10 Fun & Informative School Field Trip Ideas

LEGOLAND Discovery Center Dallas/Fort Worth should be at the top of your list if you want the perfect destination for a kids' school field trip. Here, they can expect to build anything they like, and also enjoy fun rides. In addition, the interactive nature of activities at LEGOLAND Discovery Center Dallas/Fort Worth offers an educational experience to its visitors. Not sure where to begin? Don't fret. Here is a complete guide to LEGOLAND Discovery Center Dallas/Fort Worth and 10 must-visit school field trip locations. 

LEGOLAND Discovery Center Dallas/ Fort Worth

LEGOLAND Discovery Center Dallas/Fort Worth is in Grapevine, approximately half an hour from Fort Worth and Dallas. The center is open throughout the year, and wheelchair-accessible. 

LEGOLAND Discovery Center Dallas//Fort Worth is bound to entertain kids for hours with its fifteen attractions. Plus, it serves as a great learning resource by encouraging careers in STEM at an early age. The building activities allow kids to tap into their creativity and improve their visualization skills. Also, having the small kids build together with their classmates encourages teamwork, which will prove helpful in school and later in their careers. Teachers will especially appreciate the motorboat rides as it creates the resilience and confidence of the young children attempting to pedal the LEGO® boats in the right direction. 

LEGOLAND Discovery Center Dallas/Fort Worth has three ride areas. Kingdom Quest is a crowd-pleaser. All riders must be able to sit upright unaided. Guest under 51 inches must be accompanied by a 14 years old or older responsible adult on the ride.The kids will enter a chariot that will take them through an enchanting adventure involving rescuing a princess and fighting trolls. The interactive screens are an exciting addition to this ride. Next, you'll want to take the kids to Merlin's Apprentice, which requires children to be at least 36". Here, the kids must pedal, raising their carts high. The LEGO® City: Forest Ranger Pursuit is another exciting ride where the kids drive LEGO® police jeep vehicles and go after the game's robbers who have stolen gold. 

Dive into the LEGO® construction universe by visiting MINILAND®. This attraction is striking, with a miniature version of Dallas built using more than one million LEGO® bricks. The kids will especially love the interactive miniature cowboys. The Space Mission offers a peek into alien planets made using thousands of LEGO® bricks. Expect to see a LEGO® rocket blasting off and smoke. 

The LEGO® NINJAGO City Adventure is another attraction that helps build kids' resilience. The countless obstacle challenges, such as the vortex spinning barrel and the conveyor, test the kids' building skills and persistence, all while having fun. 

The kids will want to take a break after their ninja adventure, and the LEGO® 4D Cinema offers this. Here, they'll meet various LEGO® characters on screen. The movies play on rotation. The main featured movies are LEGO® City: Report for Duty™ and LEGO® Movie™ 4D A New Adventure, including thrilling water and snow effects. 

More building adventures await at LEGO® Racers: Build & Test, and the center's Duplo® Village. The thousands of bricks allow kids to tap into their creative side and build anything from vehicles to buildings. The LEGO® Friends Heartlake City offers breath-taking displays of the five best friends, Olivia, Emma, Stephanie, Mia, and Andrea, and lets visitors add a LEGO® creation and take pictures.  

Your Legoland tour is not complete until you visit the Pirate Beach, which is open during the summer months. Ensure the parents pack bathing suits for their kids to enjoy this water playground. The kids will have a blast at the pirate beach, swerving water jets and sliding down water slides. 

Lastly, if your kids already have LEGO® mini figurines at home, you can tell the parents about the trade option offered at the LEGOLAND Discovery Center Dallas/Fort Worth. Here the kids can trade off worn characters for new mini-figures. 

SEA LIFE Grapevine Aquarium 

SEA LIFE Grapevine Aquarium is across the LEGOLAND Discovery Center Dallas/Fort Worth and home to the state's only 360-degree ocean tunnel. This underwater universe offers various striking exhibits, such as nine shark species, with haggard being the largest; expect to see rescued green sea turtles and four stingray species. The opening hours vary. We recommend visiting the site before your visit. 

