Importance of Field Trips for Child Development

Outdoor is probably the ideal place for growing ups because there the children come directly into the contact of nature. It is often noticed that children who usually play a good period of time playing outdoor games become much more physically stronger and mentally sound, then children who ideally pass their free time playing video games or watching television. Young minds should constantly be exposed to travels to boost and enrich their intellectual base and worldview. These educational tours or field trips not only give an insight to the world around, but give the students a chance to know different cultures. No one can deny the benefits of educational tours. Books give us the theoretical knowledge; whereas educational tours practically transform that knowledge for our better understanding. Say for example a child who has visited Taj Mehal can write about that more easily than a child who has never been to Agra. It helps us in understanding the things in a more easy and lucid manner. The great Indian Laureate Rabindranath Tagore once wrote “The health of the mind cannot be maintained on the ration of books served upon in motionless classes within the prison walls of a static school”.

Field trips or educational tours provide children hand on learning experience. There is no denying the fact that in this superfast world of internet and e-books, one can get all the information sitting online only. But say when children visit a farm to learn about vegetables, they get a clear idea about how the vegetables grow and also get some additional information about them. Moreover, when children go together to a particular field trip, it gives them a chance to socialize with each other. It’s a great way of promoting team spirit among them by organizing group activities and sport events. Field trips are great ways for teachers to make children understand that learning can be a fun filled activity. When children are exposed to different subjects in a practical way, they start generating interest in it. This results in high academic performance.

Field trips are a break from usual day to day activities. It breaks the monotony of school life by introducing to children a different way of learning. Field trips can be taken to a variety of places and events. Zoos, museums, parks, nature centers, plays, cultural celebrations and events are all possible locations for field trips. As field trips provide sensory experience, it becomes very important to collaborate this in school curriculum. The modern day schools give ample importance to that and thus organize field trips after regular intervals. The teachers also get benefited by these trips as they come across new things during their trips. Field trips or educational tours help strengthening the bond between teachers and their students. These trips are beneficial for students in their professional life also. As in these trips, students come across different kinds of people, so it develops their interactive skills. Children who go on field trips are often capable of grasping global ideas and concepts with greater ease and are even capable of thinking about global issues freely on their own too.