Kids Virtual Field Trips

by Mary Ann Romans | More from this Blogger

27 Jul 2008 02:27 PM

Whether you home school, summer school, preschool or just like to have educational fun with your kids, you should be very interested in this blog post. Virtual field trips for kids (and in some cases by kids) are a great way to introduce children to places that are not feasible to physically visit. You can also encourage kids to chronicle their own real-life field trips and share them with others, whether through their own website, a YouTube video or through a website such as MeetMeAtTheCorner.org.

Let's start with MeetMeAtTheCorner.org. It is focused on the New York City area, but it is open to field trips from all over, especially when they are produced by kids ages 8 to 12. There are plenty of tips on how to create a documentary, a video contest called "Summer in My Town" that earns the winner $250 and plenty of virtual field trips such as a visit to the Empire State Building. There are interviews with book authors, puppeteers and all sorts of interesting people. The virtual trips are even divided up by subject matter, such as History and Science.

Another way to take a virtual field trip is to check out the website of a major attraction. Search the web or Google the web for any area that you may be interested in visiting. Many attractions sponsor their own virtual field trips. For one example, check out the Michigan 4-H Children's Garden Kids Tour. This is a fun 360 degree look at an actual outdoor garden, overlaid with plenty of web technology, such as virtual signs, characters and games. Visit the pizza garden or the teddy bear and animal garden.

Some other available virtual field trips include:

The Constitutional Walking Tour of Philadelphia at http://www.theconstitutional.com/tour.php

Expeditions @ Field Museum at http://www.fieldmuseum.org/expeditions/interactive_main.html

An Interactive Tour of Ellis Island at http://www.fieldmuseum.org/expeditions/interactive_main.html

Go ahead and explore. Which is your favorite?

Mary Ann Romans writes about everything related to saving money in the Frugal Blog, technology in the Computing Blog, and creating a home in the Home Blog. Starting June 1st, don't miss her articles in the Baby Blog. You can read more of her articles by clicking here.

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Learn more about Mary Ann Romans

Mary Ann Romans is a freelance writer and mother of three children. She lives in Pennsylvania with her husband, the kids and a 16-pound cat.

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