Fun, Free Virtual Field Trips for Elementary Kids
A few years ago, my district did away with out-of-county field trips because of high gas prices. Then they cut back on field trips even further because they had to align directly with the curriculum standards. So I began looking at free virtual field trips for elementary students.
No, there isn’t a bumpy bus ride or parents coming along as chaperones; but it can still be a lot of fun and very educational.
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Ideas to Make Virtual Field Trips Fun and Exciting
Virtual field trips will never be as exciting for kids as the real thing, but you can still make them a fun learning experience!
- Let students bring a brown bag lunch and eat outside
- Take lots of pictures just like you would on a real field trip
- Have students keep a journal where they write ideas, feelings, and things they learned during your virtual visit.
- Link up with another class from the location of your virtual trip. Exchange letters or post cards beforehand. Get your class excited about “visiting” their town.
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Where can you go on virtual field trips?
Maybe you’d like to visit a rainforest or the desert. Check out an amazing zoo or museum. See beaches or mountains or even a volcano. How about watching an orchestra perform or strolling the streets in a historic town? There are so many sites you can visit online. Just project the video or online tour so everyone can see and you’ve got yourself a virtual field trip!
Here are some of the best places to find interactive virtual tours and free virtual field trips for elementary students:
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The National Museum of Natural History
One of the best free virtual field trips, in my opinion, is this amazing interactive tour of the Smithsonian natural history museum. There are so many different online exhibits to see that you can easily work this virtual trip into your lesson plans, no matter what science topic you are currently teaching.
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On this tour, you can wander through every exhibit on all three floors. You can also go outside and view the gardens. As you work your way through the museum, you can zoom in to read all of the placards and signs. One nice feature is the interactive map that lets you easily jump from one room to another.
The room-by-room tours of select exhibits feature little camera icons called hotspots. You can click on these to see something in greater detail. The best part of the tour is the 360 degree viewing capability. By dragging the screen with your mouse, you can view the entire room – even the floor or ceiling. Another great feature is the ability to visit past exhibits that are no longer on display.
I suggest starting the tour together as a whole group and then letting students have an opportunity to explore the museum themselves on tablets or computers. You could even send them on a scavenger hunt to find certain things or bits of information. Each wing and room of the museum is marked which makes it easy for students to record where something is located.
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Visit the National Parks
The United States National Park Service maintains a fairly large list of parks that you can visit online. Some of them are photo tours and some are virtual video tours. These are great because you can combine social studies (geography) with science (plants and animal life, nature conservancy).
You can see the full list of park tours on the National Park Service website.
Some of the best tours include:
- Grand Canyon National Park
- Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park
- Homestead National Monument of America
- Death Valley Explorer video series
- Mount Rushmore
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To find these, and many more, you’ll need to click to expand the section that says “Featured Video and Photo Tours”:
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Also, be sure to check out the “Kids Activities” section where you can find more classroom activities for elementary aged students.
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Visit Space
One of the most interesting virtual tours is of the International Space Station. Both NASA and the European Space Agency offer tours. NASA’s is video based and it’s the next best thing to taking your students on a real space exploration. The ESA’s tour is a 360 degree walkthrough that lets students get an up-close look at all of the equipment and compartments. Or take students Behind the Scenes at Johnson Space Center
One of my favorite virtual field trips for grades 4 and up is the interactive Space Innovation Tour. Students can take the tour through Kahoot! either as a whole class activity or individually. There is also a teacher guide and worksheets you can download to go along with it. This virtual field trip takes about an hour to complete and your students will be engaged the entire time!
Are your students learning about the planets? Then this virtual exploration of the surface of Mars with the Curiosity Rover is one you won’t want to miss. A similar virtual experience is Access Mars.
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Explore History
Your students can step into the past and experience history with these interesting interactive tours. Some are geared toward specific historical figures or events and others show what daily life was like during different time periods:
- The First Thanksgiving – Plimoth Plantation
- Colonial Williamsburg Virtual Tours
- Ellis Island Virtual Tour
- Mount Vernon Virtual Tour
- 360 Tour of the White House
- Roman Baths Walkthrough
- 360 Tour of the Alamo
- Native American Farmstead Virtual Walking Tour
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Travel the World
Visiting famous landmarks and wonders of the world doesn’t require a trip around the globe. Your students can visit a historical site using any mobile device. Here are some really interesting free virtual field trip programs:
- Virtual Tour of Buckingham Palace
- All About the Taj Mahal (Thank you to Tyler of the Bay Minette Scout Troop 34 for submitting this one)
- The Great Wall of China
- Great Pyramids of Ancient Egypt
- Stonehenge 360
- Windsor Castle Virtual Tour
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Appreciate Art
If your students enjoy art, a virtual museum tour might be in order. There are quite a few art museums that offer these. Here are a few particularly thorough ones:
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Learn About Animals
Students of all ages love animals! A great way to learn about animal life is through these free virtual field trips and tours designed by zoo educators. Some of these have live videos and animal cams, so you may have to check several times throughout the day to catch the action.
- Farm 360 Virtual Tours
- Virtual Egg Farm Field Trips
- San Diego Zoo Live Cams
- National Aquarium Virtual Tour
- Monterey Bay Aquarium Live Webcams
- Dairy Tour 360 (dairy farm tour)
- American Dairy Association Virtual Farm Tours (with a live farmer guide)
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WildEarth Kids is one virtual experience that I highly recommend! There are live, guided safari sessions twice daily that you can watch on their website or YouTube channel. You can even email questions to be answered live by their nature guides.
I also really like this Amazon Rainforest Virtual Reality Tour.
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Virtual Field Trips Just For Fun
Finally, here are some other interesting virtual trips and interactive educational programs that are just fun!
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So now what are you waiting for? Get going on your next field trip right in your own classroom!
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FAQ About Using Virtual Fields Trips in the Classroom
What are some different ways to assess student learning and engagement during and after virtual field trips?
An easy way to assess learning after your virtual field trip is with a simple field trip reflection sheet. For very young elementary school students, ask them to draw a picture of their favorite part and write a sentence about what they learned. Older students can go into more detail about their interactive learning. A question I like to ask is, “What part of the field trip would you most want to see in person and why?”
Some virtual field trips provide free teaching materials to use in the classroom. These are often a great way to extend and assess learning.
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How can I involve parents or guardians in the virtual field trip experience?
My two favorite ways to involve parents in virtual field trips are inviting them to be guest speakers and station managers. Before your field trip, send a quick note to ask families if they’ve ever visited that place in person (or a similar place if it’s a generic location like a farm). Anyone who has may have pictures to share or souvenirs they can bring in to show the students. This makes the trip feel more real.
Some virtual field trips can be enhanced with hands-on activities in the classroom. For example, after a virtual trip to see the Great Pyramids, students can build their own pyramid to learn about shapes or do a mummy experiment with apples. A tech-savvy adult can help kids navigate Google Earth to view the location from every angle. Asking parent volunteers to come and help with stations like these is a great opportunity for them to be involved in the fun!
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