When Museum Trips Turn Into Homeschool: Cleveland History Center's Homeschool Field Trip Series

Hello and welcome back, NEO Homeschoolers! I have a question for you all. Do you ever have days with your kiddos where the textbook learning just doesn't seem to cut it? I know textbook learning is necessary, especially as kids get older, but last week, I discovered a reality that shook up how I view homeschool.

If you follow my Homeschool Happenings posts, you know that during the school year, I highlight the Cleveland History Center's Homeschool Field Trip Series on a regular basis. As a newer homeschool mom, the field trip series has piqued my interest for a while now, and last Thursday I finally satisfied my curiosity. On a whim, I decided early last week that I was going to take Maureen to the History Center's Homeschool Field Trip Series as part of our homeschool week, and boy was it a success!

October's theme for the field trip series was Harvest, so everything the kids in attendance did was centered around learning about the harvest season and the importance of farms to our society. For Maureen's age group, the harvest lesson started with a sensory guessing game and a story called, "Annie's Apple Farm." For the sensory guessing activity, the leader had 3 boxes, each with something different inside. The boxes were passed around individually and each child got to have a turn sticking their hands inside and feeling the item hidden there. The kids then all took turns casting their guesses as to what the item was... guesses ranging from apples to toy cars to cotton and wool. It was quite amusing to hear the different kids' guesses as they felt the items inside each box! ...In case you're curious, it was cotton, squashes, and wool. The reveal of each item led into a discussion of what we get from farms and then we moved stations and started the craft.

I personally think the craft was Maureen's favorite part of the day. The kids got to make a sheep on a piece of paper using stamps, googly eyes, and black cut-outs of sheep legs & a sheep head. Maureen took great pride in making her sheep and was thrilled to get to use both a red stamp and a purple stamp plus googly eyes which, according to her, she'd been wishing to use in a craft for a long time! That sheep craft got named Sheepie and has gone everywhere with us ever since. Maureen's even slept with Sheepie... yes, the craft is that loved. Haha!

The fun-filled morning ended with an active, hands-on activity for the kids... harvesting their own fruits & veg! Of course, it was all play food, but the kids had a blast running around the room designed for young children, finding the hidden fruit & vegetables. Once all the play food had been "harvested," the leader gathered everyone into a group one last time and each child got the chance to tell the group which two kinds of fruit and veg they'd "harvested" from around the room. Maureen and I thoroughly enjoyed the morning... Maureen loved the sheep craft and playtime at the end the best. I loved the hands-on learning and the built-in field trip for homeschool.

Needless to say, my curiosity about Cleveland History Center's Homeschool Field Trip Series was satisfied with a resounding, "We WILL be doing that again!" If you're on the fence about attending, I highly recommend trying it at least once. I can't speak for the other age groups, but for the 3-5 year olds, I felt the activities were on par... perfect for the ages & the topic. My Maureen loved the event and is already looking forward to next month.

For more information on Cleveland History Center's Homeschool Field Trip Series, click here. If you're looking for a pumpkin patch & apple orchard to make a last minute family trip to, be sure to check out my post, "NEO Parks Fall Edition: Apple Orchards & Pumpkin Patches," linked here. And if you're looking for one final October homeschool event, check out my October Homeschool Happenings post here.

That's all from me... See you soon! 😄

P.S. Sorry for the lack of photos in this post. Now that I'm finishing it off to publish it, I realize photos from our day at the Cleveland History Center would've been a nice addition. Forgive me and bear with me as I work to get better at this blog thing...

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Hey NEO Homeschoolers! Did you know you can contact me? It's true!! You, my readers, can reach out and share your feedback, ideas, events, co-ops, or businesses with me via email at homeschoolmama195@gmail.com. I check my email daily and will get back to you ASAP if you do reach out. So, what are you waiting for? Share that event you found or new co-op you think I should highlight with me! See you in my inbox! 😀

Happy homeschooling!! 😃