12 Educational adventures for kids

Mar 23, 2009 12:00 PM by Nina Spitzer

Posted in Living / Travel / Family Travel

Learning Is Fun

For children, everything in life is a learning experience. Why not add to the learning with an educational adventure close to home. Here are a dozen great ideas to start you off.

Father and Son at Zoo

Making an educational adventure a family experience is fun for everyone. Get the whole family involved not only in the activity, but in the planning and preparation, as well. Take lots of pictures so you can re-cap the experience a few days afterwards. Keep a scrapbook of all your educational adventures for a collection of wonderful, long lasting memories. You'll find it's amazing how many multiple learning skills each educational adventure will bring.

Planning your educational adventure

It's always more fun when there's a buy-in from everyone involved, so the family for input on the type of adventure they would like. Be sure to make the necessary arrangements ahead of time. Then, have a family talk, perhaps while relaxing over dinner, about the experience and what's to be learned. Use the Internet as an aid for locating related photos. Kids will enjoy the experience more if they can anticipate what it is they will see and do.

Ideas for Educational Adventures

1.   Botanical Garden: What a wonderful opportunity to learn about different kinds of plants and how they grow! Prepare by talking about different plant categories at home. Looking at pictures online will help to identify them when at the botanical garden. (Science)

2.   Plant Nursery: This is a great place to visit shortly after the botanical garden excursion. Kids can learn about growing their own plants, what supplies they will need, and how to budget their expenses. Hands-on experiences are always the best for learning! (Science, Math)
3.   Animal Rescue: Visiting a local rescue for cats, dogs or wild animals will help instill a respect for animals. Before the visit, have a discussion on what happens to injured animals and animals with no homes. Kids can learn the role animal rescues play in treating and finding homes for abandoned animals. (Community Awareness)

4.   Public Library: There's a wealth of information and fun at the public library. Talk about the different things you can do and find at the library before you go. Then, reinforce this information during your visit with a scavenger hunt involving an exploration of what the library has to offer. (Research Skills)
5.   Zoo/Aquarium:   Most large cities have a zoo and/or an aquarium. Gather the family together and review their website for what can be experienced.   While on the excursion, kids can take picture and jot down notes for creating a scrapbook of memories during the days after their return. You may even be inspired to put together a small aquarium of your own. (Science, Photography, English, Art)

6.    Production Line:   Many local production plants permit tours of their facility. It's always interesting to learn how something is made. Whether it's candy, shoes, or an ice cream production line kids will walk away learning something they didn't know before. Call ahead for specific arrangements. (Social Studies)
7.   Geography Experience: Kids can have fun learning how to read a map. Start small by creating a map of the house. Then, move up to a walk around the neighborhood with a community map. Finally, graduate to the kids being in charge of the road map on longer trips and vacations. It can be an adventure for kids to learn that there's more to getting around than a GPS! (Geography, Social Studies, Art)

8.   Restaurant: A restaurant outing can be a delicious learning experience for skills like proper behavior and etiquette, how to order from a menu, and how to figure the bill and tip. Selecting an ethnic restaurant can also make it an interesting cultural experience, as well. Be sure to have family input in the selection of the restaurant.   Spend some time, beforehand, discussing the particular culture and what's to be expected at the restaurant. (Etiquette, Social Skills, Social Studies, Geography, Math)

9. Supermarket: Grocery shopping is part of the weekly routine. Why not make it a fun learning experience! Have kids share in creating the grocery list, clipping coupons, estimating expenses, and finding the best buys. Show kids how to read labels in finding healthy foods. Back home, determine if the bill was more or less than originally estimated. Then decide how successful a savings experience it was. (Math, Health)

10. Theatre/Symphony: Open up a whole new world to kids with theatre and symphony performances! Frequently, more affordable matinee tickets are available for making the outing more affordable for families. As always, a pre-adventure discussion will pave the way for better understanding. (Drama, Music)

11. Local History Sites: No matter where you live, there's a wealth of historical sites waiting to be explored. Check with your local Chamber of Commerce, an AAA guidebook, and the Internet. The kids can even use their map reading skills for the adventure. There are so many things to learn about your own community and region just by visiting these sites. Have the kids make a scrapbook of brochures from these places. Add pictures of the family taken on the excursion. The scrapbook will be great to look back on in years to come. (History, Geography)

12. Volunteer: Many of these educational adventures can lead to excellent opportunities for volunteering experiences.   Explore the variety of other available volunteering options in the community, as well. These become wonderful ways for families to spend time together, while also giving back to the community.

GET STARTED PLANNING YOUR EDUCATIONAL ADVENTURE!

These are just some ideas to get you started. Be creative and see how many more ideas for family educatinal adventures you can come up with on your own. No matter what direction you go with your excursions, one thing is certain...A fun experience will be had by all!