Field trips are a quintessential school experience. You usually only get one or two a year so it’s important to do it right! Our roundups of unique field trip ideas have something for every age, subject, and interest. We’ve even got resources like permission slip forms and chaperone tips. Get ready to leave the classroom behind to take learning on the road!
Preschool Field Trip Ideas
Early field trips help kids learn about the world, as well as teaching them good field trip behavior. These are our top picks for the pre-K crowd, but many of the options on our kindergarten list are perfect for this age group too.
- Library: Not every student’s parents take them to story time. Schedule your own trip, and show kids that having fun isn’t hard when you have a library card!
- Farm: Whether you learn how vegetables are grown or where milk and eggs come from, the farm is always a hit.
- Grocery store: Go behind the scenes at the supermarket, and use this trip as the foundation for lessons on healthy eating.
- Park: From local playgrounds to majestic national parks, it’s always worth getting kids into the great outdoors.
- Children’s museum: This is the age group most children’s museums were designed for! They’ll love all the hands-on fun and excitement.
- Post office: Learn how mail is sorted and shipped, and teach students about stamps and other mail-related items.
- Bank: Money is a new concept for these kiddos, and they’ll be fascinated to step inside the vault and learn other bank secrets.
- Fire station: There’s just something about a fire truck that gets every little one excited.
- Nursing home: Is there anything sweeter than watching seniors and wee ones spend time together?
- Animal shelter: For kids who don’t have pets at home, this can be a good introduction to animals. Others will just enjoy the time with dogs and cats waiting for their forever homes.
Elementary School Field Trip Ideas
Source: @mjdstoronto
These are the prime field trip years! Here are our favorite trips for every grade.
Middle and High School Field Trip Ideas
Source: @salinasvalleybasingsa
For this age group, you’ll need to step up your game a bit. (They’ve probably already been to the zoo, the aquarium, and the art museum.) Try some of these locations, which offer educational, social-emotional, and real-life learning opportunities.
- Main Event Play Academy: With locations across the country, this super-sized arcade isn’t only fun and games. They also have Play Academy, an accredited STEAM curriculum that offers a number of fun and educational field trips. For example, students can use the scientific method with bowling to perform experiments, practice percentages and fractions through pizza and toppings, learn Newton’s first law of motion by playing air hockey, and so much more.
- Food bank: Hold a food drive, then arrange a trip to your local soup kitchen or food pantry. Volunteering makes for truly meaningful field trips.
- Recycling facility: In a time when reducing landfill waste is more important than ever, a trip to a recycling facility can help drive home the message.
- Theater: Many theaters offer behind-the-scenes tours for schools, and discount pricing when you buy tickets in bulk. (Want to go virtual? Check out the Hamilton Education Program!)
- Community college: Parents sometimes take kids on college visits, but a community college trip offers opportunities for even more students to see themselves getting a higher education.
- TV station: Kids interested in communications or technology will find this completely fascinating.
- Courtroom: There’s no better way to understand the justice system than to see it in action.
- State or county capitol: Every government class should visit a local capitol to meet with officials and see how the government works.
- Local business: This can be a cool way to learn about managing a business, working with customers, or discovering how products are made.
- Wildlife rehab facility: Introduce students to the people who help injured wild animals recover and live free once again.
Virtual Field Trip Ideas
Source: @edtech_tusd
The terrific thing about virtual field trips is that they eliminate so much of the hassle. No need to collect permission slips, arrange for buses, or recruit chaperones. Plus, they’re usually free!
