Children love to learn and they have a more successful learning experience when they can take a “hands-on” approach to it. For this reason, schools have always taken children on trips throughout the year. Some of them may be for more fun than learning if it is a reward of some sort for doing things well throughout the year. Others, though, are to provide them with something that is both fun and educational. Ideally, it will tie in with a lesson that they are learning at the time because that will make it the ultimate school trip for all students.
What Can Be Learned from a Field Trip?
The learning experience that can be gained from a field trip is unimaginable. Most all destinations can teach a child science, art, language, math, and other subjects. The educational value will depend on where you are going on the field trip. For instance, if you take a trip to a butterfly garden, you will learn about nature and plants. This is a great science lesson for most elementary aged children. Whereas a trip to an art museum may be better suited to older students who are taking art and can appreciate the things they see.
Popular Field Trip Destinations
Butterfly gardens and museums of all types are great places to visit for schools, but it doesn’t have to end with those two places. A recycling center, the zoo, an aquarium, a planetarium, and other similar places are very popular. Many teachers like to take young students to fire stations and police stations to talk about careers and community helpers. They may also take a trip to a farm to learn about produce or animals.
There may also be times that a school will visit an area just because it is local to their area. For instance, a school that is located along the coast may take a field trip to a pier or the beach to learn about different types of fish or wildlife that may be found there. If you live in Florida, you may take a trip to a place like the Crystal River State Archaeological Site, where kids can learn about fossils and how to dig for unique treasures to see what they can find. In an area where people use to go mining for gold, this can also be a field trip that the school takes since students can learn about mining and history.
Parents Can Plan Trips Also
As a parent, you can take advantage of many of the same field trips, even without the school. It can still be a great learning experience for your child. Even if you cannot venture to field trip destinations, the ultimate field trip may be a trip to a local river where you talk to your child about the fish, rocks, tide changes, or anything else that applies to that river, or that area. You could even talk about the Indians that used to call that area home and how they traveled on canoes through that river if it applies to that area. With a little creativity, learning can happen anywhere. Where you will go with your child and what will you teach them about?