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18 Leadership Retreat Ideas & Activities

You found our list of leadership retreat ideas and activities .

Leadership retreat ideas allow industry leaders, company managers, and top professionals to work, play, and connect outside the typical work environment. Examples include skill-building sessions, wellness activities, and trivia. These activities aim to help participants work, recharge, and strengthen their leadership skills.

Leadership retreat ideas are similar to  executive retreat activities  and  group retreat ideas . These ideas help employees develop leadership skills , become strong leaders , and manage remote teams more effectively.

This article includes the following:

• leadership retreat ideas
• leadership retreat activities
• leadership retreat games
• leadership retreat objectives
• leadership retreat icebreakers
• women’s leadership retreat ideas

Here we go!

List of leadership retreat ideas

A great blend of leadership retreat activities, strategic sessions, and team bonding is crucial in ensuring a leadership retreat is worth the time, resources, and effort. When done correctly, these retreat activities can help participants learn and retain leadership skills and form bonds with their colleagues or other professionals in the industry. Here are some of the best ideas for your next leadership retreat.

1. Kick-Off Dinner

Having a pre-retreat dinner the day before the leadership retreat officially starts is a great idea. Since the rest of the retreat will likely feature a full schedule of activities and presentations, this event will allow participants to bond with one another in a casual setting.

This dinner can serve as a welcome get-together party, with a menu and with or without a theme. If participants had to travel to the retreat, which is usually the case, then the dinner also allows them to relax and unwind.

The kick-off dinner does not necessarily require a formal agenda or plan. The event organizers may talk briefly about the retreat and the scheduled activities. This step will help set expectations and build enthusiasm in the participants’ minds. A great idea would be to incorporate some leadership retreat icebreakers or plan conversation topics to help initiate discussions amongst the group.

2. Inspirational Speaker Series

An inspirational speaker series at a leadership retreat involves inviting accomplished individuals from various fields. These professionals will share their unique journeys, experiences, and wisdom with the participants. These speakers often provide valuable insights into leadership, resilience, overcoming challenges, and personal growth. Through stories and interactive sessions, attendees gain fresh perspectives, motivation, and practical advice that can shape their own leadership approaches. The speaker series encourages open dialogue and allows for direct engagement with successful role models. Additionally, this activity fosters a dynamic learning environment where participants can apply newfound insights to their leadership roles.

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• icebreaker games
• bingo cards

3. Community Service and Giving Back

Doing community service and giving back during a retreat centers around contributing positively to the local community or a charitable cause. This experience goes beyond the traditional leadership retreat exercises by emphasizing values such as empathy, teamwork, and social responsibility. Participants engage in volunteer activities that might involve environmental conservation, helping underprivileged individuals, or collaborating on projects that address community needs. This idea strengthens the team’s bond and highlights the importance of leadership that extends beyond organizational boundaries.

4. Team Culinary Experience

A team culinary experience retreat adds a flavorful twist to leadership development. Participants engage in cooking classes or challenges that require effective communication, collaboration, creativity, and adaptability. As folks work together to prepare meals or solve culinary tasks, they learn valuable lessons in teamwork, delegation, problem-solving, and time management. Sharing the resulting meal provides an opportunity for informal discussions, reflection, and strengthening interpersonal relationships. This activity fosters a relaxed atmosphere where participants can discover new talents, break down barriers, and build camaraderie through a shared culinary adventure.

5. Future Trends and Industry Insights

A future trends and industry insights exercise will equip participants with a forward-thinking mindset. Industry experts will share their knowledge about emerging trends, disruptive technologies, and shifting market dynamics relevant to the team’s field. Through presentations, workshops, and discussions, participants gain a deeper understanding of the challenges and opportunities on the horizon. This retreat encourages critical thinking, strategic planning, and innovation as attendees collaborate to envision how their leadership roles can adapt to an ever-evolving landscape. By preparing for the future, participants can better guide their teams with informed decisions and a proactive approach.

6. Skill-Building Session

When planning a leadership retreat, one of the crucial elements to focus on is skill building. The retreat should offer an opportunity for participants to develop hard or soft skills, which are essential to succeed in their roles. Asking team members or participants before the retreat about skills they would like to improve can give organizers some ideas for this session.

Depending on the budget, the retreat may feature multiple optional sessions, allowing participants to make their own choices. For example, suppose attendees are interested in improving their social media knowledge or software skills. A participant who is skilled in the topic may facilitate the session.

The organization may invite external speakers to lead training sessions during the retreat or host presentations to motivate and encourage participants. The speaker can vary depending on the retreat theme or the type of skills the group needs. These individuals may be experts in the industry who offer specialized knowledge on specific professional topics like creative leadership, diversity, and inclusion.

For soft skills like creative thinking and problem-solving, the retreat may feature work-related challenges, icebreakers, or a brainstorming session for participants to devise innovative solutions to problems.

Here is a list of workshop ideas .

7. Outdoor Activities

Depending on the retreat’s location, consider allowing participants to spend some time outdoors, exploring their environment. Especially in a case where a good part of the retreat is indoors, participants can use this opportunity to get some fresh air and visit new places. While places may not relate to the business directly, the activity will help participants to refresh and reenergize their minds.

Some activities to consider during this exercise includes:

• Outdoor games
• Visits to exhibitions or museums
• Walking tours
• A visit to an amusement park
• Horseback riding
• A trip to a cultural site

This exercise also offers opportunities to learn new lessons, have fun, and even get fresh ideas. This experience also helps leave a lasting impression of the retreat in the participants’ minds.

Here is a list of outdoor team building activities .

8. Icebreaker Games

Icebreakers make for great leadership retreat games. Icebreaker games are activities like contests and quizzes that help group members interact and discover more about one another.

​Here are some leadership retreat icebreakers to try:

• Introduction game: Team members introduce themselves and share a unique or interesting fact about themselves.
• Word association: Starting with one word, the following participants say the first word that comes to mind, creating a chain.
• Speed networking: Participants sit in a circle and take turns asking each other questions for a specific amount of time.
• Name the Tune: Play a snippet of a song, and team members try to guess the title and artist of the song.
• Two Truths and a Lie: Each team member shares three statements. One of the statements is false, with the other two are correct. Other participants try to guess which of the statements is a lie.
• Human Knot: All the participants stand in a circle, and each player holds onto two different players. The group then works together to untangle themselves.
• Jigsaw: Divide the whole group into small teams and give each team a piece of a puzzle. Team members must work together to solve their puzzles and complete the picture.

These games can come in at the start of the retreat to help participants feel more comfortable with themselves and facilitate relationships within different groupings. Icebreaker games can serve various purposes, from encouraging team spirit to problem-solving and creative thinking.

Check out more icebreaker games for small groups .

9. Team Sports

Team sports allow participants to exercise physically and have fun while working together. Some of the most popular games are bowling, volleyball, and football. These fun games are easy to play and are relatively easy to pick up for participants who may not have played before.

Some other fantastic alternatives to team sports may include mini golf, rope courses, and an escape room. While deciding on the location for the leadership retreat, it is essential to consider what sports amenities are available at the resort or hotel and nearby places.

For inspiration, here is a list of field day activities .

10. Employee Perspective Discussion

Apart from having fun and bonding, another essential goal of a retreat is to identify workplace problems and brainstorm possible solutions. Having leaders and managers together in one place is a great way to get workers’ perspectives about the business and spotlight areas or problems that the company needs to address.

Here are some simple but constructive questions to ask:

• Where was our organization a year ago?
• Where are we now compared to then?
• What has changed?
• What are the areas where we need improvement?
• Where are we headed in the future?
• Are we headed in the right or wrong direction? If wrong, what can we do to change it now?

Participants should be encouraged to actively participate in the conversation. Additionally, it is important to allow employees to be honest with their feedback without fear of being penalized for voicing their opinions.

Check out this list of employee engagement survey questions .

11. Wellness Activities

Leaders carry out numerous workplace responsibilities, and this affects their work-life balance. Leaders should take advantage of this break from work to develop their wellness and self-care practices.

​Some of these wellness activities may include:

• Yoga classes
• Golf or tennis games
• Spa treatments
• Team workouts

Wellness activities help to keep participants refreshed, recharged, and ready to take on more productive, work-related activities during the retreat.

Here is a list of employee wellness activities .

12. Casino Night

A casino night helps to add some low-stakes gambling fun to a leadership retreat. Poker, roulette, and blackjack can serve as icebreakers for any team or group size, and no actual cash is necessary. Alternatively, participants can also play with Monopoly money with an auction for fabulous prizes after the game. This activity may be an all-inclusive casino night package or a virtual casino night.

The casino night may also serve as a competition where participants get raffle tickets after winning the games. At the end of the game, participants then use these tickets to enter a big prize draw.

13. Self-Reflection Exercise

During the retreat, leaders should have time to reflect on personal and business performance. The idea of any retreat is to get leaders away from work distractions, giving them time for self-reflection. Organizers may provide a list of questions for participants to answer in a group setting or independently.

Some examples of self-reflection questions include:

• What do you consider to be your most significant success over the past year?
• Are there any failures or challenges you encountered over the past year? If yes, what can you do to overcome them?
• Did you learn anything this year, whether about yourself or the business? How will you build on what you have learned?
• Is there anything you plan to focus on this coming year, personally or professionally?

Self-reflection allows participants to assess their abilities and performance and develop new strategies for the coming year.

14. Group Painting or Art Class

Having a painting or art activity together during leadership retreats can help reduce stress and help introverts feel more at ease. Team art classes also fuel participants’ creativity without pressure to produce a professional painting. This session may be a booked class at a local painting gallery, a botanical dye workshop, or a ceramic studio. Since art is a great form of self expression, this activity is also among the top women’s leadership retreat ideas.

15. Tallest Tower

The focus of this game is to encourage teamwork, active listening, creative problem-solving, and communication between team members. Participants break out into groups with an even number of players on each team. To play, each group gets a variety of building items, such as toy blocks, newspapers, and toothpicks. Each team then attempts to use the provided items to build the tallest freestanding tower within a specified time frame, and the group with the tallest tower that does not topple wins. The time frame, building items, and number of group members can vary to suit the business.

16. Minefield

This exercise is a classic game for teaching leadership skills like cooperation and communication. Team members take turns practicing their listening and comprehension skills and their ability to communicate clear and specific instructions. For this game, organizers create a “minefield” with tape borders or rope and form small mines with obstacles like crumpled paper, boxes, or balls.

To play the game, each group chooses a member who will wear a blindfold and another member to guide the blindfolded participant. The guide then stands outside the minefield, directing the blindfolded player from one end of the course to the other without touching any of the mines. The blindfolded player has to listen to the guide and follow their instruction. If the blindfolded participant touches any of the mines, then the team has to start again. The first team to get to the other side of the course wins the game.

17. Leadership Crest

For this game, participants create leadership crests modeled on classic family crests. This activity encourages team members to consider their leadership values and how they align with their company’s objectives and achievements.

In this game, participants draw a crest shape and divide the crest into four sections. In each quadrant, the individual draws illustrations or motifs representing influential values, leadership skills, recent achievements, and workplace satisfaction. Once the individual completes the crest, the team member uses their communication skills to present it to the rest of the group, discussing the drawings in each quadrant and why they are meaningful.

18. The Sinking Ship

The sinking ship game teaches participants to effectively prioritize tasks, communicate their opinions, and listen to the viewpoint of others. All participants must plan their survival strategy through creative thinking and teamwork to survive the sinking ship.

During this game, participants are in an imaginary sinking ship with other team members. An island is in sight, and participants only have enough time to seize five items from the ship before it sinks.

Participants must brainstorm, mention which items they consider helpful while waiting for rescue, and give reasons for picking them. Team members listen to each other’s opinions and offer feedback on whether they think the suggestions are good and why. Participants note the five most popular items amongst group members. Once the team has five complete items, if a new item goes on the list, the group will have to reach a consensus about which items are worth saving and which ones are not.

The group continues playing until they are fully satisfied with their list or run out of time.

Check out more problem-solving games .

Leadership retreats offer a wealth of benefits to leaders, from professional development to team building and networking. These retreats are a unique opportunity for leaders to reflect, learn, and work on developing their leadership skills and strategies. With the activities listed above, emerging and existing leaders can develop essential skills like communication, critical thinking, emotional intelligence, and active listening, all of which are essential for becoming effective leaders.

For a retreat to be productive, it is essential to set clearly-defined leadership retreat objectives. Investing quality time to set SMART goals for the retreat will help the planners and participants to follow a unified theme and keep the focus. A well-executed and productive leadership retreat will significantly impact the participants and the entire organization.

Next, check out our list of the best leadership games  and  leadership activities .

We also have a list of leadership training programs and a list of the best corporate retreat venues .

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FAQ: Leadership retreat ideas and activities

Here are frequently asked questions about leadership retreat ideas.

What are leadership retreats?

