This year has been a particularly hard one for those of us with wanderlust! I knew I was frustrated about being home day in and day out, but I was surprised how much my kids missed travel. So in an effort to quell their desire for travel I came up with a bunch of virtual field trips for kids.

I found most of them by looking around online but I even created my own with my kids! (If you want more information click here.)

Most of these virtual field trips for kids can be don in 30-60 minutes. Some are multi part, but all of them will be fun long after the pandemic is gone!

Virtual field trips can be as exapansive a visit to a town such as London, Ontario, or just watching a panda play. Do whatever you have time to do!

Virtually Visit the Zoo

 

Watch your favorite animals at the San Diego Zoo.

This might be the best zoo option out there! San Diego’s Zoo focuses on the crowdpleasers like elephants, pandas, koalas, and monkeys. Depending on how much your kids love animals this could become a daily adventure.

See the famous Pandas at the National Zoo.

 

Similar to the San Diego Zoo the National Zoo offers some awesome ways to watch your favorite animals, but they also offer free lessons on animals to groups of 10 or more. Grab your family and a friend or two and enjoy learning all about habitats, snakes, and more.

Virtually Visit an Aquarium

 

Visit the Monterey Bay Aquarium live cams.

You can watch live while jellyfish wiggle around, sharks swim, and adorable baby otters. The live cams run most of the day  but each attraction has different hours so visit the link above to double check.

 

Sign up for  different programs from the Maritime Aquarium

 

The Maritime Aquarium is in Connecticut and offers fabulous programing for kids and their virtual visit is slightly different from most. You have to register for different programs offered each week, but they offer tons of information and learning experiences for you and your kids.

 

Visit a Planetarium Virtually

 

Check out the stars at the National Air and Space Museum

 

The National Air and Space Museum offers live planetarium shows for groups of 10 or more. You can see the same shows that are available at the actual museum.

 

Learn about Constellations and the names of Harry Potter at the Roberson Museum and Science Center.

The coolest program they have at the Roberson is looking at the sky and figuring out names of constellations and why they were used in Harry Potter.

Visit a Museum Online

 

Learn about the natural world at the Smithsonian Natural History Museum.

 

This museum is among my kids favorites! You can visit the giant elephant in the rotunda, see famous rocks and minerals, learn about dinosaurs and more.

Take a trip to the British Museum

Play games and learn about the British Museum. The museum offers looks at their exhibits and a way to interact with some of their most famous objects. The have games, mazes, and more.

 

Natural History Museum in NYC

 

Visit the Natural History Museum in NYC and do dozens of field trips. Like the hall of planets or the Butterfly Conservatory. You can even watch A Night at the Museum before going on your virtual trip so that you can visualize the museum.

Visit the Louvre online

 

Want to see Mona Lisa or learn about the Egyptian Expedition? It’s all available in a way kids can understand. I haven’t found a museum who has done as well with kids learning as the Louvre. There are stories about famous art pieces told with cartoons that make the artifacts feel  like fun!

Check out the Van Gogh Museum

Have your kids learned about Vincent Van Gogh? If not, this is a great way to teach them about this famous impressionist in this spectacular museum. See Van Gogh’s famous paintings and his sketches.

Learn about Space with a Virtual Field Trip

 See Johnson Space Center in action

Do you have a kid who wants to be an astronaut? Boeing and NASA partnered up to bring a virtual tour to kids at home. You can take a tour of the facility online, and see how space travel is changing every day.

Watch what Slime does in SpaceNickelodeon bring your child a 15 minutes tour of what slime does in zero gravity. You will have real astronauts teach you about  how water and slime react in orbit. This is a super fun one for all ages.

 

Historic Virtual Field Trips

 

Visit the Alamo in San Antonio, Texas

 

“Remember the Alamo” the saying goes. But what are we remembering? The Alamo was a hideout during the war for independence for Mexico. You can virtually tour the entire site with an easy to use 3d site.

Visit the Eiffel Tower

My kids love this virtual tour of the Eiffel Tower. The tour takes you up the tower and down and shows you daylight and nighttime views. The views are better than any you would get there in real life.

Visit Buckingham Palace

 

Want to see the home of the Queen of England? You can tour Buckingham palace and see what it is like to live like royalty. With easy to navigate controls even your small children will be able to take this tour.

The Great Pyramids of Giza

Have you ever wanted to see a wonder of the world? Well here is a way to visit them up close without leaving home. The Pyramids will built in 2500 B.C. which makes them one of the oldest standing antiquities in the world. This virtual tour is one of the best for kids!

 

Visit the Cliffs of Moher in Ireland

 

You have seen these cliffs in pictures of Ireland before and they are spectacular in real life. But they are almost as amazing virtually. Take a virtual tour and see the Cliffs of Moher from every angle without having to hike to the best spots!

Visit the Coliseum in Rome

 

Google arts and culture brings you a decent virtual visit of the coliseum. Your kids will like learning about coliseums and why the one in Rome is of so much importance. Plus it’s much easier to get to see the inside this way instead of waiting in a huge line to see the Coliseum in Rome live!

Virtually walk through the streets of Pompei

 

Pompei is an ancient city in Italy that was completely destroyed by a volcano. The ash that settled over the city preserved it and archeologists discovered the city hundreds of years later!

 

See the view from the Empire State Building 

 

Have you ever wanted a great view of New York City?  The Empire State Building has a great view of Manhattan in real life, but it is even better in some ways as a virtual tour. The virtual tour highlights certain buildings and part of town in a way the real thing doesn’t!

Virtual Mount Rushmore

 

Mount Rushmore is the site where 4 presidents heads are carved into a mountain. You can see the entire site including the gift shop. The only things I wish were better is that it is hard to see the actual carvings unless you look at the pop-up photos. Other than that, it is a great tour.

Visit Easter Island online

 

Have you ever wanted to visit the famous Easter Island statues? Google has made it easy and quick to do a virtual tour of the island while learning about these great monoliths.

Virtual Field Trips to National Parks

National Parks are some of the most beautiful places in the United States and when you can’t get to one, you can virtually visit one.

Redwood National Park

Visit The Redwood National Park and see the tallest trees on the earth. Not only are they super tall, they are hugely wide. This google earth tour allows you to explore wherever you would like within the park.

Virtual Yellowstone National Park

 

Use Google earth to explore one of the most famous National Parks in the United States. You can see the geyser Old Faithful and look around at the beautiful landscape that brings millions of visitors to the park each year.

Cool and Crazy things to visit virtually

Take a virtual tour of Peppa Pig land

All the Peppa Pig lover will enjoy taking a tour of the Peppa Pig amusement park in England. You can see all your favorite characters and watch some of the rides.

Play Geography Games and learn about the world

World Geography games lets you play games like name the capitals, find the country and more.

National Geographic Online for Kids

National Geographic has helped millions of people learn about the world. They offer mini courses for kids about various topics and have games, videos and more.

Virtual Travel Programs

Travel the World from Home

 

This is the program me and my kids created during quarantine!

Travel the World from Home is a new and exciting program for families! The 12-week program teaches kids about the world around them in a fun cooperative way.

Here are the basics:

• You will receive 2 countries a month to “travel.” Each country is filled with 10-20 hours of fun and learning.
• The country is delivered to your inbox and has easy directions with minimal preparation involved.
• Each country will feature crafts, movies, recipes, games, facts about each country and Youtube learning.

Here is a link to get a free visit to Japan!

 

Want 18 more virtual travel experiences, including my kids very favorite one?

 

 

 

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