A couple of years ago, we started traveling in our RV on educational field trips. We would use our vacation time to mix fun and learning together. This was a great way for the children to see and experience what they had learned.

At the beginning of every year, we plan where we want to explore and then I write unit studies to teach the children about the local area, people who made history in that part of the country, and any other interesting facts. After a time of discovery, they get to experience what they have learned.

What is an educational field trip?

An educational field is an opportunity for the child to see firsthand what they have been learning about and get the chance to discover facts they didn’t already know. This allows the child to absorb the topic by allowing them to see, touch, and feel everything.

Why do we do educational field trips?

It’s all about the memories, my friend! I love to explore and discover everything we can about a topic in the comfort of our own home. Then we take a trip to encounter something notable to our topic. Not only does the child get to experience this, but the whole family from the youngest child to the parents (and sometimes even the grandparents) get to see what the child has been learning.

We have been doing this for about six years now and I have been blown away by the lessons my kiddos remember because we made it into an occasion. Making memories… Isn’t that what homeschooling is all about? I probably don’t even need to tell you how much those memories mean to me as their mom. I will cherish them forever!

Who participates in our educational homeschool field trips?

Anyone and everyone! That’s the beautiful part of this! Our children have been able to share their experiences with extended family and friends which makes the experience even better for them. They are excited to share what they have learned and those attending with us are more than happy to learn too.

When do you plan one?

There are a couple of different ways to plan an educational field trip.

• When you plan your family vacation
• When you are finishing a lesson or unit study

When you plan your family vacation

Generally, at the beginning of the year, I sit down with our calendar and plan our family vacations. I look at my goals for our children’s education and write them down. When I am thinking about their goals I consider a few things:

• Current interests
• Educational Requirements
• Current weaknesses or challenges

Current Interests

I ask myself what are they currently obsessed with? I make a list of the things each child loves and is currently interested in. These facts inspired me to look for ways to encourage these obsessions. When you are teaching the child something they are already interested in, it’s an automatic engagement because they love the topic.

Educational Requirements

I look at what we need to teach. For example, is there an area in history or science that I have not covered but I need to? Maybe we touched on a certain topic but I need to dig deeper into it with the kiddos. Since we have a high schooler now, I look at what requirements he needs to fill and make decisions based on what he needs to be learning too.

Current Weaknesses or Challenges

Assessing their development level helps me decide which direction to go. If there are any challenges and there is a way for me to use this opportunity to teach it, I want to take it because this is a perfect time for us. When our child knows there is something to look forward too they become more emotionally invested in it. When they are emotionally invested they pay closer attention to the information because they are looking forward to the field trip. Suddenly there is a reason for them to learn!

When you are studying a topic or doing a unit study

I teach my children using unit studies that I write. I always plan a finale or something fun at the end of the study. It is not always a vacation because we are only able to travel about nine months out of the year. It can be anything from a themed party in your home to visiting a local attraction that supports what you have learned.

For example, a couple of months ago when we studied the country of China, our field trip took us to an authentic Chinese market in search of recipe ingredients for the meal we were making. The children had the opportunity to explore the different ingredients and be exposed to different things like the Chinese language and various facts we had learned in our study.

Sometimes your topic allows for more than one field trip. If that is the case, I will take advantage of as much as I can. If there is an opportunity that presents itself, I look to work it in and make it pertinent to the study.

Let me show you what I mean… About two years ago, we were studying “Creation” and were learning how God created the fish on day five. We were headed to Branson for a quick get-away and I remembered they have a fish hatchery there so I planned to incorporate that into our weekend. We followed up by eating a fish filet sandwich from McDonald’s and that was one of our field trips for that unit study. The fish hatchery was something I thought of at the last minute so I made it happen.

How do you plan an educational field trip?

Sometimes the opportunity falls in my lap and like the fish hatchery, I jump on it immediately. However, most of the time I have to be intentional about where we are going to go and what I am planning to teach. I follow these steps once we have decided on our destination to turn our vacation into an educational field trip.

• Calendar
• Lodging
• Transportation
• Activities
• Food

Calendar

The first thing we have to decide is when we are going to go and for how long. I look at our calendar and consider our obligations, then pick the dates accordingly. I determine how many travel days, activity days and rest days we will need. I block off those specific dates on our Cozi family calendar.