Leadership retreats are out-of-office gatherings or corporate events designed to combine play, work, and build connections outside the typical work setting. Leadership retreats allow organization leaders to escape from their day-to-day operations and recharge. The participants of these retreats may include team leads, supervisors, managers, and other established and aspiring leaders within an organization.

What are some good ideas for leadership retreats?

Some good ideas for leadership retreats include leadership games for skill development, group painting or art class, and karaoke. By spending time together in a focused and relaxed environment, leaders can improve communication with their colleagues or peers in the industry and build stronger relationships.

Leadership games are another essential leadership retreat element. Leadership games and activities focused on skill development increase engagement and learning outcomes for participants. These games can also form bonds among team members, colleagues, and other professionals who want to gain the skills to work better and be effective leaders.

What is the purpose of leadership retreats?

A leadership retreat aims to provide a dedicated and focused environment for leaders to work, play, and develop their leadership skills. The main focus of leadership retreats may include the following:

• Professional development
• Strengthen team bonding and cohesion
• Define or refine the organization’s vision, mission, and strategy
• Encourage creativity and innovation
• Building problem-solving and decision-making skills
• Recharge and refresh
• Progress evaluation and goal setting
• Build new connections

Author: Grace He

People & Culture Director at teambuilding.com. Grace is the Director of People & Culture at TeamBuilding. She studied Industrial and Labor Relations at Cornell University, Information Science at East China Normal University and earned an MBA at Washington State University.

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83 Leadership Activities, Building Games, and Exercises

Leadership activities are associated with benefits to business, including increased performance and productivity.

However, perhaps the sign of a truly successful leader is a happy, healthy workplace. Interested in what leadership activities can do for your workplace or school? Read on.

With the activities below, there may be some overlap with activities found under certain headings – for example, activities suitable for adults may also be useful for groups, or with employees.

Before you continue, we thought you might like to download our three Positive Leadership Exercises for free . These detailed, science-based exercises will help you or others adopt positive leadership practices and help organizations thrive.

This Article Contains:

What are leadership activities, what are they used for, 8 examples of leadership activities, 4 leadership workshop ideas, 2 activities that showcase different leadership styles, 3 situational leadership activities and scenarios, 8 games and activities for kids to learn leadership skills, 6 leadership development activities for teens and youth (pdf), 3 classroom leadership activities for students in elementary and middle school, 6 leadership activities and games for high school students, 3 activities and exercises for college students (pdf), 7 leadership games and activities for adults, 5 leadership group and team activities, 8 leadership training activities for employees, 5 leadership building exercises for managers, 11 leadership exercises for team building in the workplace, a take-home message.

Increasingly, people are assuming positions of leadership in the workplace (Cserti, 2018). However, the journey to becoming a leader is lengthy (Cserti, 2018). Leadership activities are valuable on the journey to becoming an effective leader , and also develop confidence in leadership teams (Cserti, 2018; Stepshift, 2016).

Leadership activities may be conducted on or off site, and be physical or sedentary (Stepshift, 2016). Leadership activities can either be performed by a leader in their own team, or with an external facilitator (Cserti, 2018). They may take the form of specially organized themed events, such as scavenger hunts (Stepshift, 2016). Or, they may be smaller, office-based tasks built into an ordinary workday.

For example, leadership activities could consist of meeting openers or conference break activities (Stepshift, 2016).

Leadership activities can be an effective way for individuals to practice and strengthen their leadership and team-building skills (Cserti, 2018). They can also be fun!

The structure of leadership activities is essential. It is important that the participants can relate the activity to the workplace setting (Stepshift, 2016).

The working style, principles, and values of a leader is a crucial aspect in determining the behavior within an organization (Cserti, 2018). Leadership training can help leaders become role-models (Cserti, 2018). The behavior of leaders and what they consider the “norm” determines which behaviors are enforced and those which are punished (Cserti, 2018).

Given the importance of a leader’s behavior, it is also essential that they learn skills, such as:

Communication

Leaders need to develop the ability to clearly, succinctly explain to employees everything from the goals of a company to the details of specific work-tasks (Doyle, 2019). Many components are important for effective communication , including active listening, reading body language and written communication such as emails (Doyle, 2019).

Leaders need to inspire employees. They may do this by increasing worker’s self-esteem , by recognizing effort and achievement, or by giving a worker new responsibilities to further their investment in the business (Doyle, 2019).

Leaders can achieve this by identifying the skills that workers have, and as such assign tasks to each worker based on the skills they have (Doyle, 2019).

Being positive helps develop a happy , healthy work environment, even when the workplace is busy or stressful (Doyle, 2019).

Trustworthiness

By demonstrating integrity , workers will feel at ease to approach their leader with questions or concerns (Doyle, 2019). Building trust is one of the most essential leadership skills.

Good leaders are willing to try novel solutions or to approach problems in a non-traditional way (Doyle, 2019).

Leaders are constantly on the lookout for opportunities to provide team members with information about their performance, without ‘micromanaging’ their work (Doyle, 2019).

Responsibility

A good leader accepts mistakes or failures and instead look for solutions for improvement of a situation (Doyle, 2019). This skill also includes being reflective and being open to feedback (Doyle, 2019).

A leader should strive to follow through with everything that they agree to do (Doyle, 2019). It also involves applying appropriate feedback and keeping promises (Doyle, 2019).

Flexibility

Leaders need to be able to accept changes and creatively problem-solve, as well as being open to suggestions and feedback (Doyle, 2019).

While these skills are explained in a workplace context, they can easily be applied to other leadership situations such as sports or community groups.

Now that you have more clarity as to what leadership activities are, and what they are used for, let us look at a wide selection of activities. While some of the activities and games may not immediately appear to be ‘leadership activities,’ the chosen activities might develop and promote the leadership skills outlined above.

Here are eight such activities:

• Sports Sports provide the experience of being a team member and developing leadership skills (Flavin, 2018).
• Cross-cultural experience Experiences with a different culture provide new, potentially uncomfortable situations and help develop communication skills that may not be learned elsewhere (Flavin, 2018). Overseas travel, or working with a different cultural group within your community can provide an opportunity to learn new skills, or may involve barriers that must be overcome – all teaching leadership (Flavin, 2018).
• Social groups Involvement in social activities helps potential leaders develop a well-rounded, confident personality which enhances their capacity to lead a team (Flavin, 2018).
• Internships Taking an internship position demonstrates initiative in finding opportunities to learn and seeking practical work – valuable skills in leadership (Flavin, 2018).
• Volunteering As well as showing ambition, volunteering shows that you are willing to commit yourself to something that you are passionate about (Flavin, 2018).
• Student government and organizations Specifically considering students, being involved in co-curricular organizations help individuals develop leadership (Flavin, 2018). Being involved in student government or organizations can provide opportunities to demonstrate leadership and have an impact on those around you (Flavin, 2018).
• ‘Passion projects’ Showing commitment to a passion for better communities; for example, mentoring shows that you are likely to focus on the greater good for a team (Flavin, 2018).
• ‘Teamwork’ This can be anything at all, from helping out with planning a family event or participating in a volunteer day, will demonstrate and develop leadership skills (Flavin, 2018).

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Effective leaders are aware that continuing professional and personal development is the key to ongoing success (Higgins, 2018). As such, they recognize that leadership workshops are important (Higgins, 2018). What activities can be used in such a workshop?

Here are four suggestions:

Idea 1: ‘Tallest Tower’ (from Stepshift, 2016)

Participants are provided with everyday items such as toothpicks, wooden blocks, uncooked pasta and so on. The task is to build the tallest possible free-standing structure from the materials provided. This activity is designed to encourage creative problem-solving and developing collaboration skills.

Idea 2: ‘Centre Stage’ (from Higgins, 2018)

Select four team members as volunteers. One team member plays the role of an employee who has missed meetings or been late to work in recent times. Each of the other three participants demonstrates a different style of leader (to save time, nominate the particular personality trait). Ask all participants to form a circle, and put two chairs in the middle of the circle.

After each demonstration of how to deal with the employee, ask the whole group to reflect on the different leadership approaches. For example, the group could consider what worked and what did not. Finally, to conclude this activity, ask the group to consider what the ‘ideal’ leader would do in the scenario.

Idea 3: ‘Minefield’ (from Stepshift, 2016)

This activity helps build trust and improve communication skills. It involves participants working in pairs, with one team member being blindfolded. Then, using only specified communication techniques, the pair negotiate their way around or over a ‘minefield’ of obstacles.

So, for example, the participants may be told they are only able to use commands such as the words ‘left’ or ‘right,’ ‘forwards’ or ‘backwards.’ The aim is to help the blindfolded team member to navigate the ‘minefield’.

Idea 4: ‘Magic Carpet’ (from Higgins, 2018)

Provide a small tarp or rug, which has enough room for all workshop participants to stand within its boundaries. Then, inform the group that their task is to work together to flip the rug or tarp over without any participant stepping off. If (or when) a participant steps off the teams have discussed all of the paragraphs or tarp, the team must begin again.

These are: autocratic (also known as authoritarian), delegative (also called ‘free reign)’ and democratic (which is also called participative) (Clark, 2015; Johnson-Gerard, 2017).

An autocratic leader makes decisions without first consulting others, while a delegative leader allows the staff to make the decisions (Johnson-Gerard, 2017). Finally, a democratic leader consults with the staff in making workplace decisions (Johnson-Gerard, 2017).

Here is an excellent resource for exploring different leadership styles.

The workbook also provides some helpful worksheets.

The following two activities help participants think more deeply about styles of leadership. The group should be divided into small groups of 3 – 4 participants. The participants work in groups for the first activity, and then they work individually on the second activity.

Activity One (Clark, 2015)

Provide a list of approximately 10 – 12 scenarios displaying the three different leadership styles. For example, “a new supervisor has just been put in charge of the production line. He immediately starts by telling the crew what change needs to be made. When some suggestions are made, he tells them he does not have time to consider them”.

The group then works together to figure out which leadership style is used in each scenario and to talk about whether it is effective, or if a different style could work better.

Encourage participants to think about themselves in a similar situation and their reaction to the particular leadership style.

Activity Two (Clark, 2015)

Provide participants with the statement ‘consider a time when you, or another leader, used the authoritarian (autocratic), participative (democratic) or delegative (free reign) style of leadership’.

Ask participants to reflect on the statement and make a few comments, such as: was it effective? Would a different leadership style have worked better? What were the employees’ experiences? Did they learn from the leadership style? What was it they learned? Which style is easiest to use (and why)? Alternatively, nominate the style which the participant prefers (and why).

To conclude these two activities, come together as a whole group and discuss what was learned about the three styles of leadership.

Leadership building activities – Project management training – ProjectManager

Situational leadership is when a leader is flexible in their approach and uses different leadership strategies depending on the situation (Johnson-Gerard, 2017). The following three games, from Johnson-Gerard (2017) provide an opportunity to explore situational leadership:

1. ‘Jumping Ship’

The aim of this game is for participants to reflect upon different leadership styles and come up with a list of actual workplace scenarios which would need a leader to abandon a natural leadership style for one that is more effective (i.e., to ‘jump ship’).

Each group is given three large pieces of paper. Ask the teams to write one style of leadership on each (i.e., autocratic, delegative, democratic). Then, allow the groups 45 minutes to come up with real work situations for which employing the particular leadership style would be disastrous.

Ask the groups to place the sheets of paper up on the wall, and to discuss the sheets as a team. As a whole group, review the posters.

2. ‘Who Ya Gonna Call’

Each participant begins by writing a one-paragraph description of a work situation that is not going well. Collect these, and at the top of each page, number them in consecutive order. Then, divide the participants into two teams.

Give each team half of the paragraphs. Then, ask the teams to choose the style of leadership that would be the least and the most effective in solving the problem. Have the teams note their answers on a piece of paper, being sure to identify the paragraph number on the top of each page, and their choices.

Then, ask the teams to swap paragraphs and repeat the activity.

When the teams have discussed all the paragraphs, discuss the scenarios and review the choices as a group. Where the team’s choices are different, discuss as a group.

3. ‘Ducks in a Row’

This particular activity enables participants to devise a 3-to-5 step decision-making process they can use when challenging leadership situations occur.

Ask participants to form pairs. Then, ask them to come up with the steps that an effective leader goes through in order to work out how to manage a difficult situation. After about 30 minutes, ask each pair to review the steps they have come up with for the group, and to write them on a large piece of paper.

Ask every pair to review their process, and after all the pairs have done so, have a group discussion that enables a consensus to be reached about the three to five most effective steps to take in a difficult leadership situation.

Edsys (2016) provides eight suggested activities for children to learn leadership skills:

1. ‘Create a New You’

Provide children with materials such as textas, crayons, poster/construction paper, magazines, and scissors. Then, ask them to draw themselves, using things that clearly show that the picture is theirs – such as using cut-outs of their most favorite things to do, foods they like, pets, and whatever else makes them unique.

Once the children have finished their posters, they can show their completed work to the other children – helping kids to improve their confidence to lead.

