School Field Trip 101: From Choosing a Destination to Planning Your Itinerary
Remember what it felt like to be a young child in a toy store? Maybe it was a Toys R’ Us (RIP) or a local toy store in your community. The possibilities seemed endless. What toy would you buy with your allowance money? How did you decide on what to buy? What would you catalog in your mind to write on your next birthday or holiday gift list?
Choosing a student travel destination is the same thing. I know, hard segue, but it's true. Choosing a travel destination and planning an itinerary for you and your students is basically the same thing, except, the grown-up version. In fact, it might be more challenging because destinations can seem endless. Let’s look at our School Field Trip 101: From Choosing a Destination to Planning Your Itinerary:
It’s Time to Redefine Field Trips
Most students know what to expect from a school field trip. They’ll ride the bus to a zoo or botanical garden in their city, have a bagged lunch at some picnic tables and be back at school for the final bell.
But what if you could create a field trip they’d remember forever?
And what if the workload for your trip could be lightened, a lot?
It’s time to redefine field trips! Teachers are getting more creative and taking advantage of amazing opportunities to bring their students far from home so they can experience hands-on learning in new places.
That’s right; we’re talking about class trips.
At GL Travel, we specialize in creating memory-making trips for teachers and students (that also happen to be educational).
There’s a world full of learning opportunities out there, so why not show it to your students? In the process of building your travel program, you are creating a legacy at your school. Your students may not remember the specifics of the war of 1812, but they will always remember taking a plane ride with their friends, eating ice cream at Yellowstone, and seeing the fireflies at the Washington Monument. Take a look at our list of school trip ideas that might spark some inspiration for your next class excursion.
Take a Tour of U.S. History
One popular topic for school trips is U.S. History, and what better place to learn about it than right where it happened?
Historic East Coast trips offer a variety of opportunities to interact with history across Historic Virginia, New England, and the entire Eastern SeaBoard.
Visit the Capitol and learn about the monuments in D.C. Explore the Smithsonian Museums, and the hidden side of our Nation’s Capitol. Add a ghost tour of historic Alexandria and watch a show at the Kennedy Center. This is a right of passage that no 8th grader should miss.
Visit colleges and witness how the colonists lived in Charlottesville, VA. Eat an authentic tavern meal and experience the food of the 1700’s (trust us, it’s good). Walk the steps of the Native Americans and early European settlers at the site of Historic Jamestown. Consider adding a day at Busch Gardens to increase the fun!
Walk the Freedom Trail in Boston and celebrate our nation’s founding. Eat a Lobster dinner and hear tales from the sea. Stand on the site of the “Shot Heard around the world” at Lexington Common. Take a walk on Harvard Yard. Walk the Freedom Trail and learn about where and how the history of the American Revolution took place in Boston.
Don't forget about Philadelphia. And while we’re at it, nearby Gettysburg is also a can’t miss destination. Philadelphia boasts the most historic square mile in the “Old City.” See where Benjamin Franklin lived and his nearby printing press. Visit the old Pennsylvania State House where both the Declaration of Independence were debated, written and signed. Eat a cheesesteak and meander the stalls of historic Reading Terminal Market. In Gettysburg, you’ll walk the Battlefield stand where President Abraham Lincoln gave the Gettysburg Address and eat and an authentic tavern meal.
Enjoy both the history of and modern activities in New York City. Ride “The Beast” a high speed power boat to see Liberty and Ellis Island. See a Broadway Show and experience hands-on training at a Broadway Classroom workshop. If you and your students are adventurous, hop on bikes in Central Park and have a guided tour.
You don’t have to go it alone. With GL Travel, you get an all-inclusive experience that includes a Tour Manager for your entire trip.
Travel with an expert who can teach you about the area, manage your itinerary, and make sure you get the most from your trip.
Your tour manager will meet you when you arrive in the city, stay with your group at the hotel, and say goodbye on the last day of your tour.
Have fun with your students and leave the pre planning to GL Travel. During your trip, your amazing Tour Manager will handle all the logistics so that you can sit back and enjoy time with your students and chaperones.
Benefits of Guided Tours
Having a tour guide can take a lot of pressure off you as a teacher. Instead of focusing on teaching and keeping track of your class, you get to take a back seat and learn along with your students.
Your tour guide will keep things organized and have a detailed itinerary to keep your class busy and having fun.
Tour guides can act as other adults looking out for the health and safety of your students.
Guides offer insider knowledge throughout the trip, so you get to learn extra nuggets of history that not many people know.
