Farm Field Trip Tips + Unit Ideas for Kindergarten and First Grade

Farm Field Trip Tips + Unit Ideas for Kindergarten and First Grade

Escaping to the farm is one of our favorite ways to get outside and learn. If you don’t grow up on a farm, the animals, crops, environment of a farm are fascinating learning experiences for children.

Our family recently went to an apple farm in New Jersey and spent the whole day enjoying the sunshine and open spaces and the variety of crops for picking and eating.

Every Spring and Fall since our kids were toddlers experiencing farm life, if even for a day, has been part of how this city family gets outside and learns through adventure.

Today I’m working with some awesome bloggers to not only share our farm field trip tips, but also tons of farm themed unit ideas for your homeschool or classroom.

Farm Field Trip Tips

Field Trips bring a topic to life. They make an abstract concept meaningful, real and alive for young kids. On a field trip kids will be able to touch things, ask questions of experts, and more.

read more: how to learn through adventure

The best farms for kids are the ones where you can get actively involved. Let you pet some animals, pick some fruits or vegetables, and more. It is helpful to call ahead of time to get a full picture of what you will be able to do on your visit.

Experiencing the textures and colors and weight make the words and images in book come alive.

When you go to the farm here are a few things to remember:

  1. Dress everyone in weather appropriate clothes that you don’t mind getting dirty.
  2. Read some books and have a conversation with your kids beforehand about what to expect and what your behavior expectations are for the trip.
  3. Bring cash (or check with your farm beforehand). A lot of farms don’t accept credit cards.
  4. Bring hand sanitizer to use after petting animals and before you eat lunch or snacks.

Farm Unit Activity Ideas

Below are fun learning ideas to use before and after your field trip. They are divided into developmental or curriculum areas.

Literacy Activities

Art Activities

STEM Activities

Gross Motor Activities

**Check the Linky below for even more awesome ideas!**

Farm Field Trip Tips and Unit Ideas

Current Learning Objectives (based on First Grade Common Core)

  • Ask and answer questions about key details in a text.
  • Demonstrate the command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing.
  • Participate in collaborative conversations.
  • Counting by 2s, 5s, and 10s
  • Observe and describe weather conditions that occur during each season.