2. ‘Same or Different’

The children sit in a circle. Ask the first child to point to another child in the circle who is similar to them, either in appearance, hair-style or clothing color. Then, when the child has chosen someone, ask them to note other differences and similarities they have with the child they have chosen.

3. ‘Move the Egg’

Ask children to form groups of four or five. Then, have the children select a leader for their team. Each participant is given a spoon and an egg. The leader has the task of finding an effective way to move the eggs from one point to another. For example, one option may be for children to form a line to pass each egg along.

Another leader may suggest forgetting about the spoons altogether and merely tell their group to make a run for it. The winner of the game is the group that can get their egg safely across the finish in the most creative way.

4. ‘Lead the Blindfolded’

This game requires a large indoor or outdoor area. Divide the children into two groups and give them enough blindfolds for everyone except one member to put on. The teams are placed at opposite sides of the space. The child who is not blindfolded is required to lead their team to the other side of the designated space, using clear commands.

Ensure that each member of the team has an opportunity to lead their team. The winner is the team that sees its members successfully cross the finish line.

5. ‘Charity Support’

Help children support a charity by organizing a fundraiser. Each child can have a different task. For example, one child may select the charity, another may find a suitable space to hold the fundraising activity, and another child can collect donations.

6. ‘Planning Strategies’

Teach children to divide a large task into smaller steps. Set the children a large task, such as holding a class function. Show the children a plan that enables them to achieve the task step by step. This activity can involve a number of children sharing tasks. Suggest to the children how they may be able to improve.

7. ‘Volunteer Roles’

Volunteering plays a role in leadership. Discuss with children how they would like to help someone in need. Older children may be interested in taking a role in an organization in their community. The children should be helped to select a volunteer opportunity that gives them a chance to practice leadership and work with other children.

8. ‘A Quick Quiz’

In this task, ask students to be prepared to evaluate an experience when it is over. Then, after the experience, ask the child questions. For example, inquire “Do you remember the name of the dog we saw?”, “What was it?”, “Did you touch the dog?”, “What is the owner’s name?” and so on.

This is an excellent introduction to leadership for kids in grades 4 – 6 (children aged approximately 9 – 12 years).

The following resources are appropriate for helping teens and youth to develop leadership:

1. “Leaders are, can, and think”

This looks at what a leader is, and what their role can and should be.

2. “Who do you admire and why?”

This worksheet examines leadership role models and the qualities we see in them that we want to develop in ourselves.

3. “4 Ways leaders approach tasks: Leaders Motivation”

This handout focuses on leadership attitude.

4. “Lesson Planet”

Links to 45+ reviewed resources for teen leadership which can be accessed free by registering your details.

5. The Women’s Learning Partnership

This partnership has created a comprehensive manual for promoting leadership for teens aged 13 – 17 years. The manual outlines a number of sessions which guide leadership development activities.

6. “I Care Values Activity”

This is a fun, engaging and introspective activity . It is suitable for students aged 13 and upwards, so it can be used with older students or adults too.

Examples of such activities are:

1. ‘Just Listen’ (Edsys, 2016)

Make an agreement that you and the student(s) will refrain from talking about yourselves for a whole day. Ask them, rather, to listen to others, and if they do talk to another person, it should be about the person whom they are talking to. This game helps children to learn how important it is to focus on other people rather than themselves, which forms the basis of ‘relational leadership’.

2. Silence Classroom Leadership Game (Stapleton, 2018).

To begin the activity, the teacher divides students into two teams, and the teams move to either side of the classroom. The desks may be pushed aside to create more space. The teacher instructs the students to, for example, ‘line up according to the first letter of your surname’ or ‘arrange yourselves into age order by the month your birthday is in’. The students then follow the directions without speaking a word to one another.

Students are permitted to use hand signals, or even write instructions down on paper. The teacher’s instruction to the students is that they are not allowed to talk. The winning team is the one that completes the task successfully.

3. ‘The Cup Game’ (Tony, 2018)

Divide students into pairs and select one student to be the leader. Each team should face each other standing up, with a plastic cup in the middle. The leader calls out simple directions, such as ‘touch your knee’, ‘close one eye’ and so on.

When the leader calls out “cup” the students should try and be the first to grab the cup. The player who successfully grabs the cup should pair up with another player who also got the cup. Those without a cup sit down and watch.

Once the new teams of two have formed, the cup is put in between the players and the game begins again. This process continues until only one person is left standing – and the resulting winner becomes the new leader… and play can begin all over again.

By high school, students are more sophisticated. Here are some interesting activities for high school students to develop leadership.

1. Brainstorming for change (Stapleton, 2018)

The teacher puts students into groups of 4 or 5. The goal is for students to come up with possible solutions to social, political or economic problems. Working together, students brainstorm both small- and large-scale solutions to a given problem topic.

Once the groups have finalized their list of detailed solutions, the teacher facilitates a discussion with the whole class, and together they examine which of the identified solutions could be a viable option and why.

2. Leadership characteristics (Stapleton, 2018)

The teacher puts students into pairs or groups of three. Then, each group member shares a story about someone whom they consider to be an influential leader. After each story has been shared, students discuss the characteristics that they think made the person in the story an effective leader.

Once each student has shared a story, students compile a list of all the characteristics of an influential leader they identified. Post these characteristics on the walls around the classroom.

3. Blindfold leader game (Stapleton, 2018)

The teacher arranges the students into a single line, and comes up with a starting point and finishing point. Then, the teacher places a blindfold on every student except for the student who is at the front of the line.

The teacher tells each student to put their left hand on the left shoulder of the person in front of them. Next, the teacher says “go”. The aim is for the leader (who is not blindfolded) to walk towards the finishing point, providing instructions to students behind, who are blindfolded.

An extra challenging game sees the teacher putting obstacles in the path – the leader must direct followers on how to avoid the obstacles and successfully reach the finish line. When this goal is achieved, a different student takes a turn of being the leader.

4. Buckets and balls (Cohen, 2017)

This game aims to move all the balls from one box to another. The catch is, team members cannot use their hands or arms. In equal-sized teams, players choose one ‘handler’ per team. This is the only person who can touch the balls with their hands.

The handler must remain behind the start line throughout the game. Team members attempt to get balls from their bucket at the finish line, and get them to the team’s handler without the ball touching their hands or arms.

The handler places the balls into the empty bucket at the start line. If a team member touches the ball, they are disqualified and can no longer participate. Give teams a 5-minute time limit. All teams play at the same time, and the team that has the most balls in the handler’s bucket at the end of the game wins.

5. Team jigsaw (Cohen, 2017)

Two teams have to complete a jigsaw puzzle within a 20 – 30-minute time limit. Give each team a box containing a puzzle. At first, A body will assume that their task is to complete the puzzle. As they work on it, however, teams will realize that the puzzle is missing some of its pieces and has some additional pieces that do not fit their puzzle.

Teams then have the task to communicate with one another, and they will eventually realize that they need to work together to complete the puzzle. Teams are only allowed to exchange pieces of the puzzle one at a time.

6. ‘Sneak-a-peak’ (Cohen, 2017)

Divide participants into two teams. Build a structure out of Lego. Make it complicated, but able to be replicated. Ensure that there is sufficient Lego left to build two similar copies of the structure.

Make sure that this structure is kept out of eyesight.

A player from each team is allowed to see the structure for 10 seconds. Then, the players will return to their respective teams and have 25 seconds in which to give his/her team instruction as to how to build the structure. Then, the teams have 1 minute to build the structure.

When that minute is up, another team member takes a look at the structure for 10 seconds and has a further 25 seconds to deliver their instructions to their team.

This process continues until all the team members have had a chance to examine the structure and provide instructions. The team that successfully built the structure is the winner.

• “ The Leadership Training Activity Book ” by Lois. B. Hart and Charlotte S. Waisman (2005) contains 50 handouts for leadership activities that would be suitable for college students. Find it on Amazon .
• This resource provides helpful leadership tip sheets that are suitable for college students. Examples of tip sheets are “ten keys to effective listening” and “basic confrontation guidelines”.
• Another valuable resource that can be used to develop team-building – an aspect of leadership.

A wide range of leadership activities are suitable for adults:

1. The Marshmallow Challenge

In this activity , teams use spaghetti sticks, tape and string to construct the tallest free-standing structure. They are given one marshmallow, which must be placed at the top of the structure. Devised by Tom Wujec.

2. ‘Stand up’ (Landau, 2018)

This game is convenient in that it requires no materials. It involves two people. They sit on the floor, facing one another. They hold hands, and the soles of their feet are placed together. Then, the task is for both people to stand up at the same time. This game builds trust and teamwork, and also develops skills in problem solving and collaboration.

3. Zoom (Stepshift, 2016)

A set of randomly provided sequential pictures are given to the participants. The task requires participants to put the pictures in the correct order to recreate the story, without knowing which pictures the other participants have. This activity can be an effective way to improve communication, patience, and tolerance.

4. ‘You’re a Poet’ (Landau, 2018)

To harness creativity and reflect on leadership concepts, one activity for adults is to write a poem. This activity can be done individually or in small groups. The aim is to consider leadership in creative ways to find new perspectives.

5. ‘Leadership Pizza’ (Cserti, 2018)

This activity can help adults develop leadership. It does so by providing a self-assessment tool. People begin by identifying the skills, attitudes, and attributes that they consider being important for successful leadership. The individual then rates their own development in the defined areas. The framework can also provide a helpful tool in assisting adults in identifying their leadership development goals in a coaching session.

6. Leadership advice from your role model (Cserti, 2018)

Each participant considers a role model who they admire. They then think about a young person they know. If the young person was to ask the role model for leadership advice, what kind of advice would the role model give?

In groups, discuss and share the sort of advice identified and talk about contradicting points and how they can be reconciled. This sharing discussion may be a practical introduction to the idea of situational leadership.

7. ‘Crocodile River’ (Cserti, 2018)

This outdoor activity challenges a group to physically provide support to the group members’ behavior move from one end of a designated space to the other.

Participants are told to pretend that the whole team must cross a wide river which contains dangerous crocodiles. Magic stones (which are represented by wooden planks) provide the only supports to be used to cross the river (which has ‘banks’ that are marked out by two ropes).

These ‘stones’ only float on the water if there is constant body contact. These ‘stones’ (i.e., the wooden planks) are placed next to the ‘river bank’ – there should be one less plank than the total number of participants. As part of the game, if a participant’s hand or foot touches the ‘water’, it will be bitten off (if this happens during the challenge, the participant must hold the hand behind their back).

The facilitator then pretends to be the ‘crocodile’, keeping a close eye on the group as they attempt to cross the river. When one of the stones (the planks) is not in body contact, it is removed. When participants mistakenly touch the ground with their hands or feet, tell them that the limb has therefore been bitten off and the player must continue without using it.

This activity continues until the group succeeds in getting all group members to the other side of the ‘river’. If anyone falls in, the group is deemed to have failed, and they must begin the river crossing attempt again.

1. ‘Feedback: Start, Stop, Continue’ (Cserti, 2018)

Openness creates trust, which then promotes further openness. This activity is designed to be used by a group that has spent sufficient time together in order to have a range of shared experiences they can draw from when they are providing feedback.

Each participant takes a post-it and writes the name of the person who they are addressing on it. Then, they write on the post-it:

“To…. Something I would like you to START doing is…. something I would like you to STOP doing is…. something I would like you to CONTINUE doing is……Signed: ___________”

In groups of around 4 to 6 people, participants complete these sentences on one post-it for the other participants in their group.

If they cannot think of relevant feedback for one of the prompts (i.e., start, stop, continue), they do not need to include it. Once the group has finished writing, they provide the feedback verbally, one at a time, and afterward hand the post-it to the relevant person.

2. Round Tables (Stepshift, 2016)

Four tables are set up with different tasks. Each task has separate steps that participants can be responsible for carrying out. The group select a team member, who is only allowed to communicate and delegate tasks but not take a part in the task. Each table is timed to record how long the task takes to be completed. Round Tables improves leadership and delegation skills.

3. ‘Pass the hoop’ (Landau, 2018)

This game requires participants to stand in a circle and hold hands. One person in the group has a hula hoop around their arm. The game aims to pass the hula hoop the whole way around the circle.

As well as promoting teamwork and problem-solving, this game develops communication skills. Being able to communicate effectively is a crucial skill for any successful leader to have.

4. ‘Improv night’ (Landau, 2018)

One key responsibility of the leader of a team is to encourage team bonding. One way to facilitate bonding is improvisation. ‘Improv’ develops skills in communication – helping teams to listen and pay attention. It also builds self-awareness, self-confidence, and creativity.

Arrange the group into ‘audience’ and ‘performers’. Then, members of the audience take turns in calling out the specified location, profession, and scenario (e.g., coffeehouse, cop, and purchasing a donut). Chosen suggestions are fun and should promote creativity.

5. ‘Shape-Shifting’ (Landau, 2018)

This game requires a rope that is tied at both ends to form a loop. The loop needs to be big enough for all group members to hold onto with both hands as they stand in a circle. The group is instructed to make a chosen shape (e.g., circle, square, triangle). The group attempts to create the shape on the floor.

