“Regardless of gender, ethnicity or socioeconomic status, youth who take educational trips have better grades (59 percent).”2 Field trips are a great way to have hands on learning experiences for your students. Field trips are interactive and engaging for children. Below I will discuss some things you should be aware of when planning your field trip including budgeting, location of destination, safety and linking children’s interests with the activities that will be involved with the trip.
Children’s interests:
- “Identify field trip events that are developmentally appropriate for the interests, needs, talents and readiness of children in your program.” 1
- While planning the trip, include the children in your brainstorming. By doing this, you can make certain that you will have the kids’ attention and this will make them even more excited for the upcoming adventure.
- When you decide on the destination, make sure the lessons in the weeks prior to the trip are associated with the same lessons the children will be taught on the trip.
Budget:
- Once you find and have decided on the destination, look at prices such as admission fees. Also consider the possibility of renting out a room for lunch, if including lunch look into meal deals the venue may offer.
Safety:
- “Identify meeting places that can be used when children are at the site.” Aka. Emergency meeting sites1
- “Make arrangements for safe, appropriate transportation to and from the trip.”1
- Assign supervisors and volunteers to assist with the trip.
- Make sure to have the parent of every student going sign a trip permission slip.
- “Gather and update emergency information for each child.”1
- “Prepare a first aid kit” to take on the trip with you.1
Before the trip, make sure to go over a few last things with the kids:
- “Talk about the purpose of the trip and what the kids can expect.”
- Go over the itinerary of the trip; where and when you all will arrive to the destination, what and where lunch will be, what, if any, snacks will be provided and lastly what time (and where) everyone will need to meet to leave.
- “Review and discuss safety rules and guidelines. Encourage input from children.”1
I hope my blog will be useful the next time your after school program is trying to plan a field trip! Join me next week as I go over different ways your center can participate in community outreach.
References
1Cypherwork (2016). Creating Succesful Clubs, Special Events, and Field Trips in School-Age Programs. https://scorm.cypherworx.com/courses/
2How Field Trips Boost Students’ Life Long Success. https://www.neamb.com/professional-resources/how-field-trips-boost-students-lifelong-success.htm
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I am such an advocate for field trips! I remember going to the zoo and listening to the zookeepers talking about their animal and I left feeling like an expert, sometimes you just need to get out of the classroom and learn from someone else! HOWEVER, we did lose a student and that emergency meeting place would have been a great tip!
ReplyDeleteBoth of my parents work in education and have supervised many field trips over the years. Kids genuinely look forward to field trips, especially the kids whose families rarely go on any kind of trip. I truly believe that field trips enhance the learning experience and have so many positive effects on the children.
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