25 Homeschool Field Trips: The Ultimate Guide
The Best Guided Tours for Homeschoolers
If you’re looking for homeschool field trip ideas but are bored with the museum and zoo, it’s time to start asking for guided tours! Plenty of venues offer guided tours to the general public—sometimes specifically catering to kids—but you’d never know if you didn’t reach out and ask.
Over the years, I’ve talked to plenty of homeschooling moms who have told me about wonderful field trips they were able to take their kids on by getting into the habit of asking for tours wherever they went.
Here are 25 guided tour field trip ideas for you and your homeschool!
1. Local Farms
Nearby farms can be excellent venues for field trips. This is especially true in the fall when you will likely find attractions like corn mazes, cider & donuts, and petting farms. It’s also a great way to learn about what farmers do and support locally sourced food. Even small-scale farms without so many attractions are often open to giving tours to homeschoolers to support their farm’s public face and build bonds with the community.
2. Library
We go to libraries all the time, but how often have you asked for a tour? I promise you, many librarians dream of being asked for a tour of the premises. Libraries do a lot more than store books. They provide classes, host art shows, organize book sales, hold fundraisers, and much more. Furthermore, libraries generally preserve your town’s archives. Every library has an archive room with old maps, books, photographs, and newspaper clippings, sometimes going back a hundred years or more. You are missing out if you’ve never asked for a tour of your library’s archive room!
3. Recycling Center
When I was in elementary school, our class went on a field trip to the local recycling center. Surprisingly, I found it super interesting. We watched the recycling process of how cardboard was broken down, turned into pulp, and repurposed. Additionally, we learned about how scrap metal is melted down. It was a really neat experience and helped me have a concrete understanding of what recycling is. Most recycling centers offer tours for school-age children, so it’s worth checking out.
4. State Capitol Buildings
If it’s not too far away, a state capitol building is a fantastic venue for a field trip. All state capitols offer guided tours—and if you are lucky, you can get a tour led by your State Representative! Besides learning about state government and your state’s history, state capitols are generally nice to see from an architectural perspective and house lots of officially commissioned art as well.
5. Courthouse
Similarly, a courthouse can be a good destination for a day trip. Ask one of your locally elected officials for a tour. Usually, they are happy to oblige. But be on your best behavior! Recently, a teen on a field trip to the courthouse in Detroit was put in handcuffs because the judge didn’t like her attitude.
6. Police Station
If you have a city police department, try calling to see if they offer tours of the police station. Many police departments have outreach officers who work with the youth community to educate them about law enforcement. Sometimes, they even let you ride in the police car!
7. Fire Station
The fire station was another field trip I remember fondly from childhood. It’s always good to be aware of what our first responders do, and kids get a kick out of seeing and learning about the different parts of a fire truck.
8. Historical Reenactments
If you live in an area where there are historical reenactments, these can be excellent venues for field trips. And before you think, “I don’t live anywhere where there was any cool battles,” reenactments are more than just battles. You can often find historic homesteads where people reenact frontier life. Out west, you can find gold rush boom towns with historical reenactments of the Wild West.
9. Restaurant Tours
You may be surprised to learn that many restaurants offer tours for kids. These tours demonstrate how food is prepared in a commercial setting and educate them about the hospitality industry. The website SoCal Field Trips has a list of twenty restaurants that offer kids’ tours, and while some are local to southern California, many are national chains, such as Applebees, Dairy Queen, and Panera Bread.
10. Grocery Store Tours
My mom worked at the local A&P grocery store when I was a kid. Sometimes, she would have to take me to work with her, and I would spend hours wandering around the store, amusing myself till my mom’s shift ended. While I’m sure your kids don’t want to spend hours in a grocery store, getting a tour of your local grocery store can be an enlightening experience for kids—especially when they get to go behind the mysterious doors and see the parts of the store you’d never get to see otherwise.
11. Bakery Tours
Is there any smell more pleasing than that of a bakery in the morning? Bakery tours are great for observing how different types of baked goods are made, and they are even better if they give you free samples.
12. Food Bank
Food banks depend upon outreach and engagement with the public to keep their pantries stocked. Ask your local food bank for a tour. It not only educates kids about how these charities function but also builds awareness about the problem of hunger. Don’t forget to bring a donation to drop off as well!
13. Cemeteries
When I worked for the Church, I used to give tours of our parish’s historic cemetery. I found there was always a robust interest in the cemetery’s history. Whether or not your parish has an old cemetery, there’s certainly one in your community somewhere. Contact a volunteer from the local historical society to give you a tour. I promise they will tell you all sorts of things about the cemetery you never knew!
