We don't always homeschool at home, in fact, much of our children's education takes place outside the walls of the building we call home.
Field Trips, outings, excursions and learning experiences of all kinds can be a huge part of their education and to take the stress out of it. Today we're going to give you
5 Tips for Organizing Field Trips
1. How to Plan Your Field Trip
- Dates available
- Distance away
- Time it will take
- Costs (admission, parking, gas, tolls, etc.)
- How you will get there and back
- Appropriate clothing
- Age or height requirements
- Meals and snacks
Printables
- Every Day is a Holiday by Paradise Praises
- Printable Field Trip Planning Sheets
- Link to spreadsheet template field trip record – can also print this
2. What To Do Before You Go
- Research ahead of time
- Read Books about the topic/destination
- Make a list of things to look for or create a scavenger hunt to do while there.
- Create Student ID Cards (tutorial here) – useful both for ID and discounts
3. To Do On the Field Trip
- Take pictures – consider giving each child his own disposable camera (if he doesn't have another camera or phone camera)
- Ask questions
- Look for the things you studied
- Say thank you to guides and hosts
4. To Do After the Field Trip
- Send a thank you note to the guide/host/location (if you can)
- Discuss your experiences, the things that were or were not as you expected them to be
- Report on what you learned (written reports, drawings, stories, poster reports, dioramas, videos, etc.)
Printables
- Field Trip Report
- Field Trip Notebook Page
- International Field Trip – free planning printable
- Botanical Gardens Field Trip – free printable
5. Field Trip Ideas
- Pirate Field Trip Ideas
- Field Trip Ideas
- 49 Fun & Educational Field Trips – Katie Layne – Christian …
- 50 Fun Field Trip Ideas
- Field Trip Factory – cool info on lots of educational destinations