go for parks.” To play, you need to download the free app to a smartphone or tablet. Then head out to the parks listed in the app and start exploring.
During this year’s competition kids will undertake challenges that blend soccer and Seattle history with augmented reality, guided by AI avatars—for example, a honeybee, a river otter, a blue heron. The program is designed to keep kids moving, learning, and genuinely engaged, not just staring at a screen. Seattle Parks environmental education specialist Nicole Parish-Andrews spells out the goal:
“Seattle Parks and Recreation is always looking for new and exciting ways to get people out in our parks and community spaces. Agents of Discovery missions help to do just that,” Parish-Andrews says on the ‘Summer of Soccer’ webpage. “The campaign will be a great way for the community to experience not only the diverse natural landscapes of our local parklands, but also the rich cultural opportunities Seattle has to offer.”
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Participation in “Summer of Soccer” is free, and the app can be downloaded for free. The park teams are already set up in the app.
Download the Agents of Discovery app and search “Summer of Soccer” to find a mission near you, or start at agentsofdiscovery.com.
