Whether they’re enrolled in preschool or attending high school, students will always look forward to field trips. Offering a chance to explore new environments, kids will often interpret these excursions as an opportunity for fun. But while that may be true, it’s also important to appreciate how these activities can enhance children’s access to education. To shed more light on the value of this time-honored tradition, here are some of the ways that field trips can benefit your child’s education.

What Are the Advantages of Field Trips?

1. Promotes Engagement

When students spend most days in the classroom, the concept of learning can become repetitive. For some, this can make it difficult to stay fully involved in the experience. Field trips offer a break from the routine, allowing kids to enjoy academics from a new perspective. For example, by exploring an environmental reserve or touring a museum, they will get to learn by doing—rather than by passively participating in the class.  

2. Provides Social Development

Field trips are rich with opportunities for children to engage in unique social situations—such as riding the bus, joining smaller groups of peers, following a chaperone, or interacting with a tour guide. For younger students, these experiences are particularly impactful, as they offer a chance for kids to develop their social skills and gain more confidence in a public setting.

3. Hands-On Learning

Many field trip destinations—such as museums and zoos—offer a variety of hands-on activities that can promote learning in a sensory way. These types of experiences can help engage different areas of the brain, promote creativity, and encourage critical thinking.

4. Opportunities to Apply In-Class Lessons

When children learn lessons in class, there is a limit to how far they can apply their newly-acquired knowledge. With field trips, students can reflect on in-class lessons and apply them to the real world. For example, when kids visit a zoo or a park, they can recall details about the natural world and appreciate them on a deeper level in a relevant environment.

5. Encourages Physical Activity

While playtime is a staple for any preschool or elementary school, field trips can open up new avenues for physical activity beyond the playground. Whether walking around a museum or flexing their muscles in a bowling alley, kids will see that learning isn’t something that has to be done from behind a desk. Instead, they’ll discover that they can use their entire bodies to pick up new lessons.

Although field trips are fun for kids of any age, they are particularly exciting for younger students in their formative years. That’s why Merry Manor School of Childhood offers a wide range of fun and educational excursions throughout Lincoln, NE. Committed to expanding minds in all directions, this preschool is known for taking students to museums, parks, zoos, movie theaters, bowling alleys, and more. To find out more about the ways they make learning fun, visit this day care center online. For enrollment inquiries, call (402) 466-2215.