Progressively, ask the group to make more complex shapes – e.g., a dog, or a tree. To add another layer of difficulty, instruct the team to communicate without talking – i.e., to rely on hand gestures. Afterward, have the group reflect on their experience and discuss the importance of communication.

Leadership is an integral feature of any workplace. Here are some activities to promote leadership in employees:

1. Your favorite manager (Cserti, 2018)

To begin this activity, employees individually take the role of three different people and brainstorm the particular behaviors that each person’s most favorite and least favorite managers demonstrate, from the chosen person’s perspective. After the employees have had the chance to reflect, the participants compare their list of behaviors – in pairs, and then subsequently, in groups.

The teams then prepare a list of ‘dos and don’ts’ for developing better employee perceptions of the leader’s style.

2. Explore your values (Cserti, 2018)

The values of a leader are reflected in their organization. In this activity, each participant writes ten things that they value most in their lives, each one on a post-it. Then, ask the employees to spread the Post-its in a way in which they can see them all clearly. Then, explain to them that they will have 30 seconds to select the three Post-its that are of least importance to them.

It is essential to time strictly, so that the participants rely on their gut feelings.

Repeat the process, this time allowing participants to have 20 seconds to discard two more values. Finally, give the participants a further 20 seconds to throw another two away. Participants should have three Post-its in front of them, showing their top three important values.

Following the activity, have participants reflect individually for about 15 minutes about what was found, and then to discuss reflection questions in pairs or groups of three.

Because this activity is done quickly, participants are encouraged to follow their own intuition – rather than over-thinking and finding what they perceive to be the ‘right’ values.

3. ‘Leadership Coat of Arms’ (Cserti, 2018; Landau, 2018).

Each leader has their own values and the things that they consider valuable and important. These values guide the behavior of the leader and make up a person’s unique leadership philosophy.

This activity sees participants drawing their own ‘leadership coat of arms’ embodying their leadership philosophy.

Individuals have 10 – 15 minutes to draw their coat of arms. They can divide the coat of arms (or ‘crest’) into four sections. To fill each section, consider the categories of leadership skills, values that help influence others, recent achievements/accomplishments and what you like most about your current work.

They should be encouraged not to be overly concerned with how visually appealing their picture is but rather that it expressed what they personally believe to be important aspects of a leader.

Once the drawings are complete, the participants can show their drawings to the others in the group and explain their unique coat of arms. It is also helpful to reflect on the activity – consider which section was easiest to complete and whether your crest reflects your company’s values.

4. Communication: Coach the Builder (Goyette, 2016)

Divide employees into groups of four to seven people. Each group should be given two sets of blocks (such as Lego). Each set should have a minimum of 10 blocks.

Beforehand, you should construct a sample object (e.g., a house) from one of the sets of blocks. In each group, select a leader, a delegator, a builder and a note-taker. The note-taker watches and records the group’s behavior during the task. They take note of what appeared to be done well and how employees could improve.

The leader is given the item that you built – however, they are the only group member to see the object. Set a timer for ten minutes. To begin with, the leader describes to the delegator how the builder should build a replica of the item. However, the delegator does not see the object, and at this stage of the activity, the builder should not hear the instructions.

The delegator can speak with the leader as often as necessary during the 10 minutes. The builder attempts to build the same item that the leader can see. However, they are only relying on the delegator’s instructions. At this stage, the delegator should not see the object that the builder is constructing.

When the time is up, reveal both objects to all participants and see how closely they match. Finally, to wrap up the activity, employees can discuss what was either frustrating or easy about the process and discuss how they may do things differently in order to achieve better results.

5. Accountability (Goyette, 2016)

Begin a meeting by saying to the group – “the seating arrangement is totally wrong for today’s meeting. You have 60 seconds to improve it”. If the employees ask further questions, only repeat the instructions. While some employees may continue asking questions, others may start moving the furniture around straight away. Observe the team and what they do without giving any further information, feedback, or instructions.

After 1 minute, let the employees know to stop. Then, ask them whether the objective was achieved, and how. Discuss with employees how and why a lack of clarity makes it challenging to complete a task.

Then, discuss who asked for clarification and how they felt when the leader refused to give further details. Use this opportunity to highlight to employees how if they fail to ask questions, and when the person in charge of a project doesn’t provide the necessary clarification, the whole team is at risk of making mistakes or even not completing a task.

Finally, ask how the time pressure affected behavior. Discuss how employees may be more likely to respond to pressure, or stress, by taking action without first confirming a plan and the significant problems this approach can lead to.

6. The “what if” game (Deputy, 2018)

Present different hypothetical problematic scenarios to employees. Either individually or by providing a document that requires written answers, present situations such as “you didn’t follow the rules, and subsequently lost an important client. You have lost a lot of money for the company. How do you justify this? What is your solution?”.

The questions only need to be rough, and employees should only receive a short time with which to think of their responses. If there is a particularly challenging question, provide a time limit of five minutes.

7. ‘Silver Lining’ (Cohen, 2017)

Employees form teams of at least two people who have shared a work experience – e.g., working on a project together. One person shares an experience from working together that was negative for them.

Then, the second person reflects on the same experience but instead reflects on the positive aspects of the experience (i.e., the ‘ silver lining ’). Then this same person shares their own negative experience, and this time it is up to the other person to focus on the positive aspects of it.

Often, when people reflect on an experience, they do so with a particular perspective . By looking at the positive aspects of a ‘negative’ experience, this helps individuals shift perspectives. Furthermore, by sharing experiences, employees develop deeper relationships, and team bonding is promoted.

8. My favorite brand (Training Course Material, n.d.).

Ask employees to bring three or four printed logos/brands that they use regularly or admire most. Then, form groups of 3 – 4 people. Teams have a period of ten minutes to share and discuss their chosen logos.

Their task is to agree upon the team’s top 2 logos or brands which is their team’s choice. The team also selects a team spokesperson who will report to the bigger group about why the team chose the specific brands/logos.

Participants are encouraged to share personal experiences or stories that they had with their chosen brand. After the ten minutes elapses, each spokesperson presents the logos that the team began with as well as their two top chosen logos/brands. It is their role to explain to the group why the team voted on their top brand/logo.

1. Manager or leader? (Training Course Material, n.d.)

Small groups of managers work together to create two tables, one titled ‘leader’ and one titled ‘manager’. In each table, the group writes statements describing either management behavior or leadership behavior.

For example, the ‘manager’ table may contain statements such as “schedules work to be done” or “delegates tasks”. On the other hand, statements in the ‘leader’ table could be “motivating staff” and “creating culture”.

The purpose of this activity is to demonstrate to managers the difference between management versus leadership, and show that while ‘every leader can be a manager, not every manager can be a leader’. However, by brainstorming leadership behaviors, managers begin the process of becoming a successful leader.

2. The race of the leaders (Deputy, 2018)

This activity encourages leadership behaviors. To begin with, write a list of leadership qualities – approximately 10 – 20 statements – on a piece of paper. Describe the qualities – e.g., ‘I determine everything that happens to me’, and ‘I will not blame others for my problems’.

Read these statements out loud, and participants take a step forward if they believe a statement describes them. They must be prepared to give reasons as to why they think they possess each quality. Continue reading the statements until there is a definite ‘winner’.

3. The best team member (Training Course Material, n.d.).

Divide the group into teams of about 4 – 5 participants. Give each team a large, blank piece of paper and markers. Each group has the task to come up with as many characteristics of their ‘ideal’ team member as they can. Teams should consider what this ‘best team member ever’ would be like.

After ten minutes, the groups should examine the characteristics that they have written and work out the portion which are ‘technical’ skills and those which are ‘interpersonal’. The aim is to work out whether most of the traits can be classified as technical or interpersonal skills.

Teams usually come to realize that interpersonal skills in employees are especially critical and that these have a tremendous impact on the quality and quantity of workplace performance.

This activity can be adapted according to the setting. For example, if the focus is on leadership development, teams could discuss their ideal leader/supervisor.

4. The importance of feedback (Training Course Material, n.d.).

Divide the group into three teams. Provide each team with poster paper and markers or pens.

Team A is required to consider as many reasons as they can that would make them apprehensive to provide feedback to another person.

Team B is asked to consider what feedback can help them so, i.e., what feedback will help them accomplish.

Team C comes up with as many things as they can that would make a feedback session effective.

Each team has 15 minutes to brainstorm their ideas, then, each team can present their ideas.

Point out to Team A that the hurdles they suggested are self-imposed ideas that will lead to the manager fearing the worst. Instead, managers should be encouraged to share feedback on a more regular basis to gain the necessary experience in having such conversations. Furthermore, by having an awareness of the most effective way to prepare and deliver feedback can help a manager conquer the issues holding them back.

Point out to Team B that providing constructive feedback as needed is imperative for developing a productive work environment. A feedback discussion that is well-planned and thought out delivers an opportunity to share what you have noticed about another person’s job performance and bring about productive change.

Finally, after Team C has shared their ideas, point out that effective feedback is specific, honest, and backed up with evidence. The feedback will help others to come up with goals, make and reinforce positive changes, promote self-confidence and encourage action in the workplace.

Thank all the teams for their participation and input.

5. ‘Shark Tank’ (Deputy, 2018).

This activity is derived from a famous TV show that gives people a chance to show their entrepreneurial skills. Managers may work individually or in groups. The aim of this activity is for employees to come up with a business plan that outlines the steps of how to build a successful company from ‘startup’.

Once the managers have a plan, they can create a ‘pitch’, which should contain the brand’s name, its’ tagline (or slogan), a detailed business plan, a detailed marketing plan, financial predictions (sales, profits and market) and potential problems (competition, lack of resources).

In a role play, appoint a few chosen managers to be the ‘sharks’ (the ones who consider the projects’ merit and offer imaginary ‘investments’). The winning group, or individual, is the one who raised the most money from the ‘shark’.

17 Exercises To Build Positive Leaders

Use these 17 Positive Leadership Exercises [PDF] to help others inspire, motivate, and guide employees in ways that enrich workplace performance and satisfaction. Created by Experts. 100% Science-based.

1. The Human Icebreaker (Stepshift, 2016).

This is a simple activity that can alleviate tension and promote discussion and contribution. Participants devise a list of questions that relate to people generally – for example, “who is left-handed?”. Participants then discover which team members meet the question’s criteria. After 10 minutes, the participant who has the most answers wins. This activity promotes communication and helps team members build inter-personal skills.

2. ‘Office trivia’ (Cohen, 2017)

This quick activity can help as an ice-breaker and provides a flexible option for team building. Create a list of trivia questions that are related to the workplace. For example, “how many people named ‘John’ work in the accounting department?” or, “how many people work in the IT department?”. Read the questions out loud to the whole group. The employee with the most correct answers at the end is the winner.

3. Plane crash (Stepshift, 2016)

The participants imagine that they are on a plane which has crashed on a deserted island. They are allowed to select a specified number of items from around the workplace that would help the group to survive. Each chosen item is ranked in importance. The whole group must agree on their decision. This activity helps with creative problem solving and collaboration.

4. ‘Magazine story’ (Cohen, 2017)

Each team works together to come up with an imaginary cover story of a magazine, about a successful project or business achievement. The team designs the images, headlines, and come up with quotes.

5. The Human Knot (Stepshift, 2016)

Relying on cooperation, this is a good problem-solving and communication activity. Participants stand shoulder to shoulder in a circle. Then, they put their right hand in the hand of a person who stands across from them. They then put their left hand in the hand of another different person (but not someone standing directly next to them).

Participants are required to untangle the human knot without breaking the chain. If the chain is broken, the participants must start over.

6. Make your own movie (Cohen, 2017)

This is a fun activity that is suitable for both indoors and outdoors. Although it requires the necessary equipment (i.e., camera, tripod, and microphone), teams enjoy it. Employees should work in large groups (more than eight people) and divide responsibilities. Teams work together to come up with scripts for a 5 – 7-minute movie.

7. Radio Play (Cohen, 2017)

This activity can provide an alternative to making a movie. Employees work together, spending about one-hour planning and writing a play and taking a further 15 – 20 minutes to ‘perform’ it, keeping in mind that it is designed for radio.

Each participant places their chair, in no particular order, around the room. The room should be cleared of tables and other furniture. Each person should sit on their chair, pointing in a different direction. Then, request one manager to volunteer and come to the front of the room. Their task is to walk slowly back to their empty chair and sit down.

If their chair is occupied, they can move to the next empty chair available and sit on it. However, everyone else has the task of stopping the volunteer from sitting down.

Only one person at a time can stand and move. No one can make two consecutive moves. A person cannot sit on the chair that they have just left. Once the activity begins, the room is required to be silent. No one is allowed to touch the volunteer.

Give the managers 2 minutes to come up with their strategy. After every round, the participants should discuss what happened and select a new volunteer for the next round. The team is given 2 minutes preparation time each round. It is important that the volunteer’s movement is kept at a slow walk.

