In nature, plants or animals change their geometric shapes and hence realize different functions or movements. Inspired by the shape changes of plants and animals, several hydrogels that can change their geometric shapes upon external stimuli have been developed. This article provides a brief overview of shape changing hydrogels. First, two strategies to realize the shape changes of hydrogels, that is, preparing hydrogels with inhomogeneous structures and applying inhomogeneous stimuli onto homogeneous hydrogels, are discussed. Then, external stimuli that can actuate the shape changes of the stimuli-responsive hydrogels are presented. The applications of shape changing hydrogels such as soft machines, soft robotics, drug carriers, microfluidic valves, and sensors have been provided in third part. Finally, we offer our perspective on open challenges and future areas of interest for the shape changing hydrogel actuators. (c) 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part B: Polym. Phys. 2018, 56, 1314-1324