Spring school field trips 2017 & 2018

"A mind that is stretched by new experiences can never go back to its old dimensions." Although Oliver Wendall Holmes was not focused on school field trips when he articulated this thought amongst others in essays in the Atlantic Monthly at the turn of the 20th century, it rings true to me. I love going on field trips with our girls and experiencing their excitement and curiosity about the world around them. 

Hannah's adventure to Holliday Park
It was a cold spring day in 2017 when Hannah and I went with her class to Holliday Park. We had so much fun in the nature center where Hannah pretended to be a bumblebee, and of course she loved the playground as well. Her awesome Kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Catt, made sure Hannah's class made the most of their hike down to the White River as well. The naturalist was so good at making the kiddos laugh as they learned obscure facts about all the plants in the area. 








Hannah's adventure to the Zoo
Her kindergarten class lucked out with lots of spring field trips right in a row, so we also headed to the Zoo. We frequented the Zoo as parents when Moira and Hannah were toddlers (Moira's first word was duck!), but it was fun to revisit the Zoo with her class. As I recall, Hannah's group of friends was funny and rambunctious, and they all had a great time hanging out together. However, at one point, Hannah got annoyed for some reason (hence the grumpy picture below). We are still working on her response to other people's comments to this day! I have no idea what happened, but she managed to recover and have fun eventually. 

I absolutely love the photo of Hannah jumping on the bridge to see the rhinos. I cannot tell you the number of times we have jumped on that bridge with Moira and Hannah. Good fun! Suffice it to say, they saw lots and lots of animals that day--the weather must have been perfect after the long winter!










Moira's Adventure at the Roller Cave!
Moira's second grade class, led by Mrs. Miller, had a fantastic time at the Roller Cave exploring basic concepts of physics (such a fun way to learn about Newton's laws). Moira rocked out on roller skates for the first time. She has this uncanny ability to wobble a lot, balance in improbable ways, and stay upright most of the time. I loved skating and dancing with her and her friends. They had a blast.







 Moira's Adventure to the State Museum
2016-2017 apparently was the year of field trips, so I joined Moira and her friends in late spring for a trip to the State Museum. I love the downtown field trips--I just leave for a couple of hours from my office and have a great time exploring the city or museums from their 2nd-grade perspective.  What I remember most about the State Museum visit is how much the kiddos loved the hands-on experiences related to the early pioneer days of Indiana. Churning butter was incredibly entertaining for everyone! I also love the photo of the entire class "dabbing" on the steps outside of the state museum.









Hannah's First-Grade Adventure to Indiana State Fairgrounds in the spring of 2018
Skipping ahead, there is not much to report on field trips in first and third grade because I was not selected for any of the third grade field trips (too many parent volunteers, and we always drew the short straw!). Hannah went on a field trip to Conner Prairie in the fall of 2017, which I hope made it into a previous blog post! 

The first grade always does a spring field trip to the state fairgrounds to learn about "how to make a pizza." They learn about planting seeds to grow tomatoes or wheat, the involvement of dairy cows in making cheese, etc. After they go through all of the stations, the kiddos then make their own mini-pizza with the help of lots of Americorps volunteers. It was another cold but fun day! 






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