Have you ever gone on a virtual field trip? Maybe your family is mesmerized by all the amazing virtual tours available. These types of online activities have been around for a while, but the new interest has people puzzled with how to make the best use of these often free resources in their homeschool.
What is a Virtual Field Trip?
Virtual Museum Tours for Art, History, Science & Culture Studies
Museums of all kinds have websites featuring digital images of their museum collections. Often these catalogs of information can be accessed for free. They offer a wealth of knowledge and information about artifacts and works of art housed in the physical museums. The virtual museum aspect brings art, history, culture, science and so much more right into your home. Virtual Museums offer a unique approach to learning through field trips that kids will really enjoy.
Virtual Trips to Zoos, Aquariums, & National Parks
Science and geology studies can be enhanced by offering an opportunity to spy on animal behavior and really learn about creatures from a zoological perspective. Want to study Penguins? Grab a zoo cam and see what they are up to today! Want to see a volcano up close? This virtual tour of a volcano in Hawaii is exactly what you want! There are even things like video tours of the original Star Trek series set, just to keep it fun!
Where to find the best virtual field trips for our homeschool
Virtual field trips and museum tours are popping up all over the place. Some are really good and well laid out to easily navigate for homeschoolers. Others…not so much. Here are 14 Virtual Museum Tours For Doing School At Home. The list also includes virtual field trip websites that are doing a good job providing information & resources that are easy to manage in your busy homeschool.
My kids love virtual museum field trips! Are there any resources to make virtual field trips even more fun?
Yes! Some websites are offering guides and activity sheets to complement a few of their virtual tours. However, as a homeschool mama in the trenches with you, I needed more. So I built my own resources and combined hard-to-find (and even harder-to-navigate) activity sheets into easy-to-follow unit studies… just like homeschoolers love! The Virtual Field Trips Journaling & Notebooking Pack is perfect for just about any type of virtual field trip you can imagine.
The Virtual Field Trip pack was created to turn passive “Let’s hang out on the couch” field trips into active learning opportunities that are just plain fun!
Virtual Museums & Field Trip Websites seem difficult to navigate…help!
I am right there with you mama! Early on in using virtual field trips, my kids were either lost on the website or got bored quickly just looking at stuff. Can you relate? Super-charge your virtual field trips with Virtual Field Trip & Museum Unit Studies. So far, here’s what’s available. These open-and-go museum tours are perfect additions to history studies.
What would Charlotte Mason Think of Virtual Field Trips?
I personally think she would have absolutely jumped at the opportunity to engage in a new way of learning as long as there were interests, passion and an opportunity to dig deep into a subject. She would have wanted to incorporate drawings, dictation & detail about the experience is such a way to bring delight to everyone involved. That’s why the Virtual Field Trip Journaling & Notebooking Pack was put together. It offers the opportunity to experience engaged learning using the world as the classroom for our new technological age.
How can I make virtual field trips fit my classical model of education?
From a classical education perspective, Virtual Museums open the world up to those wanting to explore the classics, the ideas of the ancient world, and ‘The Greats’ of history, science, and art, literature, and culture. Making learning more accessible than it ever has been before, that’s what makes Virtual Field Trips perfect for every style of home education.
Homeschool, Travel & Learn With The Let’s Study Europe Bundle
No more cobbling your curriculum together and hoping it works! Everything you need is included in this World Geography complete set!
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Let’s Study Europe$26.00
Why is an online Field Trip a perfect way to use the world as your classroom?
Well, first is the savings. Not only saving on travel or museum entrance fees but saving on time & energy to pull it all together & make it happen for your family. You can literally make your homeschool budget do ‘double duty’ by using virtual travel experiences through museums and field trips whenever you want and wherever you want!
With articles like ‘Your Child’s Next Field Trip May Be Virtual,’ all school-aged children are being introduced to this new way of experiencing the world around them and using the world as their classroom.
So Let’s Go… Virtual! The Virtual Field Trip Journaling Bundle is waiting for you! Start getting the most out of your virtual field trips & museum tours today!
VIRTUAL Field Trip Notebooking & Journaling
This Virtual Field Trip Planner has everything you need to make a virtual field trip super fun no matter where you are or where you are going!
This printable download includes:
- Make your own alphabet scavenger hunt is usable with any virtual museum or online field trip. Have fun staying focused by looking for the details as you explore museums, the zoo, the aquarium, and all kinds of other virtual field trips online.
- Virtual Field Trip Journaling Page will help you keep track of all the places you have explored and the things you have learned. Use it each time you do a virtual museum tour. You can find virtual museum tours here, but it’s also included with the download for convenience.
- Virtual Art Museum Journal Page Since virtual art museums are a bit different, This journal page will help you enjoy the virtual galleries and slow down to really explore the various works of art you are encountering.
10 Places to Use Your Virtual Museum Notbooking & Journaling Pack
- Yellowstone National Park
- The Louvre
- The British Museum
- The San Diego Zoo
- The Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum
- The National Museum of Natural History
- The International Space Station
- The Great Barrier Reef
- The Amazon Rainforest
- The Galapagos Islands
Your family will love these virtual Field Trips too!
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12 Days of Christmas in Great Britain Unit Study$14.00 -
50 US States Study Pack- Reusable$11.00 -
Washington DC Study Pack$11.00 -
Hawaii State Study Pack$11.00 -
California State Study Pack$11.00 -
Massachusetts State Study Pack$11.00 -
Jane Austen Unit Study – Regency Era England$27.00 -
Let’s Study Famous Folks Unit Study Sampler$14.00
Listen to the podcast
As a recent guest on the Ultimate Homeschool Podcast Network, I had the opportunity to share how to make virtual field trips engaging. With the right resources, it’s super easy! Have a listen.