Should you send your child on a school trip?

According to certain studies led by universities, students who participate in school trips perform better in class, achieve higher test scores and remain mentally and physically active. School field trips have been a part of children’s educational endeavours for years. Children develop better socially with out-of-classroom activities. Taking kids to science museums, zoos, and art venues indulges them in active and thorough learning. Additionally, these trips help academically low-performing students to acquire better results.

Exposing kids to a culturally enriching and broader curriculum results in improved academic outcomes. Children participating in school trips find schools more exciting and come up with many creative ideas. Researchers believe these field trips to be beneficial for both individual character development and academic success. You as a parent may not only interested in your child's academic qualities but also interested in his/her social engagement habits and skills. It's only outside the classrooms that your child can get an opportunity to improve their social skills.

Safety, concern and affordability are three of the most daunting reasons why parents do not send their children on a school trip. Every parent feels scared to let their kid go out on their own. Not only parents, but teachers too sometimes question whether taking children away from the school environment is worth effort and risks involved. But we as adults need to look beyond safety concerns (which can easily be managed with simple measures), and understand that these trips tie educational, interactive and external activities to personal memories and experiences and develop a deeper sense of understanding of topics and subjects taught in schools.

Educational tours to places of importance are a prominent way to improve a kid’s education. Despite all the worries and fears, parents must try to look at school trips from a different perspective. Read on to learn about the benefits of school trips.

1. Promotes effective learning

Classrooms are fine for theoretical and practical learning. But, if you want your child to have greater exposure to subjects like history, geography and maths, classroom learning won’t add much to the learning. School trips offer kids chances to learn in a new environment. The place makes the skills or facts learnt more interesting. It is the nature of humans to relate better when they are associated with a smell, a place, a touch or the people they shared the experience with. For example, if a child is being taken to a war zone to learn about wars, he/she will be seen to relate to the sacrifices made by the people in wartime. Also, in the case of learning languages, a student will be more able to study a language when he/she would be taken to visit the country where the language is spoken.

2. Enhances social skills

Kids today don’t get much time to interact during lunchtime and breaks. These trips make learning and communication with each other easier and they get the opportunity to deal with adults, other than their family members, in a wide range of settings. Moreover, there might be situations where a student meets students from other countries or cultures and work in teams with them. They indulge in several activities with kids coming from different backgrounds and share exciting stories with them.

3. Works on personal development

It might be that a child has to stay away from his/her family to go on a school trip for the first time. Residential trips offer a child plenty of opportunities to take care of and learn about themselves. Whether your kid is in primary or secondary level, being away for the first time can be scary but eye-opening and exciting. Such trips allow students to be more responsible and confident in a particular environment. Once they come back from their trip, they become more self-contained and independent. They carry out more household chores, do things on their own and chances are they may take care of their siblings too! School trips teach students survival strategies by giving them real-life and practical lessons. As a result, they demonstrate confidence, coping strategies, independence and self-esteem.

4. Improves mental health

These days, 5 to 19-year-old kids are generally diagnosed with mental disorders. A school trip develops resilience skills and builds confidence by providing kids with a positive mental health boost.

5. Develops good physical health

Parents usually worry about their children spending too much time indoors on their gadgets and in front of screens. Longer school trips allow them to stay outdoors more and connect with nature. These connections aid in inspiring children to stay out and engage in outdoor experiences.

6. Builds strong friendships

Every parent encourages their kid to make friends. Children indeed make friends at their school. However, schools or colleges do not provide a diverse scope for making friends. School field trips engage students to bond with classmates and make stronger connections.

Letting our children go on school trips gives them a new and fresh perspective to explore topics learnt at their school. You might want your kid to learn from nature and get first-hand experience of building fire. We, at EdOutdoors enable students to experience learning at various industries, natural landscapes and establishments. Do check out some of our experiences here.