The aquarium schedules feed time for the sea creatures every half hour, and the knowledgeable staff is more than happy to educate visitors about the different sea animals. A must-see session is shark feed time, where one staff member dives into the ocean tank to feed these marvelous sea creatures. 

Witness the Stingrays at Stingray Bay swim around and splash water at the visitors. Ranger, the Southern Stingray, is notably a fan favorite due to its friendliness. The plexiglass window and kids' cave allow visitors to view the creatures up close. 

Visit Shipwrecked for a chance to go into the underwater stations that will make the kids feel right inside the water. Don't forget to say hi to Carmen, the octopus who loves to squeeze herself into a circular ball.  

Walk to the 360-degree underwater tunnel to view enormous sea creatures, including sharks and others like Eddie, the turtle rescue. The Jellyfish room is ever so striking due to its ever-changing lights that make the jellyfish appear glowing because of its translucent body. 

Watch the kids' faces light up in the clownfish cave. The Shark Walk offers an interactive display as you can view the dinosaur dive tank from there. Prepare to be mesmerized by the seahorse temple, a breeding program furthering research in marine biology.  

Finally, ensure the kids take the behind-the-scenes tour, which involves visiting the lab and food preparation rooms. 

Dallas Arboretum 

The 66-acre Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Gardens is a popular attraction primarily due to its educative nature. This attraction is open year-round except on three holidays between 9.00 a.m.; and 5.00 p.m. It features over ten display gardens and is wheelchair-accessible. Visitors can rent wheelchairs upon arrival at no cost. 

While there are various gardens to explore, the Rory Meyers Children's Adventure Garden is our top recommendation for a school trip. Begin your tour by visiting the Walne Family Discovery Lab, which offers kids ages six and up a chance to learn STEM first-hand. Here the kids can participate in experiments led by the lab's educator. The lab also has an exploration center with various displays, including Dancing Tulips, Galaxy Slime, Sand Science, and Strawberry DNA. 

Next is the OmniGlobe, which offers users an otherworldly experience. Two projectors placed inside a six-foot sphere display rotating images of the ocean currents, solar system, and weather patterns. Catch the weather and space and OmniGlobe Presentation at 11 a.m. and 2:30 p.m., respectively. Other events include a Tour of the Solar System, Deep Space, a Geologic History of Dinosaurs, and a Starry Night. 

The Children's Adventure Garden also offers a weekday storytime program, the Little Adventurers Activities, exploring children's storybooks. This fifteen-minute program allows kids ages five and below to explore nature and holidays. Examples of storybook titles include Dr. Seuss: One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish, the Best Nest, and The Astronaut with a Song for the Stars. Be sure to catch the rotating puppet shows Spring out of Winter, Marvelous Metamorphosis, and the purpose of Pollinating during the weekend. The last stop is the STEM Stops, a section with several galleries whereby educators perform more in-depth science experiments. 

Reunion Tower 

The reunion tower is a 561-foot-tall building situated in Dallas. The Geo Deck is the tower's main attraction and is 470 feet, offering visitors a 360-degree view of the city's skyline. We recommend scheduling trips around the holiday season as they usually hold crafting events for the kids and a photo session in front of a green screen. 

Perot Museum of Nature and Science 

The Perot Museum is a world-class museum with eleven halls and a wonderland of labs, museums, and exploration centers. The place is open six days a week between 10 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. Once you get there, begin your adventure at the Moody Family Children's Museum. It offers an indoor hiking trail and a fantasy farmer's market that lets children use their imagination skills by roleplaying vendors, customers, and even the delivery person! Keep the kids engaged by taking them to the Scavenger hunt. 

Still in the museum is the River corridor with various flora and fauna displays. A fun challenge awaits at the Dallas Discovery, where kids can climb over a miniature Dallas. The Dino Dig gives kids a better sense of paleontology. At the same time, the Art lab lets them explore nature through colors. 

Visit the Rose Hall of Birds to learn about the dinosaurs that became extinct. What's more, the kids can go on a scavenger hunt. And later try to create a bird. This area also offers insight into mating behaviors in birds and an evolution journey of how birds have adapted over the years. 