Lodging

The next step I complete is to figure out where we are going to be staying. We travel in an RV since we have a family of nine. If we had to stay in a hotel it would cost us a small fortune! We like to stay in a campground that has a decent amount of amenities and things for the kiddos to do. Let’s just say, nine people in a very small space for an extended period of time can be trying on a person’s patience. So we like to find places for them to run and burn off energy.

Secondly, we like to find a place that is close to where we are going, offers transportation, or is close to public transportation. We do not tow a vehicle so we either have to drive our motorhome, use public transportation, or rent a van. Checking to see what is offered in the area or maybe by the campground themselves that can support a large family is something I look at too.

When we stayed in Cody, Wyoming the campground offered a free nightly shuttle to the rodeo, This was great because we didn’t have to unhook and navigate, trying to get there on our own.

Transportation

A good friend recently gave me some really good advice. It’s not only about the destination, but you want to have fun on the way there too. Since we drive wherever we go, it results in some pretty long road trips. If you can schedule an activity to stop and see, it breaks it up and everyone has a little bit more fun.

So if there is a national park on the way to your final destination, plan to stop there and incorporate it into your lesson plans or unit study ahead of time.

If you’re flying to your destination, explore how an airplane works and the states you will be flying over, You could even learn about the safety in an airplane, compare driving times to flying times, or even how an airport runs. I mean, how do they not lose everyone’s luggage? But if they do, what happens then?

If you’re going on a cruise, exploring how a ship floats would be an interesting thing to learn. Learning about your different destinations and their country’s history will bring that experience alive. Also, if you are planning excursions, explore the science or history behind the experience.

For example, when my husband, Rick and I went on our first cruise we swam with the dolphins. This experience is on my bucket list to do with my kiddos and when we do, we will study all about dolphins.

Activities

This is the fun part! What are you going to fill your time with? I would encourage you to mix in some fun things along with learning things so everyone has something to look forward too.

I always look for things that will wear my children out because I am a good mom and want these memories to be good memories for everyone. Ha!

I start by doing an internet search for our destination. Usually, the top activities will come up and I am able to check out what they have to offer plus price information. I also search for National Parks and local state parks to see what is available close by.

My children love earning Junior Ranger Badges. They are offered in a lot of our national parks and teach the children about the park through games, worksheets, and activities. The child must complete a certain amount of work based on their age. Once they have done that, they can take it to a park ranger who will check it and award them a Junior Ranger Badge. Every park is different and so are the costs and the badges but it is very inexpensive.

We have attended quite a few events hosted by our local state parks. They offer classes teaching a variety of topics about things that are common in the area. For example, we went to a class about salamanders at Table Rock State Park because they were a common sighting in the park. They are generally taught by park rangers who encourage the kids to ask questions.

We have also visited our fair share of amusement parks. There is a ton of things the kiddos can learn in preparation for visiting. You can learn things like:

• The history of that particular park
• How their rides work
• The background of any shows they offer

Last year, we visited Hershey, Pennsylvania which had an amusement park plus all the chocolate. Did I mention all that chocolate? You could smell it, taste it, and see it everywhere and that alone was worth it all! We visited their amusement park plus Hershey’s Chocolate World. It was so much fun learning about Milton Hershey and local history.

While we were there, the campground hosted an animal show where they invited the local zoo to showcase some of their animals. We took advantage of it and the kiddos loved seeing the animals up close.

Food

Since we have our home on wheels, we don’t eat out at restaurants much. However, I do try to plan to eat at a restaurant once or twice depending on the length of our trip. When we do, I want to eat something that is known to the area we are traveling in. Also, if there is a restaurant that is a landmark, we will plan to eat there while adding its history and menu to our lesson plans.

Here are some long-distance examples of where we went and what we studied in preparation for the trip:

Where We Went	What We Studied
Washington DC	The Branches of the Government, The Presidents, The Monuments, The White House
Philadelphia, PA	Benjamin Franklin (Unit Study), Betsy Ross, The Liberty Bell, US Mint and how our banking system works
Hershey, PA	Milton Hershey, The History of Chocolate and how they make it
Crater of Diamonds, Arkansas	Layers of the earth, Days of Creation
Creation Museum, Petersburg, KY	The Days of Creation

Here are some local examples of where we have gone and what we studied in preparation for the field trip:

Where We Went	What We Studied
Ice skating	Winter Olympics
Nighttime Scavenger Hunt	Solar System
Local Ice Cream Shop	Milton Hershey

I hope this inspires you to get out and explore what you are learning. Your child will love it and they will have memories that last a lifetime.