10 Reasons to Re- Visit Old Field Trips

We're often on the look out for new places to visit.  We love going on field trips and try to take at least one a week.

After 4 years of homeschooling it's hard to keep finding new places so we often re-visit old field trip spots.

I'm a firm believer that it's a good idea to revisit places we've been.

Yesterday we took another trip to the New England Air Museum.  We had not been there since our last trip in 2014.

We had a great time!

Here are 10 reasons to re-visit old field trips:

1.  Kids pick up on something new each trip.  My kids learn something new each and every time we go somewhere.  No matter how many times we've visited a place in the past there's always a new sight, a new sign, or a new connection that they make.

2.  Different exhibits or materials available to learn about relate to different lessons we have covered through the years.  For example, on our last trip to the air museum we had not yet covered World War II or the Vietnam War and this time my kids were excited to see things relating to both those time periods we had learned about in the last two years.

3.  Each trip builds on prior memories and reinforces old learning.  Every single time we revisit an old spot we're building on our memories.  There are many exclamations of "remember last time when...."  or "I wonder if we'll get to _____ this time!" ; even before we've arrived.

4.  We don't always cover every single thing on each trip.  Many places we visit are rather large and I don't like to rush my boys through places just so we can say we've looked at everything.  We take our time and really immerse ourselves in whatever interests them and know that we can always see the rest on a future trip.  Yesterday was the first time we made it outside into the yard to see the planes they had on display there.

5.  Kids learn best by repetition!   We all know that little kids lover to hear the same books over and over and over again; that's because kids learn best by repetition.  Kids of any age benefit from being exposed to the same material over and over again; it's how we learn best and field trips are no exception.

6.  We often revisit places because my kids ask!  Often if my boys really enjoyed a field trip they'll ask to go back and visit again (and again).  I know if they're interested then they're learning!

7.  Meeting up with friends.  We often revisit old field trip places because we're meeting up with friends and that just adds a whole other dimension to our learning.  The kids are always excited about seeing their friends and walking around with a group they're often drawn to learning about different things; but then they all share what they've learned about with each other.  They share their knowledge and excitement with one another.

8.  Many places have special events or temporary exhibits and those are wonderful times to revisit; we're guaranteed to see something new and we can still enjoy all the old exhibits too.

9.  Some days we just know that a field trip is a better fit for our mood than book work.  We'll revisit old field trip spots just to take a day off from book work and enjoy learning together again.

10.  We love revisiting our favorite places because we get to observe changes and see new exhibits.  Every museum, zoo, or place we've ever visited ends up changing over time.  Old exhibits are moved out and new ones are brought in, exhibits are rearranged or freshened up, new habitats and areas are built-- it's exciting to see how places change over time.

All three boys learning about World War II era plane;taking turns
inside it

The boys were really taken with all the weapons and compared them
to Call of Duty games 

Hopping out of the Jet after learning how it works 

Evan was thrilled to learn that this helicopter was used in
Antarctica 

A demonstration on the properties of flight; Ian was called to demonstrate drag 

Alec demonstrated thrust 

Using flight simulators to try and land a plane 

They both did very well 

The rules changed since our last visit so Evan was STILL
not old enough to use the large flight simulators and
had to content himself with these bank of computers 

Checking out  Vietnam War helicopter 

Ian was intrigued by the double blades on this helicopter 

Alec trying his hand at making a working parachute
for a toy army guy 

Learning about Connecticut's contribution to flight and space
from 1870 to today

Checking out the cool planes in the yard 

We loved this one! Reminded us of cartoon characters 

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