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Mom-made Field Trips
Get out of the House and Explore
By Jenny Rackley
Some working farms offer regular tours. For those that don't, a phone call may be all that is required to garner an invitation to visit. Children delight in seeing farm animals, farm equipment and the working processes of a farm. Some farms will allow children to see the milking barns, the chicken coops and the baby animals. Most children love the baby animals, and giggle with pleasure as a newborn calf nuzzles them or baby chicks peep at them.
Community artists often welcome children. As a child, I remember our trips to Harry Holl's, a potter in Massachusetts. He would make vases and bowls on his pottery wheel, and we would sit and watch him on benches he placed nearby. He always played classical music when he made his pottery, so it was a cultural experience all in all. Sometimes he would give the children clay to play with and would fire the results. Consider visiting potters, glassblowers, painters, photographers and other artists.
Some arts and crafts stores offer classes for children, and some stores are specifically designed for you to create something. One store we visited dedicates its back room to children's projects. For a small fee per child, children can create wonders from a variety of materials recycled from businesses (stickers, plastic tubes, film reels, foam, fake flowers and more). Other stores invite children to paint their own ceramics or create other types of mementos.
Although children visit doctors' and dentists' offices often, sometimes it is nice to go when they don't need to, so they feel freer to ask questions and poke around. Dentists will move the chair up and down, and may allow children to squirt water or feel the suction devices on their hands. Dentists will also talk to the children about brushing teeth and may give a toothrush to each child. Doctors will show children some of the instruments they use in their practice, such as stethoscopes, blood pressure cuffs and thermometers. They can talk to children about why they go for check-ups, and what happens when they are sick.