Tips for Finding Great Homeschool Field Trips

If you are anything like our family then you love planning homeschool field trips that encourage your children in the topics that you are learning at home. Sometimes field trips seem to be a plenty whereas some families feel like they are being invited on the same old homeschool field trips as last year. Does your family need some inspiration and tips for finding great homeschool field trips? Well, you are in the right place! I will share with you some of my top tips for finding homeschool field trips no matter where you live!

 

Festivals Make Great Homeschool Field Trips

Do you live in an area that offers a lot of festivals? We live in an area of Ohio that offers county fairs, art fairs, music festivals, and lots of historical events. If you keep an eye and ear out I am sure that you will find a new event for your family to visit as part of your school year.  We are studying American History this year so I have been keeping an eye out for festivals related to this topic. We happened to attend a tour of the encampment at Fort Rowdy and plan to attend a few more Pioneer events this Fall.

Convention and Visitors Bureaus

When hubby and I went to Columbus this Spring we stopped in one of the counties next to ours to check out what that county had to offer. We explained that we blog and take lots of little blog trips and various things like that. We were able to pick up a handful of brochures for places we had never heard of but were less then 40 minutes from our house. Then just this month I got an email from them wanting to know if we would like some updated tours and information. We were mailed a packet of information that will make planning some homeschool field trips a breeze!

 

Using the local Chamber of Commerce for Homeschool Field Trips

Have you ever thought about contacting your local Chamber of Commerce for homeschool field trips? You might be surprised what suggestion they might offer. Most likely they could point you to small businesses or factories that would be good for small group tours. If you want to check out a neighboring city or county then be sure to visit their Chamber of Commerce for ideas. You might also consider everyday things in your town like the Police Department, Fire Station, Town Hall, or a small business downtown.

 

How to Use Facebook for Homeschool Field Trips

Yes, you may think that Facebook is a weird place to locate homeschool field trips BUT you might be surprised. You should start out by finding local Homeschool Support Groups in your area by doing a quick search with your town or counties name and homeschool. Once you find a few groups read the descriptions and decide to join. Peruse them for planned field trips that your family can join.

While you are still on Facebook be sure to check out Events Near Me to see if any places pop up that might be of interest. Not too long ago a historical village that I had never heard of popped up in my events because another homeschool mom click “interested” on the event. This particular museum complex offers very similar learning to a few locations closer then the 75 minutes away BUT it was still nice finding someplace new to explore if we were in that particular area.

Historical Markers and Historical Locations are Great Homeschool Field Trips

I have a love for historical markers! I am not sure why but my heart skips a beat when I see one unexpectedly. I get giddy inside if we get a chance to stop and read one. I have taken pictures of many of them and hope to visit more as part of our journey as homeschoolers. I have shared a few others in various blog posts so if you want to read about some check out our Historical Markers posts.

State Parks and National Parks Make Unique Homeschool Field Trips

We have had the opportunity to visit quite a few State Parks (Hueston Woods, Maumee Bay, Punderson Manor and Lake Loramie) and a few National Park (Perry’s International Peace, Cuyahoga Valley, Dayton Aviation Heritage) locations over the past few years. Sometimes we have visited as a planned homeschool group trip and other times I have made sure to add it into our our blog trip itinerary. We just visited Put-in-Bay and I wanted our children to revisit Perry’s International Peace Monument. When we arrived in the parking lot we noticed a historical re-enactor out on the lawn with a riffle. We hurried to see what he was talking about and got to learn a bit of history!

What field trips are you planning for your family this year?