school year field trips
Pre-K-5th grade classrooms are invited to play while visiting the Museum’s 20,000 square feet of STEAM exhibits. Designed by educators and aligned to the Next Generation Science Standards, Museum experiences complement classroom learning.
A limited number of field trip slots are available for the 2022-2023 school year, and remaining dates and times will be booked on a first-come, first-served basis. Please continue reading to reserve your field trip today!
what to expect
Select your grade level for details and workshop options.
- Field trip reservations are for 1.5 hours in the Museum.
- 1 adult chaperone is required for every 5 students.
- Groups of over 50 students are encouraged to play in the Museum on Mondays.
- We recommend eating a snack prior to your visit. Learn more about the dining areas adjacent to the Museum in our FAQ section.
- Field trips are not permitted re-entry to the Museum after leaving to eat.
At this time, we do not offer workshops for pre-K students
.- Field trip reservations are for 1.5 to 2 hours in the Museum.
- 1 adult chaperone is required for every 5 students.
- We recommend eating a snack prior to your visit. Learn more about the dining areas adjacent to the Museum in our FAQ section.
- Field trips are not permitted re-entry to the Museum after leaving to eat.
K-1 workshop add-ons
Add a workshop to your field trip and harness your students’ curiosity and creative power!
- cloud explorers
- Use your body to understand cloud formation! In Cloud Explorers, students will learn about different types of clouds and their connections to weather.
- Curriculum connections: NGSS Weather and Climate
- make it fly
- Up, up and away! Explore aerodynamics by planning and building a flying contraption to test in wind tubes. Students will engage in the engineering design cycle: designing, testing, observing, and modifying their contraptions.
- Curriculum connections: NGSS Motion and Stability: Forces and Interactions, NGSS Engineering Design
- Field trip reservations are for 1.5 to 2 hours in the Museum.
- We recommend 1 adult for every 5 students. 1 adult per 5 students will receive FREE Museum admission at ALL grade levels.
- 2nd grade: 1 adult chaperone is required for every 5 students.
- 3rd grade: 1 adult chaperone is required for every 10 students.
- Field trips are not permitted re-entry to the Museum after leaving to eat.
2-3 workshop add-ons
Add a workshop to your field trip and harness your students’ curiosity and creative power!
- forces in motion
- Discover how friction and other forces impact each other. Students will build vehicles and test their designs on different surfaces.
- Curriculum connections: NGSS Motion and Stability: Forces and Interactions, Engineering Design
- adventures with wind
- Harness the power of clean energy and design a wind powered vehicle that can travel across different terrains. Students will engage in the engineering design cycle—designing, testing, observing, and modifying—while exploring forces.
- Curriculum connections: NGSS Motion and Stability: Forces and Interactions, Engineering Design
- Field trip reservations are for 1.5 to 2 hours in the Museum.
- We recommend 1 adult for every 5 students. 1 adult per 5 students will receive FREE Museum admission at ALL grade levels.
- 1 adult chaperone is required for every 10 students.
- Field trips are not permitted re-entry to the Museum after leaving to eat.
4-5 workshop add-ons
Add a workshop to your field trip and harness your students’ curiosity and creative power!
- circuit builders
- Zzzap! Investigate how electricity flows using circuit blocks. Test out batteries, bulbs, and switches and discover how electricity flows. Students will be introduced to concepts like series and parallel circuits.
- Curriculum connections: NGSS Energy, Energy Transfer
- color investigators
- Step into the colorful world of…. shadows?! Students will investigate the properties of light, reflection, and color vision.
- Curriculum connections: NGSS Waves, Electromagnetic Radiation
pricing
Note: The field trip rates below are available for school groups that contain 10 or more students.
$14 per student
chaperones
- free up to 1 adult per 5 students for all grade levels
- $14 for each additional chaperone
- We recommend 1 adult chaperone for every 5 students. Please read more about our chaperone requirements in our faqs.
workshops are an additional flat fee of $150
- students will be led through a hands-on experience by a trained member of the Museum Education team
- workshops can accommodate a maximum of 25 students
- workshops run for 30 minutes
frequently asked questions
Due to overwhelming demand, all free Title 1 school field trips currently sponsored for the 2022-2023 school year have been reserved. Please sign up for our educator newsletter to learn about funding opportunities for the 2023-2024 school year.
Through the support of generous partners, National Children’s Museum offers a limited number of free, grant-funded field trips and field trips with workshop add-ons for Title 1 schools in Washington, DC; Maryland; and Virginia.
The Museum does not have a group dining area on-site. Nearby seating options for group dining include the Woodrow Wilson Plaza, which has benches and tables for public use, where your group can enjoy lunch outdoors (weather permitting), and the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center’s large food court. Field trips are not permitted re-entry to the Museum after leaving to eat.
We recommend eating a snack prior to entering the Museum so your group has energy to play until you leave for lunch.
Pre-K and mixed Pre-K and K class field trips are scheduled for 1.5 hours in the Museum. K-5th grades are scheduled for 2 hours in the Museum; this includes time in the workshop if you have booked one.
We have found that K and 5th grade classes who have not booked a workshop have a successful field trip visit if they spend 1.5 hours in the Museum. Groups are not permitted to leave for lunch and return to the Museum.
The Museum can accommodate school groups of all sizes. If your group is larger than 150 people, please email our team directly at [email protected].
Pre-K and mixed Pre-K and K groups over 50 students are encouraged to play in the Museum on Mondays. Workshops can accommodate a maximum of 25 students and we offer up to 3 workshops per day.
Our minimum chaperone requirements are:
- K-2: 1 adult required for every 5 students
- 3-5: 1 adult required for every 10 students
We recommend 1 adult for every 5 students. 1 adult per 5 students will receive FREE Museum admission at ALL grade levels.
