Space Discovery Field Trip

We took the kids to a space discovery museum last week. (So fun!) It is a small museum with tons of hands on activities for the kids to experience. We love space and studying the stars, the planets and the universe. God's creation is seriously amazing! It seems our library box always has at least one book about space in it.  Right now it has 6.

We went to a presentation in the little planetarium. Smaller planetariums are perfect for little ones, especially when the presenter encourages questions. I never actually see the pictures in the constellations but if you have seen little dog you would seriously think they were on something when they named it. It is two stars. Yep, just two. The presenter said that someone told him it looked like a hot dog. Now, my kids call it Weiner Dog. It’s the little things they remember.

There was a room with animals including some nasty cockroaches. Little G loved this room and would have stayed in it for hours if we let her. Animals make her happy. But not the cockroaches. She preferred the porcupine, the turtle and the rabbit that was as big as she is. (Seriously the rabbit was huge not exaggerating.)

There were so many hands on activities for the kids to try, one of them was about planets rotating on their axis another had gloves and some gears to manipulate. There was even a human sundial outside that was a lot of fun.

There was a little space ship for little ones to play in. It was cute and just a toy however nothing makes a teen boy revert back to being a little boy like a space ship. I think he would have stayed in it all day long. They all played in the little ship for a while. It was very amusing.

Pretty much every night when we are outside the kids look up into the vast expanse of the universe and attempt to locate stars and constellations. Not long ago, the moon and Jupiter were really close together. We spent a good amount of time freezing outside checking it out and reveling in the fact that God spoke the stars into existence and set everything into perfect motion.

I decided to link up with The Homeschool Post's February's Fantastic Foto Field Trip Link Up.Field trips are so much fun and I am always on the lookout for new ideas of where we can go or what we can do.

31 Days Field Trip Survival Guide

After my post about how important field trips are in our homeschool adventure, I knew I needed to post some tips and tricks I have learned over the years about how to get the most out of a field trip or at least not have a nervous breakdown in the middle of it. So below is my list in no real order of what I have learned from all my field trip experience.




Decide where you want to go. When making that decision, remember to find places that will be interesting to your kids. Bored kids are not fun on a field trip.

Check your destination’s website for hours and admission fees. Sometimes they have homeschool days or special events happening, those are great days to plan to go. Also if you want the place to yourself, you can schedule it on a day that they have nothing planned.

Know where you are going. Okay, so this should go without saying but if you have a gps, put in the coordinates of where you are going and search for nearby parking areas. Nothing puts a damper on plans like getting lost.

Go with another family. We have a family we go on many field trips with. It mixes things up a bit and gives everyone a chance to hang out.

Call ahead if you are going to be a large group. Sometimes they have group rates or special tours for larger groups.

Pack snacks/lunch/water - in other words, be prepared. You do not want to go on a tour with a hungry little one.

I like to take pictures of each of the kids separately when we go to larger places so that if they get lost I know exactly what they are wearing, a picture does a better job than a description if you are looking for someone. I have never needed these pics but the peace of mind that comes from doing this is invaluable.

Dress appropriately. This can mean making sure you wear your walking shoes or it can mean to bring a sweatshirt. Know what the weather is like and see if you can find out if the building is cold or hot.

Plan your day carefully but know your plans will probably change. If you are going out of town, see if you can fit in two sites. We like going someplace before lunch and then another place after lunch.

Have a back-up plan. You never know what can happen. That sunny day could turn into a rainy day making for a soggy outdoor field trip.

 Grab their free handouts for your file. I always grab whatever free material/brochures they have available so I can put them in the school file. Inside the handouts you will often find very useful info and even some other resources.

Buy a souvenir in the gift shop if you can. Even something small to remember the trip is fun.

Take pictures! I always bring my camera and even if there are no pictures allowed in some areas I can always take a picture of everyone outside the building for what I affectionately call our evidence shot.

Try to do research beforehand. I like to look up information about where we are going before we go so I can be more prepared. If you aren't going to have a guide, it is always a good know something so you can point out interesting facts to the kids.

It's okay to go to the same location more than once. There are places my kids have asked to go to again. Each visit will be a slightly different experience and you can always learn more. We especially like museums because their exhibits often rotate so each visit is like a new location.



How about you? Is there anything I missed or something you have learned from your field trip experiences? Do you want to know how I handle something?

I'm participating in 31 Days along with over 1,000 other bloggers hosted by the Nesting Place.

31 Days Field Trips

Field trips are such a fun part of homeschooling. We try to take at least one field trip a month. You don't have to leave town to go on a field trip either. If you live near the local TV station, see if you can take a tour. We took a tour while they were doing the noon news. It was such a blast and we got to take a picture with the news anchor and the weather guy. The fire station is another great field trip to go on, all kids seem to love that trip from young to old.

Your local museum is a great place to visit often as they change the exhibits. Every town has a rich history. We have several great historical landmarks near by that we have seen and there are many more on our list that we still want to take the kids to see and experience. When you are studying your state's history, going to the capitol is a great field trip. I think everyone should visit their state's capitol at least once just for the experience.

5 Field Trips - Train Museum, Natural History Museum, a Fort, State Capital, & a Mission

We have actually done field trip days where we go to several places in one day in cities that we have to drive a bit to get to. You have to carefully plan out your day so that you can get them all in but it is tons of fun. When we had to drive four hours for a wedding weekend, we looked up all the nearby museums and historical attractions so that we could go to as many of them in the short time we had,  we were able to fit in 4 different destinations into a couple of days. That weekend was so incredibly busy but we had a total blast and learned so much. We have even turned camping trips into field trips.

My point is, go on as many field trips as you can. They don't have to cost a lot of money or even be out of town. There is a rich learning environment in your own town and state just waiting to be discovered.

I think my next post will be a field trip survival guide.

I'm participating in 31 Days along with over 1,000 other bloggers hosted by the Nesting Place.