Field Trip Ideas

Posted by Jamie | 3 comments

Some years, I’ve been pretty good about doing fun field trips for us to do in our little homeschool. Some other years… not so much. In a perfect homeschool world (which, of course, does not exist), we’d do a field trip every month of our school year. So far, that hasn’t happened, but I can still make a point of doing field trips “frequently.”

A few keys to making field trips happen are:

1. coming up with ideas
2. planning the details
3. making time in our schedules.

You’re on your own for the planning and scheduling, but I hope compiling these ideas in one place might be helpful for you — and for me!

Depending on where you live, opportunities like museums may be abundant, or rather slim. Either way, they can definitely be worthwhile. Call or check websites to see if nearby museums have any homeschool programs. You might be surprised at how many museums do have homeschool programs nowadays! The Atlanta History Center, not too far from us, does a Homeschool Day each month, with a different theme each time. We’ve done this a few times, like on this Pioneer Fall Harvest theme; both of my girls enjoyed it, as did their boy cousins! The theme for next month is “Heroes on the Homefront,” which sounds like it might go along quite well with our studies! Another benefit: these homeschool days are discounted from the regular admission price!

A few years ago, we took an out-of-state trip to The Biltmore House to participate in their Homeschool Festival. By doing this, we combined a short family vacation with some great learning! The festival itself was not pricey at all, but a hotel stay did make this more expensive for us. I have friends who have done field trip/vacations in other historic areas of the country, and although the travel makes these trips more expensive, they’ve had fabulous experiences.

Field trips can come to you, too! Even if you aren’t part of a homeschool group, if you know a few other homeschool families, you could arrange something like what our homeschool group has done several times: Last year, one of the moms in our group found out that the man she buys local honey from raises his honeybees and gives demonstrations at schools. She arranged for him to come to our church, and paid a small fee per child to attend this demonstration. Usually this requires a certain minimum number of kids or families, but it’s usually reasonable. My then 4th-grader loved it! Most recently, we had another demonstration like this with Mr. Greg’s Reptile Show. Fun, inexpensive — and we didn’t have to go far!

A big group of homeschool families went canoeing on the Chestatee River last year, and it was wonderful! Great exercise, beautiful scenery, and we had a combination of time with the group (on a break mid-point of our journey) as well as on our own as we canoed the river. This is something you could do just as a family, or with one or two other families. It wasn’t cheap, but well worth the money we spent. Other ideas for nature-centered field trips would be day hikes, or an overnight camping trip, and both of these would be relatively inexpensive.

Usually, you can arrange for a group rate at most other museums or area attractions if you have a minimum number of students. This often includes a guided tour. In our area, I know this is offered at the Atlanta Zoo, the Georgia Aquarium, the Atlanta Botanical Center, and the Tellus Science Museum, just to name a few.

One important reminder: field trips don’t have to be “fancy.” Simple, cheap field trips can be just as much fun! Just get out there and do them however often is best for you and your family! Field trips make a wonderful change of pace for your homeschool routine, and most of ours have created happy memories of our homeschool years — and that is absolutely priceless.

** More ideas? Share ‘em in the comments, please!

Jamie is a wife, homemaker, home educating mama, adoption advocate, and professional photographer. Her blended family includes three kids: one by birth, one by marriage, and one adopted as a teen. She tries never to venture too far from a steaming hot cup of tea. Visit with her at See Jamie Blog!