Planning Better Events

As a preschool teacher, you have a wonderful opportunity to provide each student in your class with new experiences that expand their understanding of the world. Field trips are one of the best ways to accomplish your mission, and you look forward to the chance to celebrate fall this year with a trip to the Halloween pumpkin patch. While you can definitely look forward to giving your class hands-on experiences that deepen their love for nature in a field full of pumpkins, you can also use these tips to ensure that your field trip goes off without a hitch.

Do a Pre-Trip Lesson

In the days leading up to the field trip, make sure to give your class a few lessons that will enhance their understanding at the pumpkin patch. For example, you can read books about pumpkins, talk about the life cycle of plants, and discuss a few other elements of the fall season such as the changing of the leaves. These lessons help your students to be ready to see the things that they have learned about in real life.

Bring Parent Volunteers

Pumpkin patches are designed for young children to visit, but it never hurts to have extra people along on the field trip. Recruit a few parents to come along as volunteers. The extra eyes and ears help to keep all of the children in their groups, but this strategy also brings new insight to the group. For instance, you may have a parent who can give a few extra details about how pumpkins are grown, or another parent may talk to the students about things they do with pumpkins such as bake pies.

Plan Follow-Up Activities

After the field trip to the pumpkin patch, you need to make sure that the lessons the children learned are reinforced. Try to plan your field trip so that you have enough time for a class discussion about the children's experiences after you return to the classroom. Then, consider planning an activity for the next day that deepens the lessons. For example, your students could taste test different foods made with pumpkin, or your class could plant pumpkin seeds and practice being farmers.

A visit to the local pumpkin patch is one field trip that your class will never forget, and the entire trip is ripe with opportunities to share new insights about science and nature with your group. By doing a little prep work before and after, you can make sure that everyone on the trip comes back with a stronger appreciation for the fall season.