favorite field trips

[Sharilynn29]

I realized that I love going on field trips with the kids. The zoos, farms, museums, etc. I want to schedule these activities more this year. So what were your favorite out of the house educational experiences? I do live near Chicago, but I'm looking more for ideas than exact locations. I have an 8 year old dd and 14 year old ds.

[AngelaNYC]

Field trips are a huge part of ds's education. We try to go on them weekly. The places we go usually are for a class, guided tour, or free roam with our homeschool group. Here's some we did this year: Ellis Island & the Statue of Liberty, the U.N., NBC Studios, about a dozen museums, NY Botanical Garden, NY Hall of Science, an environmental center, beaches & parks, the Apple store, Hayden Planetarium, a walking tour on Superheroes in NY, behind the scenes in a big toy store, supermarket, and big department store, our town's historical societies, and the NYC Christmas windows & Rockefeller Center.

 

I think field trips are such a great hands-on learning experience - and so fun!

[JFSinIL]

Reenactments of various wars/battles. Out in Rockford there is an excellent WWII one in June (I think) with TANKS on a battlefield. Cantigney has held Revolutionary War reenactments....French and Indian War is up north of Richmond, while St. Charles has Civil War. (can you tell what we did a lot of when the kids were younger? ;-) )

 

Ah - just checked, Midway does WWII in Sept, so you have time! Lots of other stuff there, too - http://www.midwayvillage.com/wordpress/event-calendar/

 

It is about an hour west of Elgin (where I am) via 90 or Route 20.

 

Since it is set in an existing old time collection of structures (which served as a German-occupied French town - complete with a battle skirmish in town! - 1st time we went ) AND woods (with encampments for the various troops) AND a large field (for the tank battle) it is very, VERY cool. Even my two dds loved it, not just my two ds.

Edited June 16, 2012 by JFSinIL

[GoVanGogh]

Field trips are a huge part of my child's education, too. We normally go on 20-35 a year, which does include one or two educational vacations.

 

Zoos and aquariums - DS has been to 20+ different ones throughout the states. We try to look for 'behind the scenes tours' and take them, if offered.

 

Botanical gardens and nature centers

 

Art museums - I coordinate our art studies with exhibits at the local galleries.

 

Theater - I also coordinate our literature studies to what is in production at local theaters. (We read the book prior to seeing the play, then compare/contrast. If available, we will also watch the movie version after the play.)

 

Historical museums - historic homes, log cabins, presidential birthplaces, etc.

 

Aviation museums - We have three aviation museums in our area. One has traveling science exhibits that are aviation related. (Last one we went to was on physics.)

 

Science museums

 

Factory tours

 

 

Can you pick up a tourist brochure for your area? I love looking through those for fresh ideas. Also, our local paper puts out a weekend guide which includes unusual offerings -- such as a walking architecture tour of our downtown area.

 

If you look at your state or city's tourism website, you might also find things like... Well, in our area we have one of the largest horse statues in the U.S. Not really all that much, though it is a nice place to picnic. But tucked away in a corner is a little museum with a video about the making of the statue. The video, along with reading a book about da Vinci's horse statue, would make it an educational moment.

[Sharilynn29]

Thanks for the ideas. Anyone else love field trips?

:bigear: