Outback Field Trip

For our unit on Australia, my class took their second field trip to Outback Steakhouse. For many of my students it was their first time on a school bus. Before we loaded onto the bus, I had the students who have been on a school bus share with the class the rules of the school bus. We talked about how to be safe and listen to directions. As we were on our way to the restaurant, there were many nervous giggles as we went over bumps and made wide left hand turns.

Outback is one of my favorite field trips. The Outback staff does a wonderful job keeping the students interested in Australian culture. The staff gives us a tour around the restaurant showing us Australian artifacts and explaining the different Australian traditions to us. The last part of the tour is through the kitchen. The students watch as the cooks make French fries and Bloomin Onions.

The last part of our trip is my favorite. We are served lunch! As a teacher, I cherish this moment because I never eat lunch out. The students sit at the tables with their chaperones and munch on Bloomin' Onions until their chicken fingers and French fries are served. The Outback policy is to serve all the children first and then the adults. I walked around until all the students were served. This was a great time to take pictures. For dessert, we were served ice cream!

The students had a great time. Outback always does a well organized trip for us. Everyone leaves happy. Parents love to hear that we are taking a trip to Outback and I had more than enough chaperones volunteer. I enjoy this field trip because I feel secure and I do not have to worry about a child wondering off. We took this field trip on a Monday. Throughout the rest of the week, I had opportunities to reinforce Australia by reminding the class the facts we learned at Outback.

Pumpkin Time!

During our field trip to the pumpkin patch, I did have enough time to choose a pumpkin for our class. I  didn't want to purchase a huge pumpkin because it was a walking field trip. I didn't want to carry a huge pumpkin back! I had help from my students and we choose a pumpkin that was just right. The pumpkin sat on our table for a few days. Each day the students would ask what we were going to do with the pumpkin.

Finally the day came when it was time for us to explore the inside of our pumpkin. The students sat on the floor as I passed the pumpkin around so the students could feel how smooth the pumpkin was and how heavy it was. There were many giggles as the students passed the pumpkin around. Many students could not believe how heavy it was. As the pumpkin was being passed around, we talked about how pumpkins grew. I was surprised at how many students knew many interesting facts about pumpkins.

After the pumpkin was passed around, it was time to open it up. I had a hard time cutting the pumpkin open because I do not have a lot of experience carving a pumpkin. The kids didn't mind though as I took my time being careful not to cut myself. When the top finally opened, I started taking out the seeds. I had many volunteers offering help to take out the seeds. I was surprised to see how many students wanted to stick their hands inside the gooey pumpkin. I allowed every student who wanted to help a chance to take seeds out.

When all the seeds were taken out, I laid them on a paper towel to dry them out before we counted them. Being extremely careful, I carved two eyes, a nose, and a mouth onto our pumpkin. The students were very excited throughout the process. When we were finished, I picked quiet tables to sit the pumpkin at. I never had such a quiet room! As soon as every table had a chance with the pumpkin, it was time to count the seeds. There were 557 seeds inside the pumpkin. We made small piles of one hundred seeds to make counting easier. I took the pumpkin seeds home to roast. During our fall celebration, I had the students tasting the seed. I had a few try them and like them. The rest wouldn't touch them!

The Pumpkin Patch

Some teachers thrive on field trip days. They love leaving the school, seeing new places, and sometimes enjoying a lunch out. I on the other hand cringe when I hear those dreaded words: "It's field trip time!" I don't actually dislike the actual field trip because I see how much fun the students are having. It's the weeks and days before the field trip that I could live without. I always forget to organize the permission slips and fill out the appropriate paper work. And I ALWAYS mess up the money! (Click here and here for field trip tips!)

This week we had our first field trip to the pumpkin patch. Lucky for me it was a quick walk across the street. As we approached the road, the students became excited to see the policeman stopping traffic for us to cross the street. The students held hands with the chaperones and waved to the policeman as we passed by.

Once we arrived, the people in charge of the pumpkin patch provided us with songs and stories. The students sat in hay as we listened. Odd shaped pumpkins were also passed around so the students could see that pumpkins were not just orange and smooth. I was impressed at how well my students listened to the directions. I never had to remind my students how we act outside of school. There were two other classes that came and all the kindergarteners represented our school proudly.

After the songs and stories, my class took a trip around the pumpkin patch. The students had a great time exploring the different pumpkins. As the students were exploring, I took each student aside and took individual pictures of the students with the pumpkins in the background. The pictures came out great. I always love pictures of the students with big orange pumpkins surrounding them. 

Once I took all the pictures, the students were ready to pick out their pumpkins. The cost of the field trip was $2.00 but the pumpkin patch did not have any $2.00 pumpkins. The students were allowed to choose one $1.50 pumpkin and a $.50 pumpkin. The chaperones were a huge help with picking out the pumpkins. The students were excited to pick out two pumpkins but they were not choosing the right sizes. The chaperones made sure each student walked away with two pumpkins the right sizes.

Overall the field trip was a huge success. The students had a great time and they were all well behaved. I liked having this field trip as our first. It is a simple field trip but I can see how the students act outside school. I like that our first field trip is a walking field trip too. We have our second field trip planned for February and by then the students will be ready for a bus. (Click here for other trip ideas!)