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School Break Trips from Home!
- Patria Lincoln Posted On Mar 25, 2020 | Reading
[Updated on 3/17/21] Even though we're staying inside these days, we've still got ways to explore the wide world from home! Add some extra fun to your spring break plans with these virtual field trip ideas, which let you and your kids travel to museums, zoos, and even outer space from the comfort of your living room.
Lunch Doodles with Mo Willems
It's not every day that you get the chance to take a drawing lesson from one of the world's most beloved children's book authors. Usually, that is. With kids out of school, author Mo Willems (creator of the Pigeon series, Elephant and Piggie, and more) is hosting a lunchtime drawing program on YouTube that connects kids with their artsy side every afternoon.
Virtual Museum Tours
Have you ever wanted to take your kids to the world's great museums and architectural sites? Thanks to Google Arts & Culture, you can do with without ever leaving the house! Their Museum Views collection lets you take virtual tours of more than 3,400 sites across the United States and around the world. You can even treat your little learners to a trip to the Boston Children's Museum!
Story Time with Michael Chabon
Pulitzer Prize-winning author Michael Chabon knows that what the world needs now is a good bedtime story. That's why he's spending his evenings at home reading the classics of children's literature, voices and all. Available on Youtube, the author's series updates every evening; past selections include Olivia, The Story of Ferdinand, and Harry the Dirty Dog.
Cincinnati Zoo Home Safaris
Although we can't go to the zoo right now, we can bring the zoo home online! At the Cincinnati Zoo, keepers are hosting daily Home Safaris to introduce viewers to the wild, wooly worlds of their animal residents. Tune in on Facebook Live each day, and you might meet hippos, cheetahs, rhinoceroses, and more!
Dutch Hollow Dairy Farm
A trip to the farm is always enlightening, even from the comfort of your home! Take your kids on this virtual tour of New York's Dutch Hollow Dairy Farm for an inside look at the secret lives of cows. Produced in cooperation with the American Dairy Association, the tour is geared for kids in grades K-4.
Ellis Island
As America faces its current challenges, we can take this opportunity to reflect on the nation's status as the world's melting pot. With Immigration: Stories of Yesterday and Today, the folks at Scholastic have put together a virtual tour of Ellis Island, the immigration station that welcomed more than 12 million future Americans between 1892 and 1954.
International Space Station
When it comes to virtual field trips, you're not limited to places here on Earth! Led by the astronauts stationed there, these virtual tours of the International Space Station give you and your kids an inside look at the scientific goings-on happening far above the planet.
Yellowstone National Park
It's springtime, which means our national parks are waking up from their long winter slumbers. Thanks to the National Parks Service, you can take a virtual visit to the country's oldest park. The tour takes you to seven different sites around the park, including the Mud Volcano, the Mammoth Geyser, and the Flower Paint Pot.
Monterey Bay Aquarium
Adventure under the sea with this virtual visit to one of America's premiere aquariums. Thanks to the live cams set up around the Monterey Bay Aquarium, you can catch glimpses of animals from jellyfish and penguins to sharks and sea otters. There's even a feed that shows you the open waters of the bay itself!
Discover Ancient Egypt
As you explore these virtual field trips, don't miss the opportunity to travel back in time! Discover Ancient Egypt brings one of humanity's most storied societies back to life with cool interactive online recreations. Explore 3D temples, learn about the pyramids, or even study hieroglyphics!
At Learning Resources, we're here to help you make the best of this challenging time. Stay safe and healthy, and check back with our blog for more tips and learning ideas as the situation unfolds.
Teal Pumpkin: Allergy Friendly Treats!
Halloween is nearly upon us! This fun and spooky holiday are one of the most entertaining nights for kids each year: creative costumes, running around outside after dark with friends, and…trick-or-treating for candy! I have so many childhood memories of Halloween excitement, so I couldn’t help but feel a twinge of sadness when we discovered my two daughters had a dairy allergy a few years back. I didn’t want them to miss out on all the fun or feel left out while going door-to-door with their friends. Luckily, there are still some dairy-free candy options, but most Halloween treats tend to be chocolate. And dairy isn’t the only allergy out there - nuts, gluten, and soy also affect thousands of kids around you.
What is the Teal Pumpkin Project?
Thankfully, awareness of this issue has gained traction and popularity over the past few years! Have you ever heard of the Teal Pumpkin Project? It’s a fantastic initiative that focuses on the inclusion of children with special diets who trick-or-treat.
The concept is simple, and everyone is encouraged to participate:
- Collect non-food treat options
- Place a teal pumpkin on your porch to show people that you have available non-food treats.
- Add your address to the Teal Pumpkin Project Map.
We found our teal pumpkin and non-food treats in the dollar section of local stores. Some great ideas for treats are Learning Resources Counters, stickers, temporary tattoos, pencils, bookmarks, necklaces, glow sticks/bracelets/wands, bouncy balls, notepads, stencils, bubbles, noisemakers, or playing cards. Many families choose to give out non-food treats AND traditional Halloween candy, and they just have two separate treat bowls.
I can’t tell you how happy I am that awareness is being raised for children with food allergies! Even if my girls were not allergic to dairy I would still encourage participation in this wonderful project. We are constantly striving to teach our daughters about inclusion and the importance of making everyone feel special and cared about. The Teal Pumpkin Project is an easy way that families can do just that within their local communities everywhere!
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