At the conclusion of the activity, it is beneficial for the team to discuss the activity. They may reflect upon whether they need a leader, what made planning difficult, whether everyone agreed on the plan, and what would make the task easier.

9. Back to back drawing (Cohen, 2017)

Provide vector shapes on separate pieces of paper (they can be shapes of signs, objects or merely abstract shapes). Participants sit in pairs, back-to-back. Employee A is given a sheet of paper and a pen, and employee B is provided with one of the printed shapes.

The aim of the activity is for employee A to draw the shape relying only on verbal instructions from employee B. Person B cannot only tell the other person what the shape is – he/she is only able to provide directions about how to draw it, or to describe its uses. Each team has two 2 minutes to draw the shape.

10. ‘All Aboard’ (Stepshift, 2016).

Teams use various materials, for example, pieces of wood or mats, to build a pretend ‘boat’. All the participants must stand on the ‘boat’ at once. Then, pieces of the ‘boat’ should be removed. The team should still strive to stand in the diminished space on the ‘boat’. All Aboard can promote communication, problem-solving and critical thinking.

11. Body of words (Cohen, 2017)

Participants are divided into teams of between four and eight people, and each team elects one leader. To prepare the activity, record words that have one less letter than the number of people in the team (i.e., if there are five people in the team, a suitable word could be ‘book’ which has four letters). Randomly select a word, and then the teams have the task of making the word using only their bodies.

Each team member moves and bends their body to form a letter. The team leader can direct their team.

What stands out to me from this article is the complexity of leadership. This article demonstrates that even if one is not a ‘natural’ leader, there are plenty of activities that can promote leadership skills. Even children can develop leadership, and what’s more, have fun with activities at the same time.

What do you think espouses leadership? Do you think that there are people who might tend to be leaders more than others? Perhaps you have a story about a leadership activity you have participated in or delivered – I would dearly like to hear about your experiences.

Thank you for reading.

We hope you enjoyed reading this article. Don’t forget to download our three Positive Leadership Exercises for free .

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This great. Thank you

Great ideas, thank you!

Thank you so much for providing such a useful list of activities to demonstrate and for such a varied target population. Innovative and attention-seeking exercises yet practical.

Thank you for posting this informative blog. keep sharing.

Too interesting for me to try all.

Great article! Having group activities Melbourne helps the team to enhance working together. I love how it brings people together and motivates employees to learn from each other.

Great activities. Thank you.

This is an excellent article for every manager and leader tn build successful leadership. Thank you.

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41 Exciting Project-Based Learning Field Trip Ideas

August 14, 2023 //  by  Lauren Du Plessis

Discover a world beyond your classroom with 41 vibrant project-based learning field trip ideas. As teachers, we continually seek new ways to engage and inspire our young learners. For this reason, we’ve curated a list of unique educational destinations- each offering a wealth of hands-on learning experiences for you and your young explorers! From museums to farms, TV stations to local startups, these trips will ignite curiosity and enhance learning, so let’s jump right in to explore more.

Preschool (3-5 years)

1. puppet theater.

Ever wondered what your puppets would say if they could talk? It’s time to unleash creativity and weave magic with a charming puppet theater. The stage is set, the lights dim, and your young puppeteers have a chance to spin enchanting tales for all of their peers to enjoy.

Learn More: Bob Baker Marionette Theater

2. Children’s Museum

This next field trip idea allows your littles to discover something new with every step they take! Children’s Museums are a galaxy of interactive exhibits- with every room designed to pique curiosity and spark fascination.

Learn More: MCM

Let’s swap those classroom walls for sun-drenched fields and wide-open skies. Among the chirping birds and friendly farm animals, your kids can delve into the heart of rural life; discovering a new respect for farmers and all the hard work they complete.

Learn More: YouTube

4. Local Library

Let the local library shelves whisper tales of mystery, adventure, and knowledge into your students’ ears. Watch as their curious minds unearth the joy of reading and embark on countless journeys through the pages of their favorite books.

Learn More: The Colorful Apple

5. Petting Zoo

Ready for a fuzzy, furry adventure? The petting zoo awaits to greet your students with an assortment of friendly wildlife. As your kids pet and care for these adorable animals, they’ll learn important lessons about empathy and responsibility.

Learn More: Seattle’s Child

6. Fruit Picking Farm

Swap the hustle and bustle of the city for a day amidst vibrant orchards. A fruit-picking farm offers an opportunity to pluck, taste, and learn about various fruits. As your students reach out for those ripe apples and juicy strawberries, they are sure to experience the farm-to-table journey firsthand.

Learn More: Smith’s Nursery Inc.

7. Toy Factory

Step into a life-sized playhouse with your students by taking them on an enchanting trip to the toy factory! Watch the wonder evolve as they discover the intriguing process behind how their favorite toys get created.

Learn More: Trip.com

8. Children’s Art Studio

Welcome to the colorful chaos of a children’s art studio! Here, creativity reigns supreme, and messes are masterpieces in the making. Let your little Picassos unveil themselves through their imaginative designs and creations.

Learn More: Art Fun Studio

9. Aquarium

Dive into a magical underwater realm with a trip to the aquarium! As your students marvel at the vibrant marine life, they’ll gain insights into the mysteries and beauty of our oceans.

10. Local Bakery

Tell your students to grab their chefs’ hats as you step into the aromatic world of a local bakery. During this scrumptious adventure, they will discover the science behind baking and might even get to try their hands at decorating cookies!

Learn More: Good Time DIY

11. City Park

There’s more to city parks than meets the eye. These spaces are living classrooms nestled in nature- offering lessons about local wildlife and providing countless outdoor activities for your students to indulge in.

Learn More: City Park Conservancy

12. Dance Studio

Let your students be entranced by the beat of the music and the flow of movement at a local dance studio. This field trip provides a space where your little ones can discover the joy of dancing, paired with the harmony between body and mind. Get their feet tapping and their hearts racing on this rhythmic journey.

Learn More: Jadore Dance

13. Botanical Garden

Envision the botanical garden as a living book of floral wonders just waiting to be explored by your kiddos. As they wander through a stunning array of plants, they’ll uncover the fascinating world of nature’s extraordinary diversity.

Learn More: Naples Garden

Elementary School (6-10 years)

14. planetarium.

Buckle up and prepare your pupils for a cosmic journey as they visit a local planetarium! As they gaze at the starlit dome, the mysteries of the universe are displayed- sparking curiosity and wonder about the cosmos with a quick voyage amongst the stars!

Learn More: HRM

15. Historical Museum

Step back in time with a trip to the historical museum. Each artifact tells a riveting tale; bringing history to life for your young explorers. From stone tools to vintage attire, every exhibit is a time capsule for your elementary learners to enjoy.

Learn More: History Colorado

16. Art Museum

Embark on a kaleidoscopic journey by visiting an art museum. This artistic adventure is sure to awaken your students’ creative side and inspire a deeper appreciation for the arts.

Learn More: The Art of Education

17. Recycling Center

Reduce, reuse, recycle! At the recycling center, your everyday trash gets transformed into treasures! Here, your children can discover the importance of recycling and how it preserves our planet- making this a memorable lesson in waste management.

Learn More: Rethink Waste

18. Science Museum

How about a trip to the science museum to ring home those hard-to-explain concepts? Interactive exhibits morph complex scientific concepts into fun-filled experiences; resulting in a hands-on approach to learning that lets your kids experience the thrills of scientific discovery.

Learn More: EdSurge

19. Historic Houses

Peek into the past with a visit to historic houses. As your students walk through these corridors of history, they’ll develop an appreciation for the heritage and culture of eras gone by.

Learn More: Simple Homeschool

20. Conservatories

Welcome to the conservatory, where every plant holds a lesson in biology, conservation, and ecology. As your children discover the wonder of our green planet, they’ll be encouraged to take better care of our Earthly home.

Learn More: Phipps Conservatory

21. Music Studio

Transport your students to a world of rhythm and rhyme with a trip to the music studio. Here, your learners are sure to strike the right chord in more ways than one- getting an introduction to different instruments and the recording process at large.

Learn More: PBS

Middle School (11-13 years)

22. tech company.

What does the future look like? Let your students discover this answer for themselves at a tech company! In our ever-changing world of technology and innovation, your children will gain insights into the possibilities of tomorrow!

Learn More: The Tech Interactive

23. Archaeological Sites

Give your students the opportunity to walk in the footsteps of their ancient ancestors by visiting an archaeological site. As they explore these open-air museums of human history, they’ll connect with the past and unravel the threads of evolution and civilization.

Learn More: Explore Hampi

24. University Laboratory

Enter the frontier of scientific discovery with a visit to a university laboratory. In this bustling hub of investigation, your student’s experimental ambitions are sure to be sparked; feeding their curiosity and opening their eyes to the wonders of scientific exploration.

Learn More: The Cre8ive Zone

25. Theater

Lights, camera, action! Let your students experience the enchanting world of performing arts with a visit to the theater. From costume design to dramatic performances, they’ll get a glimpse of the magic behind the curtains- igniting a passion for drama and possibly even playwriting!

Learn More: KMS Drama

26. Sports Complex

As your students sprint on the tracks or score goals on the fields, they’ll learn the importance of teamwork, physical fitness, and healthy competition. Taking them to the local sports complex teaches them that not only winning is celebrated, but taking part matters as well.

Learn More: LA Galaxy

A fun-filled adventure to the zoo is a classic field trip idea! Every enclosure will provide your learners insight into the beauty of the animal kingdom; inviting them to discover facts relating to animals from around the world and learn more about the importance of conservation efforts.

Learn More: Lincoln Park Zoo

28. Community Service Centers

At community service centers, kindness isn’t just a virtue; it’s a way of life. Here, your children will learn about the power of empathy and helping others- reinforcing the crucial lesson of giving back to the community. This field trip will allow them to grow, not just as individuals; but as compassionate members of society.

Learn More: Lancaster Edu

29. Local Newspaper

The bustling newsroom of a local newspaper opens a window into the world of journalism. Amid the clattering keyboards and the urgent phone calls, your learners can grasp what goes into the process of news creation, from just a spark of information to a published article.

Learn More: English Classes Cygnaeus Pori

30. Historical Reenactment Sites

Journey back in time by taking your students to historical reenactment sites. Here, history gets brought to life through vibrant performances where your kids can learn about the past in a way that textbooks could never teach them!

Learn More: Student Travel Planning Guide

31. Weather Station

I’m sure all your students have wondered how the forecast predicts if you need an umbrella or sunglasses! Answer their burning questions by taking them to your local weather station. From temperature readings to radar images, they’ll get a firsthand experience of meteorology!

Learn More: CW3E Edu

High School (14-18 years)

32. national park.

In the national park, lessons are etched in the rings of trees and whispered on the wings of butterflies. It’s here that your children can learn about the harmony of nature and the importance of conservation- bonding with the great outdoors and having a well-deserved break from classroom life.

Learn More: Global Travel Alliance

33. TV Station

The TV station pulls back the curtain on the captivating world of television production. From script writing to broadcasting, your learners will get the chance to witness the exciting process of how their favorite shows get created.

34. Biotech Company

Venture into the cutting-edge world of Biotech! Here, your students will get a glimpse into the science that is shaping the future of health and medicine. It’s an awe-inspiring experience that could inspire the next generation of biomedical innovators.

Learn More: Promega Connections

35. Local Government Office

With this field trip your pupils can learn about the inner workings of local governance- getting a practical understanding of civics that no textbook could provide. Bonus: It’s a hands-on lesson in leadership and responsibility.

Learn More: Nations Classroom Tours

36. News Studio

Enterinto the bustling energy of a live broadcast studio. From the anchors’ desks to the control room, your children will get a dynamic view of live journalism to fuel a deeper understanding of the world we live in.

Learn More: Olympic High School

37. Courthouse

Step into the halls of justice with a visit to the courthouse. Given the opportunity to learn about all kinds of legal processes, your learners can gain real-world insight into the judicial system; promoting a better understanding of their rights and responsibilities as citizens.

Learn More: FHN Today

38. Botanical Research Institute

Green thumbs at the ready! Taking your kids to the botanical research institute offers a unique opportunity for them to learn about the importance of plants and their environmental significance. Who knows, this could be the seed that grows into a future career in botany!

Learn More: GITM Edu

39. Architectural Firms

Explore the nitty-gritty blueprints behind society with this field trip! As your learners observe how architects design and build, they’ll gain an appreciation for the relationship between art, science, and community at large.

Learn More: Arch Design

40. Local Startups

Welcome to the ambition playground! On a trip to local startups, your students will witness the journey of how an idea transforms into a thriving business. This trip might inspire them to become the startup heroes of tomorrow

41. Film Studios

Take a behind-the-scenes tour of the big screen! From script to screen, your learners will witness the mesmerizing process of filmmaking. This cinematic adventure might inspire the next generation of filmmakers within your school!

Learn More: NST Group

06 Sep Recharging Creativity: How To Plan an Inspiration Field Trip

Inspiration field trips can take many forms, but at their core, they’re an experiential way to cultivate team culture while learning and recharging your creative battery packs. Getting out of the office, learning something new, and creating a shared experience together, as colleagues, is also one of the fastest ways to establish greater trust and empathy amongst teammates.

As a company that’s focused on delivering amazing educational experiences, inspiration field trips are essential to our creative process and keeping our brains and workshops fresh. Over the years, running these for our own team, guiding our clients through them, and hearing stories from other organizations, here are some of the most common field trips and how to bring them to your team.

Project Inspiration

If your team is about to tackle a new challenge it can be helpful to hear from other companies and practitioners who have already solved something similar. You’re not looking to copy or steal, but rather to seek out trends, understand the ecosystem, and to see how other organizations approach problem solving. As a team, it’s your choice on how you integrate the inspiration into your existing culture and work style.

We recently wrapped up an 8-week design thinking sprint with a team from New York Life and we kicked-off the project with an entire day of inspiration hunting. The teams were looking to amplify their own culture of curiosity, so we brought them to a handful of companies who have their own innovative approach to learning and development. We closed out the day with a short panel discussion and tableside Q+A with three digital and education industry vets here in the TDG office.

Innovation Field Trip time with a great client organization! Cool company + cool company + good food + more cool companies = a fun day of useful inspiration from way outside your industry. #winning #innovation #inspiration #fieldtrip #innovationfieldtrip A photo posted by The Design Gym (@thedesigngym) on Jul 12, 2016 at 8:03am PDT

Industry Inspiration

Looking towards companies, products, and services that are tangential to your core industry can often times be a new source of inspiration. Work in sales or retail? Try going to a restaurant that is known for great customer service. We recently did this with the team at Kiehl’s and dropped by a Danny Meyer’s restaurant for lunch to learn from the masters of hospitality. And to keep ourselves up to speed on emerging technology, we swung by the new Samsung 837 lifestyle store for a taste of virtual reality. Who knew that a virtual roller coaster ride after eating ice cream feels just like if you were on the real thing!?

It was love at first coffee with @Kiehls when we bonded over our shared love of @dhmeyer & magical experiences pic.twitter.com/ufJ0qHp3BB — The Design Gym (@TheDesignGym) April 29, 2016

Inspiration field trip to the @samsungusa 837 #inspiration #fieldtrip #instagram #digitalart A photo posted by The Design Gym (@thedesigngym) on Jul 29, 2016 at 3:11pm PDT

Creative Inspiration

In our workshops we emphasize the importance of getting into alpha brainwave state (Open and Explore mindsets) to foster creativity, which is a different headspace than being in beta brainwave mode (Close mindset, or what I like to call “get shit done mode”). Literally getting out into a field ( or on a boat ) might be exactly what your team needs in order to collectively experience a more open and free mindset together.

Our recent surfing trip was scheduled right after what had been a crazy couple of weeks, so it was really important to us to plan the day around an activity that got us reconnected to our bodies in order to free our minds. We’ll often go for walks, take a bike ride, or work from home to change up our physical spaces, but the ocean is literally a sea of creative potential. Pun 100% intended.

Some days you just gotta play. #inspiration #surfsup #playday #teambonding A photo posted by The Design Gym (@thedesigngym) on Jul 15, 2016 at 12:40pm PDT

How to Run Your Own Inspiration Field Trip

Leading an off-site adventure requires just as much planning and facilitation as any other gathering of people. If you’re taking on that role, here are some tips on how to guide your team without glitches or needing chaperones.

Set the Intention

Having a clear objective for your field trip is important for setting expectations with those attending, as well as your leadership team. Ideally, leaders within your organization will join. However, whether or not they’re able to join, you’ll need to get them on board—it’s really important that they not only sign off on the field trip, but make clear to all employees that they can attend it without having to worry about what the boss thinks of their afternoon away from their desk.

If possible, your intention for the field trip day should also reflect your company’s mission and core values. For us, we value experiential learning so a day at the beach taking surf lessons actual ticks that box! We also believe in the power of a shared meal together, so we hit the Rockaway Beach Club afterwards for tacos and tequila-infused drinks. This time was incredibly valuable for us to be able to catch-up on our personal lives and share fun-fact style stories in a more relaxed environment than our office or any other lunch spot in NoMad.

Work or play, important to be surrounded by friends. Grateful for an awesome home team at @thedesigngym and of course all the tacos and watermelon maths we could consume at #Rockaway Surf Club #beach #nyc #surf #taco #summer #startup A photo posted by Andy Hagerman (@andrewhagerman) on Jul 15, 2016 at 4:46pm PDT

Set the Date

Find a time during business hours that works for everyone on your team—perhaps the biggest challenge, but totally worth it. You’ll have the most success if all teammates can join. These outings shouldn’t feel like extra work or cut into personal time, they are part of the job and should be viewed as such. You can get a lot of of value out of two dedicated hours if planned properly, so even if you can only get your team together for a short period of time, still do it!

We usually schedule these on Fridays, year round. Sometimes a full day, but we’ll also do a half day: meeting for lunch, going to 1-2 inspiration spots, and then closing out the day by grabbing a beer(s).

Commit to Guidelines

No emails allowed! Instagramming is OK 🙂 In all seriousness though, taking calls or answering emails during the activity can cause anxiety amongst your teammates. Be sure to lead by example on this one. We will put fun out of office auto-responders on our emails for the days that we’re out with our team. It’s a reinforcement of the culture we are creating for our team and for our client partners and community members. And from what we’ve seen, people look forward to what we have to share when we get back to them the following week.

You can also build in a reflective component to the day. Arm your team with pocket sized notebooks to capture sparks and ideas along the way (we love our pocket-sized Scoutbooks !). A follow-up debrief meeting can be scheduled for the next week to share out what everyone learned and found most impactful. As the leading facilitator, you should capture themes from the debrief to share back with your leadership team, colleagues who weren’t able to join, or other teams who are curious about that awesome inspiration field trip that they heard about through the grapevine.

The Why Behind Inspiration Field Trips

Depending on your current team culture, asking your boss for a small budget to take the team offsite for a day of discovery might be met with several “but why?” questions. Here are a couple of final takeaways from our experience trying out many forms of inspiration field trips that you can use to make the case for why they are effective and valuable.

We’ve learned over the years that creating shared experiences to establish common reference points is important in building and maintaining a tight knit team culture. You can empathize with others all day long, but having been through the same experience alongside one another builds camaraderie and builds a well of “remember that time when” moments your team can draw upon.

These trips also allow your team to learn something new , which adds to the overall skills and reference points your team can draw upon when approaching any project challenge. You’ll learn a lot about yourself and the various strengths present within your teammates by getting outside your comfort zone.

Ready to try one out on your own? Let us know what you’ve got planned and how it goes! Better yet, invite us along if you can 🙂

Erin Lamberty

Erin Lamberty is a Director at The Design Gym, a strategy and innovation consultancy helping leaders to grow their business by fully unlocking the power of their most important advantage: their people. We work at the intersection of business strategy, experience design, and change management to engage the people that matter most to your work: your customers, your leaders, and your employees. See something that resonates with a project or challenge you're working on? Shoot us a note at [email protected] .

Thanks for sharing this post. I’m very interested in this topic.

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Article Detail

Emerging leaders field trip, an interactive and immersive program exploring personal leadership development.

A program designed to spark an interest in emerging high school leaders to gain the tools needed to make a difference in their community. No matter what you do in your future, leadership skills are universally important and we will all find ourselves in situations that requires to be ready to lead - locally or globally.

STEP INTO THE LEADERSHIP LAB

At the heart of Base Camp's brand new Leadership Center is our state-of-the-art Leadership Lab - a space for young leaders to learn about the concepts and practice the skills of every day leadership. The program consists of a range of engaging activities from individual reflection, to small team collaboration and large group discussion. During the day, students will enter the Leadership Portal, where they will be immersed in 360-degrees of video and sound as well as touch technology that drops them in the middle of leadership situations to put the lessons into action. Students receive their own leadership journal to take home at the end of the day.

Northern Star Council, BSA - Leadership Reimagined Experience from 900lbs of Creative on Vimeo .

THEMES COVERED

Our guides will lead students through a series of activities that cover topics including:

• Diversity and Inclusion
• Personal Leadership Styles
• Core Values
• Communication
• Self and Team Evaluation
• Developing a Leadership Vision
• Creating an Action Plan for Engaging in your Community

RESERVATIONS

If you're ready to book your emerging leaders field trip, just fill out new reservation request on our online reservation system .

Related articles

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• Trust Building Field Trip
• Directions to Base Camp
• Base Camp Waiver
• Base Camp Roster
• Outdoor Skills Field Trip
• Teamwork Field Trip

• Timely Resources
• Innovative Teaching Ideas
• Leadership in Action
• Classroom Voices
• Education Trends

Inspiring Student Leadership and Learning 

Using virtual field trips to bring together students of all ages.

In school, students learn academic content, build critical thinking skills, and grow as people! To create learning experiences that accomplish this, two educators in the Verona Area School District decided to join forces. They found an innovative way to bring high school and elementary school students together through Discovery Education’s Virtual Field Trips.

Meet the Team Behind the Magic

Rita Mortenson, Educational Technology Coach

I’ve been teaching for over 30 years and am currently a high school Educational Technology Coach, where I work with about 1,800 students and 200 staff members on a variety of technology topics. I’m an Apple Distinguished Educator, a Google Innovator, am ISTE certified, and love being a DEN STAR!

Lisette Venegas, Secondary Multilingual Programs Manager

I have been teaching for over 23 years and have taught Pre-K–4th grade, worked with multilingual and special education students, and been a library media specialist, lead teacher, instructional coach, and curriculum learning specialist. I am currently the Secondary Multilingual Programs Manager for the Verona Area School District. I truly find joy in working with the students, families, and staff on a daily basis, and being a DEN Star is amazing!

Why Virtual Field Trips?

Over the past few years, we have probably done 30 Virtual Field Trips together for a variety of grade levels. It’s really fun for students and teachers!

This started because we saw how great the Virtual Field Trips are and wanted to spread the word to other teachers. These field trips are more than just a video to show your students, and they’re more than just a part of a lesson. Working together to create these events and activities around the VFTs helps us show teachers that yes, this online content is there to engage your students, but you can build out so much more from that. And because the VFTs are embedded in Discovery Education Experience , teachers can share the VFT content with students who may have missed the hands-on experience.

Creating joy for students through these hands-on activities can help them learn new things or show what they have learned throughout a unit. For example, when elementary students completed a unit on weather, we set up an Extreme Weather VFT experience with different stations students visited with high schoolers. This experience helps teachers visualize what they can do with all of the online content they have and how to make it fun and exciting for their students.

Read more about Verona Area School District's partnership with Discovery Education

How to get started.

To start something like this at your school, find another teacher who is interested in trying something new. When launching new projects, it’s easier to start with a small team. Team up with one other teacher and work together to plan your first event. Interest in the events will grow as other teachers see what your students accomplish!

Our first activit y used the NFL Play 60 Virtual Field Trip. Working with separate age groups (high school and elementary school), requires some brainstorming from the teachers to determine ways the content can be engaging for all students. The first year, we brought the football team to the elementary school. Today, we bring in students from different high school athletic programs and academic programs to help facilitate the activities for the younger students.

Our events start with watching the Virtual Field Trip, then rotating through a few relevant activities. To help other teachers plan these events, we created a presentation to share with other DE educators and have updated the planning into a simple process. Planning two or three stations can be a great start, and you have to be ready to brainstorm with other teachers in your school. The planning should take about an hour, but it should be fun. Once we review the content and plan the stations, away we go! At this point, we’ve done planning in as little as 20 minutes.

These events will eventually become popular in your district, so we recommend having a digital sign-up where teachers can share what topics they would like to cover and how they want to pair up the students. For example, a second-grade teacher may look at their curriculum and notice that their weather unit in November could be a great opportunity to pair up with the high school about a similar topic.

Once we identify interested teachers, we determine which school site is better equipped to host the event—the elementary or the high school. For example, the high schools often have science labs stocked with materials if the events are heavy in experiments. It takes about a month to be fully prepared because you’ll have to consider details like transportation, scheduling, and permission slips. Once we have planned the logistics, we hand the activity planning over to the older students!

Planning the Activities

We kick off the activity planning by gathering the high school students and running through a few steps to help guide them.

Explain the topic that will be covered.

Have the students watch the VFT and use the accompanying Studio SlideShow to help chunk out the information and pose questions throughout.

Once they’ve seen the content, we encourage them to consider what types of stations to include in our collaborative event.

Ask the students to design a fun, themed activity around the skills we are planning to showcase, practice, and learn that also relate to the theme of the VFT.

When we did the STEM Forward Virtual Field Trip with Olympian Katie Ledecky , we had the students decorate their own Olympic Medal to get them excited about the content. Then, after watching the Virtual Field Trip, we went into the field house where we held relay races and celebrated with the school mascot. These events include the skills from the VFT but also help build our community!

Before pairing up the right students to work together, consider the content and how different groups of high school students could share what they’re learning with the younger students.

For example, one of our first-grade classes was studying the Arctic and polar bears, so we partnered with Earth Science and Environmental Studies classes at the high school for a VFT event. We watched the Living with Polar Bears Virtual Field Trip , then had different stations set up for the students.At one station, students explored how polar bears stay warm. The students put Crisco on their hand, wrapped it in in plastic wrap, and dunked it into the bucket of ice water to simulate how blubber keeps polar bears warm. The students; eyes just lit up when they realized the ice water wasn’t cold with their layer of “blubber” and it was a great moment for them to truly understand how blubber works for polar bears!

We’re a relatively small district, and these experiences show our younger students that we are all one community, no matter the age! It’s also encouraging to see our high schoolers be leaders to our younger students, and the teachers are often impressed with their leadership skills. Showing older students that they can be leaders and help younger students make learning connections inspires them to consider their own careers as well.

Seeing these students work together so well inspires teachers to consider how they can implement hands-on learning activities along with what they’re already doing with Discovery Education, even without our help! We’ve had teachers say this is the best learning experience for their class throughout the whole year, and it’s been gaining more traction every year. Now when we walk into a school, everyone asks if we’re here for another VFT!

Advice to Other Educators

If you really want these events to take off, plan them one at a time, then share the success with others! You can share highlights from your event on social media or through your district channels to help others learn about what your students are doing. We’ve shared our success with principals, our superintendent, and the district Teaching & Learning team—word really spreads quickly! Here are our other pieces of advice for educators considering planning events like these:

Bring the energy! If you’re not excited about it, they won’t be, so don’t hesitate to be silly. This could end up being the event of the year for your students!

Don’t be afraid to think outside of the box. There are so many resources available, and you can build from there!

Virtual Field Trips bring excitement from around the world right into your classroom, but as Rita and Lisette have shown, they can also bring students together! To help your students engage with exciting content, practice academic skills, and blossom as leaders, consider planning a collaborative Virtual Field Trip event.

To learn more, download Rita's and Lisette's VFT Event planning guide!

Related posts.

Strategies for Encouraging Girls to Explore STEAM

Sparking Student Interest in Space

Taking Steps Toward Stellar Careers

A Slam-Dunk Lesson Using NBA and WNBA Resources

The Discovery Education blog is a free resource for educators to find time-saving teaching strategies and compelling content for their daily lessons.

Full of timely tips, high-quality DE resources, and advice from our DEN community, these posts are meant to entertain and inform our users while supporting educators everywhere with new ways to engage their students in and out of the classroom.

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10 exciting in-person and virtual STEM field trips

Engaging stem field trips help students link classroom learning to real-world possibilities.

STEM field trips are no longer limited to traditional science centers–today’s STEM trips are interactive, engaging, and bring classroom concepts to life for students.

Every student loves a field trip, and with a little planning, it can be mostly fun and low-stress for teachers and chaperones.

One of the best things about a STEM field trip is that it gives students a chance to apply their classroom learning to a real-life situation. This kind of engagement helps students see how professionals use STEM each day, and it also prompts them to consider STEM for their own future.

While in-person field trips are exciting, they’re not always feasible for schools with funding or geographic challenges. In those cases, virtual STEM field trips might be the best option.

We’ve put together a list of in-person and virtual STEM field trips to get you thinking about where your next trip might take your students.

1. Sports games offer a fun and engaging way to challenge students to use STEM concepts they’ve learned in class. Many minor-league baseball teams offer STEM days for students at all grade levels, featuring simple concepts and demonstrations for younger students and more complicated challenges for older students. Check out the nonprofit Science of Sport to get started.

2. If you’re near an iFLY indoor skydiving center , a field trip is a great way to illustrate STEM learning. iFLY’s STEM program uses a vertical wind tunnel to inspire and educate students through an interactive presentation, demos in the wind tunnel, and grade-appropriate lab activities.

3. Roller rinks double as a great throwback to your younger days and as a fun STEM activity, covering topics such as friction, physics, design, and engineering. Here’s an intro from the Roller Skating Association International , and don’t forget to check out your area’s local roller skating rinks.

4. If you want to learn or brush up on some basics, check out this Microsoft Education crash course on using Skype for virtual field trips.

5. EarthEcho features a wide variety of virtual STEM field trips, including topics on water and sustainable futures, how one female biologist forged her career path, and engineering and its contributions to everyday life.

6. Exploring by the Seat of Your Pants hosts 20+ Google Hangout events for classrooms each month. Full day, week-long, and month-long events focus on oceans, biodiversity, women in science, space exploration, and more.

7. Discovery Education’s STEM field trips  let students examine the annual polar bear migration on the tundra, investigate real-life STEM professionals and what a day on the job entails, take a peek at a space center, and more.

8. These three science and nature virtual field trips take students across the globe as they tackle climate change, ecotourism, combating desertification, and different ecosystems.

9. With a Navy STEM virtual field trip, students will hear personal stories from service members and learn about how STEM takes these professionals from an F-18 to the flight deck control on an aircraft carrier.

10. Local science centers and science exploration zones shouldn’t be overlooked–many of them have updated their field trip curriculum to be more modern, relevant, and engaging for students.

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Best Leadership School Trip in Southern California

You’ve heard of attention deficit disorder, but what about  nature-deficit disorder ?

Think of nature as a vitamin. You’re probably not getting the right dose and your students probably aren’t either. Even five to eight-year-olds spend an average of  two hours a day  on devices. It’s not a serious illness, but students who are too plugged in and nature-deficient might have lower academic performance and levels of physical activity.

What’s the antidote? Take advantage of educational field trips.  Whether you’re an educator or parent, we have an answer to help you encourage students to unplug.  Browse this list of school trip ideas to find the best Leadership School Trip in Southern California.

WHAT MAKES A GOOD FIELD TRIP?

Research shows that field trips can be hugely beneficial to student growth and learning. Exposure may help students perform better on  standardized tests . And these important experiences can also leave a  lasting impact  on their lives.

One study revealed that young people who have been exposed to educational outings demonstrate higher high school graduation rates. Even after graduating they continue to benefit in their careers and from a life-long enjoyment of learning.

So what are some important aspects of an effective educational field trip? Finding outings close to home is a great way to connect students to their communities. Incorporating fun and physical activity can be a rewarding way to help students connect with what they’re learning in class.

Choosing an activity that requires exploring and not just sitting is key. A hands-on field trip will help students gain a memorable learning experience.

EDUCATIONAL AND LEADERSHIP SCHOOL TRIPS IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA AND THE GREAT OUTDOORS

If you’re thinking about Southern California field trips, a visit to one of the many natural wonders may come to mind. California is the third largest state in the country, so it’s no surprise that the diversity in climate, topography, and ecosystems is vast. Ours is a state rich in biodiversity and outdoor learning opportunities.

This provides educators and parents so many choices when planning educational field trips in California.

LEADERSHIP FIELD TRIP OPPORTUNITIES

While cultural institutions like museums are a wonderful destination, consider getting back to nature with your students for leadership and team-building activities..

Nature is proven to  relieve stress , and studies show that children can actually be  more motivated  and receptive to learning when outside. It seems like a no-brainer to seize the opportunity to use the natural world as an educational and motivational tool.

What do we mean when we talk about  outdoor education ?

It’s an umbrella term that covers a range of activities that help students connect with and learn about nature. This type of learning can occur in various outdoor settings like parks or camps. And it includes activities like rock climbing, ropes courses, and learning survival skills.

Are you looking for some ideas for leadership school trips in Southern California? Here are a few to consider.

VISIT A BOTANICAL GARDEN

There are many celebrated botanical gardens in Southern California. Set your group up with puzzles to solve or projects to complete together. Many gardens in the region offer guided tours for schools and students from third grade on up.

These tours are often based on the California State Teaching Curriculum. You may also be able to request adjustments to the tour according to the age and interests of your students. Many of these activities can be adapted to a leadership focus.

Botanical gardens help students learn about botany in general. They can also learn about the native plants to the region. All of this can contribute to a better understanding of the natural history of California and how both plants and animals adapt to their habitats.

HEAD TO A FOREST OR WILDLIFE SANCTUARY

The flora, fauna, and ecosystems are so diverse in Southern California. Introduce students to the biodiversity around them to help them build an appreciation for ecology. Head to Sequoia and Kings Canyons National Parks. The giant sequoia trees are truly a sight to behold, especially the General Sherman tree, which is the largest on the planet.

There are also a number of wildlife sanctuaries in the Los Angeles area, and many offer tours and interactive opportunities for students. Again, some facilities have curriculum that can be adapted to leadership skills and teamwork.

TAKE THEM TO THE SEA

A conversation about Southern California field trip ideas wouldn’t be complete without mentioning ocean and beach educational opportunities.  You can find programs that offer sport activities combined with skill-building opportunities and science curriculum. Some places offer specialized study.

For example, some facilities offer courses in marine life in tide pools or aboard a marine research vessel. Students can learn about oceanography equipment and research processes. Again, some of these courses can be adapted to focus on leadership skills and teamwork.

MOUNTAINTOP CAMP WITH CARING EDUCATORS

What if you combine an educational purpose with state-of-the art experiential learning? We’re all about celebrating the many benefits of outdoor learning. Pali Institute is proud to be the only outdoor education program with accreditation from the Association of Experiential Education and the Western Association of School and Colleges.

That means we want to help students learn important lessons through experience and apply those lessons outside of the classroom. One of our biggest priorities is helping students become more confident and better leaders through our outdoor education programs. Our programs are designed with student leadership in mind.

There are many different leadership-building programs available to students at our institute. Our leadership sessions last from three to five days and combine a mixture of puzzles and group exercises like role play and recreational activities like zip lining and high ropes. Our educators have created age-appropriate and inclusive activities as part of the curriculum.

Regardless of the specific task or activity, all programs share the same goals of helping students:

• Develop appreciation for outdoors
• Learn respect and acceptance of others
• Work on interpersonal skills
• Gain teamwork experience
• Practice leadership

If you’re looking for overnight leadership school field trip ideas for students age 9 and older, we have you covered. We take the burden of instruction and curriculum planning off of adult chaperones and teachers. Instead, we invite parents and teachers to fully participate while our educators take the group through its activities.

SCHEDULE YOUR OVERNIGHT LEADERSHIP FIELD TRIP TODAY

The possibilities are nearly endless for leadership field trips in California. And we’re thrilled to offer parents and educators options for innovative outdoor education and the best  leadership programs .

Do you have questions about scheduling an overnight educational outing for your class? We’re happy to work with you to decide on the best course and program length.

We can’t wait to help you book a trip today!

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Educational Field Trip Ideas For Schools

Sometimes our homeschooling needs some spark, something new and different, something that doesn’t necessarily involve pencils and paper, in fact, activities that gets our bodies moving and our spirits refreshed. Guess what that is? We need a field trip!

School trips often form precious memories for pupils.

Field trips ( popularly known as excursions) can be used for wide and varied purposes. Sometimes,  a field trip is just what is needed to kick off a unit study or to pull everything together at the end of a period of study.

Interestingly, field trips can spark interest in various topics, fields of work, or study, which may lead to  students/ pupils making new invention or getting interested in a field that may one day become their life’s work.

Come to think of it? Have you ever wondered why so many public school classes take field trips in the spring? (By the meteorological calendar, spring will always start on 1 March; ending on 31 May. The season starts from  March, April and ends  May).

Could the students and teachers be tired of being cooped up all year in a classroom just want to get out and about in the fresh air? Oftentimes, the field trips are not even what you could consider “educational,” but nonetheless, everyone in the class gets on a school bus, and off they go for the day. This brings us to the conclusion that we can add one more purpose for field trips to the list above–fun! Field trips can be taken just for the fun of it.

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Meanwhile, before heading out on a field trip, it’s important  to remind our children that proper behaviour, manners, and dress are important. We need to make sure our children understand how we expect them to behave in the type of surroundings we will be visiting. We may want to discuss using quiet, polite voices inside public buildings, determine how our group will stay together, or how much freedom each is allowed to have. We also need to let our children know if they will or will not be allowed to touch things they see and remind them to show respect for property and people around them.

Here Are  Awesome Field Trip Ideas For Pupils Of All Ages

Are you looking for fun and educational field trip ideas to inspire students of all ages in your School? Whether you’re teaching elementary, middle, or high school students, look no further than these great ideas for field trips!

some of them are in your own backyard! Check out historical sites near you and see if any offer tours.

Teaching the value of ecological preservation? It’s always a good lesson for students to learn their impact on the world around them. Try these field trip ideas for a greener world:

A recycling center; An alternative energy plant; The local landfill or garbage processing facility; An ecological cleanup site (can also serve as an opportunity for volunteer work!)

Amusement park

What list of field trip ideas would be complete without mentioning a visit to an amusement park? Amusement parks are designed to be fun, meaning there’s something every student can enjoy. However, they can be somewhat overwhelming, so be sure to check out these tips for an amusement park trip with kids before you go.

