Do You Choose Mostly Educational or Fun Outings?

When I typed that subject line, I realized that educational outings can be lots of fun, too, so maybe it's kind of misleading but do you prefer to take the kids on educational excursions (museums, plays, etc) or fun outings (beach, hiking, pool, etc.) ?

We always did a combination of both and it worked well for us... like a chocolate factory tour where we could see how production works from picking the cacao beans to the store shelf candy bar.. but then they handed out samples at the end (that would be the "fun" part!)

I'm also thinking of our train ride on an old fashioned-type train. It was very educational, but lots of fun to ride an old train at the same time.

I try and do a combination of both educational and fun. But I do believe that you can turn "fun" outings into educational just by pointing things out or asking thought provoking questions. I love going to museums with my kids but they love going to the beach as well. Going to the beach can turn educational. Just think how much kids learn by playing in the sand and building sand castles. They learn about structures, using their imagination, test out hypothesis. Some thought provoking questions to ask might be "What else can you add to your castle?", " How else could you do this?"
"Why do you think this happens?" I guess my point is you can always find a teachable moment when you are with your kids.

We usually try for fun outings and if they happen to be educational, than thats just a bonus! It makes for a very trying day if the kids are whinging and fighting because they're bored! We recently took the youngest three to a dinosaur exhibition, not realising it was also a mineral and rock exhibition. Luckily they loved the pretty rocks and were interested in the colours so it wasn't too bad. The big T Rex skeleton was a big winner though, especially with our boy!

This was different to our usual outings to a park, or lake which they usually don't want to leave because they love playing, but it was good to see that educational outings can be fun.

I try to do things that are a combination. But remember, with kids, they are learning so much, almost everything for them is going to be both fun and educational.

Depending on the age of the child though, it's important to remember not to push your agenda on them. For example, when our older one was little we would go to the little zoo near our house with the thought that he'd love to see the animals. He was often times most excited just to be outside and see the ants that would be walking along a tree stump there.

Obviously try to teach your kids with everything you do, but also let them lead you. I don't know how many times my kids have said or done or found something I would have completely missed if I hadn't trusted their open and clear wonder they have that we lose as we grow up.

purplepen88 said:
I guess my point is you can always find a teachable moment when you are with your kids.

Yes, and a very good point it is. 🙂 This is the way I have always been, too... I can find teaching moments even in the most mundane of circumstances and I love doing that!

Oh, and going to the grocery store is *full* of possible math-moments, from adding up the bill, finding the best bargains from the sale paper, unit prices, multiplication, etc. etc. Same for restaurants. "Consumer Math" at its finest.

I take my daughter on I would say 75% specifically fun activities and 25% specifically educational activities. But I'm a firm believer that the fun activities always have elements of learning in them too, you know? I feel like children are like sponges and absorb the world around them, and as a result they're just always learning - even if the activity may not have a specific structured learning component to them!

I like to combine the two to make it not seem like they are learning something. The last vacation that we went on we went to the beach and a park but we also climbed a lighthouse and learned about what it was like when it was a working lighthouse. They love to do those kinds of hands on learning experiences.

For our family it just depends on the plan and yes some educational outings can be fun as well.

For instance my daughter's 2nd grade class had her picking a creature and having to present information on it via different forms. So we went to the California Academy of Sciences to go check out the Blue Morpho Butterfly. (Ugh, Dora and Diego flashbacks going on in my head.) Anyway, it was educational so that my daughter to see the butterfly up close and personal but also fun because she got to see them flying around and also all the fun exhibits that they got to take part in.

Although some educational outings might not be fun because its not really a "kid friendly" activity. Like for instance we went to a Historical museum for a school project and it wasn't "fun" per se but very education and informative for my son's school assignment.

Sometimes its just a fun outing, like every year I let the kids choose what they want to do for their birthday. (Rather then spending money on a party they get to choose an activity.) My son usually chooses a theme park.

I think I mostly choose the outings to be more natural. I like to bring my children to the parks, beaches, go hiking or jogging as much as possible, as I'd like them to get near to the nature more even though we are staying in the big city. I'd think every moment is educational for the kids. They always learn while they are playing.

I haven't really plan for educational outings yet, perhaps I will when my children are older. I always like to go to museums.

At my kids age, I like to mix it up, for example the zoo can be fun but also educational. Which I think is important!