14. Theaters
Sometimes, movie theaters offer public tours, especially if you go to a historic theater that has been a centerpiece of the community for many decades. If you have such a historic theater near you, give them a call and ask about tours. You’d be surprised by all of the interesting history housed in these old buildings.
15. TV or Radio Station
TV and radio are a ubiquitous part of modern life. That’s why a TV or radio station trip can be so enjoyable—kids get to see how the voices and images on the other side of the screen are produced. This is a great trip for kids interested in technology or audio-video production. While a major television studio might be out of reach, there are still enough smaller, local stations around that value this sort of community engagement.
16. Escape Rooms
Escape rooms are an increasingly popular venue these days. An escape room is a themed, interactive game where participants are “locked” in a room and must solve puzzles and find clues to escape within a set time limit. The puzzles often involve riddles, logic challenges, and hidden objects. Teams work together to unravel the story and achieve their goal before time runs out. It’s a test of teamwork, problem-solving, and critical thinking. They cater to children’s natural curiosity and could be a great getaway for an afternoon.
17. Animal Shelters
Animal shelters, wildlife rehabilitation facilities, and nature centers are fantastic places to get your kids out in nature for a day and learn about the local wildlife. As most of these organizations are non-profits funded by donations, they typically have generous and enthusiastic public outreach programs with plenty of opportunities for tours and even volunteer work.
18. Sports Arena
Not long ago, I went on a visit to Green Bay, Wisconsin, and a Homeschool Connections family took me to visit Lambeau Field, the home of the Green Bay Packers. I am not a sports guy by any stretch, but walking around the arena and learning about its history and the history of the Packers in the community was super intriguing! I can only imagine such a massive venue as a sports arena would be even more impressive for a young person. All sports arenas offer tours, both free and paid, for those who want to see otherwise inaccessible parts of the arena.
19. University Research Centers
Most university research centers have opportunities for public tours to explain their work to the community and get kids interested in science. Just be careful, though; these are the sorts of tours where you can get bit by a radioactive spider and turn into a superhero.
20. Factories
This one is hit or miss, depending on the company and the facility’s size, but many factories offer public tours. This is especially true of factories that produce nationally known name-brand products and are eager to promote their brand. Factory tours can be surprisingly fun. as it’s always kind of mind-blowing to see how industrial processes work to produce the products we use every day.
21. Botanical Gardens
A botanical garden is always a nice getaway for the afternoon. Besides their aesthetic appeal and scenery, kids can get exposed to all sorts of exotic plants they don’t usually see—and they get a chance to run around and blow off some steam!
22. Post Office
Did you know you can get tours of your post office? Well, not the little distribution center in your town, but your regional processing center—the place where all the mail in your region goes through before it is distributed. The Homeschooling in the Burbs website has an excellent information page for setting up a post office tour and explaining what to expect during your visit.
23. Cultural Festivals
I can almost guarantee there is some kind of annual cultural festival near you. The United States has thousands of them every year. Around me, we have a German-themed Oktoberfest in Detroit every year, as well as a Russian Fest in September. Kids can learn about ethnic foods, music, and the heritage of other cultures.
24. Historic Churches
If you have a historic church near you, chances are they offer tours. You can learn a lot about the architecture of the church, its history, and its role in the community. Sometimes, churches have played a pivotal role in major historic events. For example, some 19th-century churches east of the Mississippi were shelters for escaped slaves on the Underground Railroad.
25. Water Treatment Facilities
You may be surprised to learn that many water treatment facilities offer guided tours. I have personally been on one of these tours, and they are cool! Kids will see where dirty water first arrives and how it’s cleaned through filtering and adding chemicals. They’ll observe giant tanks and machinery that help remove impurities. Finally, they’ll learn how the clean water is tested before being returned to homes. They might even see the wastewater section where the dookie gets removed.
Conclusion
Homeschool field trips don’t have to be limited to the usual places. As you can see, there are all kinds of opportunities all around you for guided tours of interesting venues. You can unlock a whole world of unique, educational experiences for your family and your local homeschool group. The possibilities are endless, whether it’s learning about local history at a courthouse, exploring behind the scenes at a bakery, or discovering how a water treatment plant works. All it takes is a phone call or email!
For more, see my article Top Ten Catholic Homeschool Field Trips.
What ideas do you have for guided tours? To continue the discussion, join me and other homeschooling parents at our Homeschool Connections Community or our Facebook group!