Explore The Working World:

It’s never too early to talk to your students about the future, which means career-based field trip ideas are always on the table. Explore the working world when you visit these destinations.

TV stations

Manufacturing plants or factories

Science labs

Technology companies

Courthouses

Healthcare facilities

Food production facilities

Colleges or universities

Capital Buildings

Whether you visit your state capital or the nation’s capital , there’s always something to learn about Nigeria’s  history when you visit its source!

Historical Sites

You don’t have to go to a museum to see historical artifacts and buildings — some of them are in your own backyard! Check out historical sites near you and see if any offer tours.

Zoos Or Conservation Centers

The zoo is another field trip idea that has stood the test of time. Many zoos offer group or student discounts and include built-in activities for your visit, such as scavenger hunts or guided tours.

Farms are not only a place to visit animals but also a chance to talk about history, biology, and even economics. Plus, you can never go wrong by supporting your local farmers!

If you asked students their favorite field trip idea on this list, many would vote for a visit to the aquarium! Aquariums engage students of all ages while providing helpful information about the natural world.

Fish Hatcheries

A fish hatchery might not be the first location that comes to mind when you think about entertaining your students, but it’s actually a great field trip idea. Fish hatcheries are full of interesting information, often offer tours, and can provide a wealth of knowledge on your local region’s waterways.

Enjoy Nature

The natural world is an invaluable learning resource and a source of countless field trip ideas! These nature-based field trip ideas will be sure to keep your students entertained.

National Or State Parks

Go for a hike or tour the visitor’s center at your local state or national park. Supporting the national parks system helps it stay beautiful for years to come! You can integrate geography, biology, history, geology, and more into your visit.

Botanical Gardens

Botanical gardens are beautiful and a great place to talk about science and art. You can even have your students do a photography project!

Sculpture Gardens

While sculpture gardens are technically more art than nature, they are another fabulous field trip idea. Some are even interactive or encourage touching the art!

Meet The Animals

Whether you’re wrangling 35 middle school students or you’re a parent teaching homeschooled kids, you’d have a hard time finding a student without a favorite animal, and chances are they’ll see that animal when you visit one of these destinations!

Visit A Museum

Museums are time-honored field trip destinations for a good reason! They provide entertaining and educational talking points for classes of all ages and are already created to appeal to younger and older students alike. Check out these kinds of museums.

Art museums

Science museums (don’t skip the planetarium!)

Maritime museums

Archaeology museums

Historic house/building museums

Cemetery or gravesite museums

Technology museums

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The Best Field Trips for Fourth Graders (In Person and Virtual)

Look, touch, listen, learn.

Of all the grades I taught, fourth grade will forever be my favorite. And I took those kids on some cool field trips. We milked cows at the pioneer museum, went to the Mount St. Helens Visitor Center, and toured our historic downtown. The independence of 9- and 10-year-olds, coupled with grade-level focus on their state, makes for lots of fantastic options for fourth grade field trips.

Not all of these trips will be possible everywhere, but keep in mind any local treasures that are unique to your area. And when you can’t manage a trip—for whatever reason—try our virtual fourth grade field trips below.

In-Person Fourth Grade Field Trips

1. radio station.

The local radio station is a great place for an educational tour. Fourth graders can learn about everything from radio frequencies to what a DJ does to how radio production equipment works. If they’re lucky, they’ll get to record a spot.

2. State History Museum

Fourth grade social studies is all about the state, so if your state history museum is local to you, be sure to check it out with your class. Look for kid-friendly interactive exhibits and special educational programs, like the Washington State History Museum’s History Lab.

3. Animal Shelter

By middle childhood, most children have made significant social-emotional growth and are capable of true empathy. A visit to the local animal shelter is a wonderful opportunity for some humane education, from the basics of animal care to the serious problem of pet overpopulation.

4. State Historic Site

Shore up the study of your state with a visit to a local site that’s important to its history. It could be a Native American heritage site, a statue or birthplace of a historical figure, an old fort or mission, or the site of a significant event like a Civil War battle.

5. Concert Hall

At a concert hall, fourth graders can take in any number of cultural experiences, from a concert by a symphony orchestra to a jazz show to a classical ballet performance. In fact, fourth grade is the perfect time to cultivate an appreciation for the arts.

6. State Park

There’s perhaps no better way to highlight what’s amazing about your state than a visit to a state park. Many offer school group programs, including ecology, orienteering, and STEM. Our favorite, however, has to be Beachcombing 101.

7. Military Base

Most military installations are open to public visits. Many even have regularly scheduled tours as well as their own on-site military museums. There’s a lot of variety depending on the branch, but our favorite is a cavalry detachment’s horse show.

8. State Capitol

If it’s a reasonable possibility, take your fourth graders to visit the state capitol. These buildings are an impressive sight, but they also provide students with a window into state government and history. Also, consider adding on a tour of the governor’s mansion!

9. Geographical Feature

Whatever your location, you likely have a landform (for example: mountain, canyon, cave, butte) or body of water (ocean, river, pond, wetland) that you can visit to show your fourth graders the rock or water cycle in action.

10. Nature Center

A nature center is a perfect place for kids to learn about plants and wildlife that are native to their state. Activities vary by location but might include a nature hike or live animal presentation.

Virtual Fourth Grade Field Trips

1. amazon robotics fulfillment center tour.

Ever wonder how Amazon delivers packages at lightning speed? Take your fourth graders on a 45-minute behind-the-scenes tour of an Amazon fulfillment center to see how computer science, engineering, and real people work together to make the magic happen. During this interactive virtual field trip, students meet Amazon engineers who explain concepts like algorithms and machine learning. It’s aligned to NGSS, CSTA, and ISTE standards, and there’s also a Teacher Toolkit that includes a facilitation guide plus student worksheets, certificates, and extension learning opportunities. (Hint: If you like this virtual field trip, look for the release of more Amazon Future Engineer Tech Tours. The next one, Space Tour, will be available in October 2022.)

Check out the awesome polar bear cam at the Kansas City Zoo! Plus, Smithsonian’s National Zoo  has a Giant Panda Cam. Check out our full list of virtual zoo options here!

3. Slime in Space

Nickelodeon teamed up with two astronauts on the International Space Station to demonstrate how slime reacts to microgravity and had kids reproduce those same demonstrations back here on Earth. It makes for an amazing 15-minute virtual field trip!

4. Mount Vernon

This virtual experience  of George Washington’s home is incredibly well done. Enter the different buildings—from the opulent mansion to the chilling slave quarters—and click on different items for video and text explanations.

5. Planetarium

Through Stellarium Web , kids can explore over 60,000 stars, locate planets, and watch sunrises and solar eclipses. If you enter your location, you can see all the constellations that are visible in the night sky in your corner of the world.

6. Volcanoes

The U.S. Geological Survey monitors volcanoes in the United States. Their interactive map  allows you to learn about any volcano in the country.

7. Nature Lab

The Nature Conservancy offers 11 virtual field trips . For example, students can explore a coastal rain forest from a virtual canoe or unlock the secrets of coral reefs in the Dominican Republic. Each video is about 45 minutes long.

8. The White House

For a look inside the iconic building, check out the  360° tour  of some of the most historic rooms of the People’s House, from the Situation Room to the Oval Office. Examine each room and check out the contents up close.

9. Yellowstone National Park

The first established national park and popular vacation destination is now accessible to virtual travelers. The interactive maps are a great way to see the Mammoth Hot Springs and Mud Volcano, but we think kids will be psyched about the Old Faithful Geyser livestream .

10. The Great Lakes

This virtual field trip from Great Lakes Now has three components: coastal wetlands, algae, and lake sturgeon. Each video is a quick five minutes.

No, really! You can absolutely “go” to the red planet. With  Access Mars , you can see the actual surface of Mars, recorded by NASA’s Curiosity rover. Trust us—don’t skip the intro. And if your kids like that, check out this 4K tour of the moon .

12. Son Doong Cave

National Geographic lets you explore the world’s largest cave, located in Vietnam. Use the  interactive map  to enjoy the fully immersive experience (sound on!).

13. Ellis Island

This  interactive tour of Ellis Island lets students explore places like the Baggage Room and the Stairs of Separation through short stories, historical photographs, videos, and audio clips. Students can also hear the stories of real kids who recently immigrated to the United States and watch a 30-minute movie that includes a Q&A with National Park Service Rangers who explain what coming to America was like for many immigrants.

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Looking for more field trip options check out best field trip ideas for every age and interest (virtual options too), you might also like.

260+ Field Trip Ideas for Grades Pre-K Through 12 (In-Person and Virtual)

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25 Fantastic Field Trip Ideas

Fuel Your Imagination and Planning

Nothing captivates students and youth groups more than the thrill of FIELD TRIPS! These special excursions give kids a chance to encounter new experiences, expand their horizons, cultivate fresh interests, and revel in fun with friends. Below, we’re sharing 25 of our favorite field trip ideas to fuel your imagination and planning.

Terrific Tips for Field Trip Planning 

Wherever you decide to venture, remember these tips to ensure a safe and splendid experience for everyone: 

Align field trips with educational objectives or significant milestones in the school year.

Choose age-appropriate venues and activities, and come prepared with a game plan and instructional materials.

Provide enough chaperones to ensure the safety of all students/group members. ( Pro Tip:   Use SignUp to recruit parent volunteers! )

Follow school/group guidelines for arranging transportation, collecting permission slips, organizing buses, carpooling, etc. 

Communicate expectations for bringing or buying snacks, lunch, and beverages.

For elective and costly field trips, provide  fundraising opportunities  to enable more students to participate.

Educate both children and chaperones on safety measures and emergency procedures.

Fantastic Field Trip Ideas 

Art Museum:  Ignite creative expression and cultivate an appreciation for cultures, history, and identity by visiting a local museum. Many offer curriculum tailored to specific age groups, along with knowledgeable guides and engaging activities for your class or group.

Aquarium:  Dive into the world of ocean life and ecosystem conservation by exploring an oceanarium or aquarium.

Bank : Extend financial literacy lessons with a visit to a main bank branch, offering insights into opening savings accounts, understanding money flow, and even a glimpse into the vault.

Bakery or Candy/Ice Cream Factory : Arrange a tour of a local bakery or industrial food production site to discover the intricacies of food production, complete with delicious samples!

Botanical Garden : Embark on a journey through diverse plant species, learn about local ecosystems, and marvel at the beauty and wonders of nature.

Civil Rights Landmarks : Explore historical sites related to civil rights to enhance students' understanding of the enduring struggle for racial and social equality .

College Campus : Introduce students to the college experience, sparking excitement about higher education and future possibilities.

Cultural Neighborhood Tour : Roam through culturally vibrant neighborhoods to gain insight into various traditions, cuisines, and customs.

Environmental Cleanup Expedition:  Participate in a cleanup event at a local park, lake, or trail promoting environmental awareness and community engagement.

Farm or Dairy:  Gain hands-on knowledge of sustainable agriculture, interact with farm animals, and learn about the farm-to-table process.

Government : Foster civic participation with a tour of local, state or national houses of government, complete with an introduction to elected representatives.

Graveyard : Pay a visit to the resting places of local heroes and significant historical figures to pay respects, and to discover their life stories and the influence they've had on your community.

Historical Reenactment:  Immerse in living history at reenactment events while giving students an experiential understanding of the past.

Local Business/Factory : Take a revealing tour of a prominent local business or factory to learn about their products, manufacturing processes, and community impact.

Nature Photography : Organize a nature photography expedition where students can capture the beauty of the outdoors and showcase their creativity.

Performing Arts Showcase : Attend a theater performance, dance show, or concert to foster an appreciation for the performing arts and encourage creative expression.

Preserve or Park : Explore local green spaces to study wildlife, conduct nature walks, and emphasize the importance of nature conservation.

Pumpkin Patch:  Embrace fall with a visit to the nearby pumpkin patch where students can enjoy hay rides, corn mazes, face painting, and the delight of picking their own pumpkins. 

Science or Innovation Center:  Explore a science or technical innovation center where students can participate in interactive exhibits, conduct science experiments, and learn about exciting future technologies.

Skating : Mark a school year milestone with a party at your local (ice or roller) skating rink, complete with beginner lessons, pizza, and treats.

Stadium or Sports Arena:  Visit the home of your local sports team and get a behind-the-scenes tour of the venue, complete with team autographs. 

Theme Park:  Celebrate hard work with a recreational outing to a local amusement park, water park, or other entertainment center. 

Virtual Reality Tours : Transport students to renowned museums and iconic sites around the world through virtual reality, offering a unique way to explore art and history.

Volunteer Experience : Dedicate a day to community service at a local nonprofit, teaching students the importance of supporting their community and offering insight into nonprofit operations.

Wilderness Surviva l: Collaborate with a local guide or company to arrange a wilderness survival camp that teaches students essential skills like shelter construction, fire-making, foraging for food, water purification, and more.

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ELECTROSTAL HISTORY AND ART MUSEUM: All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go (with Photos)

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