I remember taking a ton of field trips when I was in Elementary School. Maybe my memories aren’t completely accurate, but what is accurate are the fun memories I have from those field trips. Mostly I remember FUN times, but being in the gifted program we also had papers and assignments to complete too.
When we decided to homeschool our kids, one of my main concerns was field trips. I was concerned we wouldn’t be able to go on as many field trips as schools do. Then, I found out the schools around here getONEfield trip per year unless given special permission!! I was shocked! I know I went on more than one a year. Then, I was excited that we could basically go on as many field trips as we wanted since we homeschool!!!
But, just because we were on a field trip didn’t mean we were foregoing learning. The first year (kindergarten), I was still trying to get my bearings, so our field trips were more fun with a little bit of learning thrown in. But now that Mister Bull is in 2nd grade, I’m trying to be very intentional with our field trips and coordinating lessons to get the most out of our field trips. So, today I thought I’d share some of the things I do to make the most of our field trips.
First, I plan out field trips according to season, what’s going on in our community and what my kids will enjoy.
Next, I go to the internet. If the field trip location has a website, I gather information from there. Sometimes they even have their own handouts, which we use either in preparation for our trip or during our trip.
Depending on how many worksheets I have that correspond with our field trip determines when we start them. Sometimes I only have a couple, which means we’ll just add them to our daily work that week. Other times I have an entire unit, so we’ll usually spend the week before and the week of our field trip on those papers.
Games – I often try to make games out of our papers. My kids’ favorite “game” is BINGO. I have several versions of bingo games for the zoo since we go so often. We went to the aquarium last week and I made a BINGO game for that trip. This week we’re going to the State Fair that’s in town and I plan to make a BINGO game for that trip too.
I also make some of our papers into folder games that we can use over and over again. It’s a great way to help the kids learn while they are having fun. They think they are “fun” games, but all the while they are learning!! LOVE IT!!!
The next day, you can have them answer questions or write a short story about what they saw or experienced on the field trip. It’s a great way to practice memory skills, writing and spelling! If they are too young for writing they can simply draw pictures of their favorite part of the trip. Since we’re just learning to write stories, I have Mister Bull draw a picture first and then write about what he drew. It seems to be easier for him and gets his mind focused a little more.
Other games you can play while on your trip are:
* Who/What am I? – you show a zoomed in portion of an animal or site they will see on the trip.
* Can you find me? – similar to Who am I?, but shows uses descriptions instead of pictures.
(I have made these up for our own trips and hope to have a resource page up soon where you can find all my printables! Stay tuned!!)
When visiting places like a zoo or aquarium, you can have them put tally marks by descriptions of animals. (i.e. How many hoofed animals are in the zoo?)
What activities do you do to increase the learning experience on field trips?
Thanks for stopping by today!!
Blessings,
Annette
Linking up: