Field Trip Ideas to Teach Elementary Students About Spain

Coming up with field-trip ideas to teach elementary students about Spain can be difficult. As a teacher, you must consider cost, quality of the experience and age-appropriateness when planning a field trip. There are a few places that fit this criteria that will help you teach students about the culture and people of Spain through art, dance, sports and food.

Dance Studio or Performance

Engage the students by taking them to see a flamenco dance. If money is tight, an alternative to traveling to a dance studio or performance is to invite the dance troupe to visit and perform on the school's stage. Flamenco is a 500-year-old traditional style of dance that originated in Spain. The dances appeal to the audience with hand clapping, colorful dresses, castanets, acoustic guitar and passionate dance moves.

Before attending the performance, teach the students how to dance the flamenco by showing them films of flamenco dances and dancing the steps in time to flamenco music. Teaching students about the flamenco offers opportunities for them to learn about the history, culture and music in Spain. It's also a fun way to involve students in dancing, singing, clapping and chanting.

Art Museum

Show the students famous works by such artists as El Greco, Francisco de Goya, Antoni Gaudi, Pablo Picasso and Salvador Dali. Discuss the significance of art in the Spanish culture and explain that some of the artists influenced the architecture in that country. For example. Gaudi designed one of the most famous cathedrals, La Sagrada Familia, and a housing building, La Casa Mila.

Take a day in class before or after the trip and let the students paint their own version of one of the masterpieces. Even if the local art museum does not have a large collection of works by Spanish artists, the students will enjoy the few pieces that are there, as well as those from other artists around the world.

Park

Ask parents to help set up a Spanish-influenced picnic with a soccer game for entertainment. Soccer is a popular sport in Spain that many students in your class may already know how to play. Plan a students vs. parents game or rotate the students on the team so everyone gets a chance to play.

After the game, have traditional Spanish dishes, such as flan (a rich custard), churros (sweet doughnuts), tapas (appetizers), tortillas, horchata (a sweet milky-looking rice beverage) and chorizo (spicy pork sausage). Make sure none of your students has food allergies before you plan the menu.

References

• Flamenco the Dance of Analusia
• Spanish Artists
• Recipes de Espana

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