Importance of Field Trips in School

Field trips are a highlight of the school year for most children. Whether it is the zoo, the planetarium or just a nature walk, children can learn more about the world and how to interact with others when they leave the sheltered environment of the classroom. Whatever the purpose, field trips are learning experiences.

Social Skills

Children have to learn to interact with people-their classmates and others. Many field trips involve children having to talk to adults and children from other schools. Social skills are also enriched when the children are eating at a restaurant. Some kids are rarely around other people except for their immediate families and peers at school, so venturing into the public allows children to be exposed to different situations.

Hands-on Learning

Children can learn from textbooks and other resources such as the Internet and periodicals. However, actual experiences help students get hands-on learning. Rather than just studying about vegetables, students can visit a farm and see first-hand how they are grown. They would also be able to talk to an actual farmer and learn facts not written about in books.

Opportunities

Many children do not get the opportunity to travel to field trip destinations such as museums, theaters and parks. Field trips give all children the chance to go places they would not otherwise be able to attend because of economic or family problems or demographic difficulties.

Enhance the Curriculum

Field trips give the teacher an excellent opportunity to show students that different academic subjects can be studied simultaneously and that learning does not have to be an isolated experience. An example of this would be a trip to a famous home or building to study the math and writing that is used in architecture. Social studies can be incorporated by listening to the tour guide give an oral history of the building.

Fun

Field trips can give the students and the teacher the chance to have fun. Sometimes, the trip does not have to be an educational excursion. It can be given as a reward or a end-of-year-celebration. Teachers and students get to interact in an informal way that does not happen in the classroom. Examples of these type trips are outings to the beach or an amusement park.

References

• Field Trip Article For Teachers
• Field Trip Website

Resources

• Field Trip Suggestions