The most important thing you can do when taking a field trip is to take the time to talk with your children about where you are going, what they will see there, what things they should look out for and also how they should behave. Clearly lay out your goals and expectations.
I prefer to plan some time before (or occasionally after) the trip to lay a foundation, or build upon the foundation of the trip to add to their experience. Often times we learn best by linking things together. I can tell my daughter about the stork at the zoo, but when she sees the stork (which is her FAVORITE animal!), she puts all the information together in her mind and therefore remembers better.
The zoo is one place that we visit fairly frequently, so I do not generally take the time to study animals before we go. However, the last time we went to the zoo, we took pictures of several animals and of the information boards about them. We will use the pictures and info to make a scrapbook about the animals we saw. This allows us to build on the foundation of our visit.
Likewise, you can lay the foundation for your trip before you go. Years ago, my parents were taking a trip to Boston and invited my son Brandyn to go with them. He was in second grade at the time. We took weeks to study the early history of America and places, things, and people he would be able to learn about and see when he was in Boston. This study really paid off, because even years later he is the most informed child I know about the Revolutionary War and that time period.
Tomorrow we'll talk about some other things you can do to make your field trip most productive!
