Fall Field Trips Planned 2011-2012

Terhune Farms in Princeton

Going places with my kids is one of the joys of my life (trust me it takes a lot of effort to get out of the house, but once we are in the car, piece of cake!) And this year I will be helping out in MOPs (Mothers of PreSchoolers) with trips/ideas and such so my wheels started turning much earlier than normal!

Since two of my curriculum goals besides God's Word, Reading and Math of course...is to teach my kids about the solar system and about Colonial Times.  I did a whole unit on Colonial Times with my third graders so I have lots of materials and books and ideas at home, but the solar system just amazes me, so I wanted to teach these two topics over several months.  I thought some really neat field trips would be to Allaire State Park (which has a real working train and train station for rides) and it is also a Colonial Village with a Black Smith shop, an old School House/One room Church, and a great Gift Shop, and also a huge playground.  I also always loved taking my fourth graders (we study all about NJ in Fourth Grade History Curriculum) to Trenton, NJ to the Old Barracks where soldiers from the Revolutionary War actually stayed and the people who work there are dressed up in the actual Colonial Times clothing, and the soldiers show the kids their uniforms, and bayonet. 

John and our kids feeding animals at Turtle Back Zoo

I also want to take my kids to a Planetarium and Brookdale Community College has a great one that is open to the community and I've taken a few third grade classes there as well.  I've always loved seeing the lights turned out in the Planetarium and the dome looking like the sky, and learning about the names of the stars and the different stories behind them.  It always makes the night sky more vivid. 

Our nature walk at Kateri Environmental Center in June

So here are my Field Trips for the Upcoming Year.  On each month except December there will be a place we will visit (and trust me we do outings weekly, between Awana in the Fall, church, Library class, and Gymnastics, but Field trips are super special because we will have other moms/kids join us and learn along with us)...December I'm going to attempt to host a Cookie Exchange...we shall see!

September: Planetarium, Brookdale College

October: Read and Pick Program at Terhune Farms, Princeton (Pumpkins)

November: Old Barracks, Trenton

December: Cookie Exchange

January: Party Jungle  (A place where kids can rock climb and jump on a trampoline and play in the ball pit indoors!  perfect for cold winter days)

February: Liberty Science Center (amazing hands on science center for kids of all ages! not to mention the largest IMAX dome theater in the nation!)

March: Junglerrrific (another indoor playground in Howell, NJ)

April: Holmdel Park, Longstreet Farm to milk the cows!

May: Our Annual Turtle Back Zoo Trip (family trip)

June: Allaire State Park, Train Ride, Colonial Village, Playground

July: Phildadelphia Zoo (family trip)

August-Statue of Liberty (family trip)


I took the time to attach links to each place so click on the name of the place and you can view it and check out times of operations, cost, directions, etc.  For those of you not in NJ area, that's ok, maybe this list will give you some ideas of places you can take your little ones or your older kids to even!  Field trips are also great family bonding times, it's awesome to see what sparks your child's interests and what questions they have.  I love exposing Julia and Mark to new things like seeing the newborn piglets drinking milk from their mama, or going to the zoo and feeding the animals, or climbing a rock wall for the first time, or going on a hay ride.  There are so many great ways to teach your kids about the world around them!  I can't wait to see their faces in the Planetarium or in the IMAX theater (still have to check the ages on that one). 

Have a great weekend!!!  We will be in LONG BEACH ISLAND with friends and Daddy!!! Woohoo!