The T. Boone Pickens Life Then and Now Hall offers an in-depth look into dinosaur life. The kids will love the Fossil Hunt AR experience, which offers an engaging scavenger hunt. The Expanding Universe Hall lets visitors embark on a space exploration journey. Expect an enchanting peek into the solar system. Travel into the past through the stargazing adventure. And learn about space discoveries and their impact on how people view the universe. 

The Tom Hunt Energy Hall offers insights into how energy use has changed. Here, the kids can also see how off-road vehicles are made and learn how much energy the museum consumes. The Dynamic earth hall is a crowd-pleaser thanks to its 4-D-like effects. The hall has various immersive exhibits, including an earthquake shake and a tornado simulator. 

Texas Discovery Gardens 

The Texas Discovery Gardens is a 7.5-acre garden that features a butterfly house and a house displaying the native Texas snakes. The place is ideal for educational school trips thanks to its Earthkeepers Educational Program that involves the following hour-long activities. 

• Gardening 
• Butterfly skies, where the kids explore a butterfly's life cycle 
• Art in the garden 
• Botany lessons 
• An exploration of the relationship between math and nature 

• An exploration of the ecological relationships of flora and fauna 

Fort Worth Museum of Science & History 

This museum in Fort Worth has multiple exhibits offering interactive and non-interactive tours. The main fossil hall has distinct dinosaur skeletal remains of the Camptosaurus, Tenontosaurus, and Allosaurus. The interactive screens in this hall let visitors color the dinosaurs. Walk over to the Noble Planetarium to view a space race artifacts collection, a Fort Worth flag as seen on the moon, and space suits. The educators at the Noble Space gallery will then walk the kids through the science of the universe. 

The cattle raisers museum is a must-visit stop, featuring unique galleries that give a sneak peek of the ranching industry. The vision trail explores the relationship between ranching and technology, looking at innovation from the 1950s to the present. The gathering place gallery highlights the ranching families and displays four longhorns. The hall of great Cattle also has striking displays of well-known cattle breeds. Your journey is incomplete unless you have visited the Galaxy Park Playground, which offers enjoyment through obstacles and various physical games.  

Dr. Pepper Museum 

Located in Waco, Texas, this museum peers into the history of the Dr. Pepper soda. Two buildings and a courtyard offer two experiences; make and taste a soda. Watch how commercials have changed over the years before visiting the soda fountain for a cold glass of Dr. Pepper. The kids can also attempt to create soda label designs and test the various vending machines manufactured over the years. Ensure the kids visit the Free Enterprise Institute for lessons on innovation. 

Frontiers of Flight Museum 

The Frontiers of Flight Museum is another attraction that offers kids a better understanding of STEM and is conducted through various educational programs. For instance, the "Learning to Fly" PK program is an introductory tour of airport workers and facilities. "My Moon, My Sky" explores the stars and the moon's various phases. 

The "Down to Earth" program explores the earth's weather patterns through experiments. Other programs include Aerodynamics for older children, the Lunar Crash Course, and a journey through space. 

River Legacy Living Science Center 

Thanks to its ecological diversity, this 1300-acre oasis is a habitat for plants and animals. It's divided into the River legacy Nature center and the River Legacy Park. The former has various amenities, including interactive environmental exhibits, nature trails, and aquariums. The Legacy Park, on the other hand, offers more sporty amenities such as bike trails and canoe launches. 

The Living Science center is a great place to begin the tour. The kids can enter the Discovery room with interactive floors and transparent glass, allowing visitors to see the sea creatures. Various microscopes lie in the nature center. There's also a pond area fitted with binoculars giving kids a peek into aquatic life, including frogs and turtles. 

LEGOLAND Discovery Center Dallas/Fort Worth Offers a Perfect Combo of Fun and Education 

If you are a parent whose kids are on break or a teacher looking for great field trip destinations, look no further than LEGOLAND Discovery Center Dallas. The Center has enough activities for a half-day visit. Plus we offer combo tickets for other nearby attractions. For instance, the kids can walk across the SEA LIFE Aquarium Grapevine and view both attractions on the same school trip day. We recommend that teachers and parents purchase the tickets online to skip the arrival queues. For more information, visit our website or email us at dfw.sales@merlinentertainments.biz