BLOG - Leading your Best Student Tour Ever
Explore National Parks
If you’re more interested in giving your students a taste of natural science, consider a trip to a National Park. Every student and teacher should have a life-changing experience in a National Park. Conquering a challenging hike and having the reward of a sweeping view is an accomplishment that a student can build on in their lives. Let’s face it, your students go outside less and less these days. Visiting a National Park, ropes courses, boat rides may open doors for your students that they never would have experienced without your trip.
If your school takes an 8th grade trip to the Historic East Coast, offering a trip for 7th graders to visit a National Park may be well received by students and their families.
Visiting these parks gives your students a chance to enjoy the peace of nature, explore their natural surroundings, and bond with their classmates.
The ancillary (or primary) benefit of the trip is the social and emotional growth of being away from home. Students find a new sense of self and independence through travel. The benefits are massive.
GL Travel takes classes to the three most popular national parks:
Grand Canyon
Take a memory-making trip to the Grand Canyon with your students to show them breathtaking views of this wonder of the world.
Nestled in the heart of Arizona, your class can walk the grand canyon, see Mathers Point, and learn about geology as they discover the numerous layers and types of rocks that make up this famous canyon.
There’s even an observatory nearby where you can tie in an astronomy lesson and spend time admiring the cosmos. Plan for a river rafting trip down the Colorado River.
On the back end or front end of your trip, you can spend a day in Las Vegas. See the Fountains of Bellagio, take in a show, and enjoy the polar opposite experience of the Grand Canyon.
Yellowstone
If the Grand Canyon and Las Vegas are not quite your style, then you might enjoy visiting the country’s very first National Park: Yellowstone.
The Southern part of the park is home to the Norris Geyser Basin (hottest geyser basin in the world), Old Faithful, and 2.2 million acres of geothermal land.
The Northern part of the park is also known as the American Serengeti. It houses tons of wildlife including bison, elk, bears, and wolves, that guests frequently spot on their hikes.
Outside of Yellowstone, there are activities for every season and age group, so middle school and high school students can get something fun from this national park. In West Yellowstone Montana you and your students can try ziplining and a ropes course, eat awesome BBQ and visit grizzlies and wolves in a nearby sanctuary.
No trip to Yellowstone would be complete without a few days in Jackson, Wyoming and Grand Tetons National Park. This is one of our favorite places on earth. Mountains surround this beautiful valley and there are endless opportunities to have fun with your students. You and your students can take a boat ride across Jenny Lake and hike to the top of Inspiration Point. Check out the cowboy coaster at Snow King in Jackson. Experience a HOOTENANNY where Musicians gather to play traditional acoustic music for a receptive crowd in one of the most awe-inspiring settings in the world.
Yosemite
Yosemite is the go-to national park in California.
Featuring some of the most popular spots for rock climbing, hiking, camping, and more, this park is great for an active class trip where students get to explore the outdoors.
Some of our favorite views are Yosemite Valley, Half Dome, and El Capitan. For the culture and history of the Yosemite Valley, Ansel Adams Gallery and The Ahwahnee Hotel are not to be missed.
At the beginning and end of your trip, spend some time in the city by the bay, San Francisco. Visit Fisherman’s Wharf and Pier 39. Walk into the prison cells of some of Alcraz’s most notorious criminals and ride a cable car up the steep hills in the heart of San Francisco.
Your tour guide will double as your hiking guide, taking you and your class on beautiful excursions throughout the park and offering tidbits of information about the area's area's ecosystem, habitats, and history.
Learn more about national parks trips
Visit College Campuses
You don’t always have a full week to explore with your class. Sometimes you need to pack a punch in just a quick weekend. In this situation, college campus visits can be incredibly beneficial.
These are quicker trips that show your classes various opportunities at universities.
Include campus tours, speaking engagements, and a chance for students to talk with professors and administrators. When you’re on a tour with your students, take a step back to allow for students to ask the questions that are important to them. They’ll want to know about social life. What there is to do on the weekends, Greek life and anything else.
Planning a campus visit should include a detailed itinerary and planned activities that will help your students understand what college life is like and what degree path might be right for them. You want to plan enough time for students to explore but not so much time where they are bored or “finding” other things to do. Plan time for your students to visit the bookstore.
Even short trips can have lots of prep behind them, though. Working with a company that specializes in this type of school trip can help you focus on picking the best college for your students to visit and preparing them for the experience.
Learn more about planning a college campus visit
Start Planning Your Next Field Trip
All of these destinations are great places to bring your class on your next school trip. The key is to pick a location that will inspire you and your students.
Once you choose a location, the next step is to start planning.
Keep in mind you don’t plan your trips alone. Planning a destination field trip can be time-consuming and stressful, so let us help. Contact us today to learn more about how we work with teachers to create meaningful experiences that are fun for the whole class.