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National Museum of Natural History Virtual Tours

Access the tours.

Hall of Fossils - Deep Time, Giant Sloth

The Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History virtual tours allow visitors to take self-guided, room-by-room tours of select exhibits and areas within the museum from their desktop or mobile device. Visitors can also access select collections and research areas at our satellite support and research stations as well as past exhibits no longer on display.

Virtual Tour Tips

  • To navigate between adjoining rooms in the tours, click on the blue arrow links on the floor or use the navigation map in the upper right of the presentation screen.
  • Look for the camera icon which gives you a close-up view of a particular object or exhibit panel.
  • Try zooming in as some of the images are stitched together from individual pictures in order to create very high resolution gigapixel images.

Please note: This tour and these presentations have been tested and should work on all common devices, browsers, and operating systems (using a desktop computer with Windows, Mac, Linux or a mobile device such as an iPhone, iPad, or Android). Functionality and appearance may vary as it will adjust automatically to accommodate the most visitors. While the virtual tour has no advertising, ad blocking software or browser settings that block JavaScript and/or XML may interfere with the functionality of the virtual tour. Please let us know what you think of the tour and how the experience can be improved. Send your feedback to the NMNH Web Team .

Site Credit: Imagery and coding by Loren Ybarrondo

Equipment Used: Professional Nikon digital single-lens reflex (DSLR) camera bodies and lenses. The photography is typically done using rectilinear lenses with minimized distortion and shooting equirectangular panoramas at 22K pixels on the long side.

Software Used: No authoring software is used. The tours are hand-coded in HTML5 and JavaScript using the krpano graphics library.

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How to take a virtual field trip

Discover how to whisk your students away to museums, mars, and more, without leaving the classroom.

By Google Arts & Culture

Visiting without barriers

Whether you're visiting a museum, historic site or location in a far flung place, Expeditions, also known as virtual field trips, are available to everyone, anywhere, with a web browser or mobile device.

Planning is key

If you are a teacher, we recommend that you start by reading through the tour, to get an idea of what it's about. Check to see if it covers the subject you want to teach. Do you want to run through the whole thing or just pick out highlights?

Perseverance Touching Down on Mars (Illustration) (2020) NASA

Near or far

You can take the class to a wide variety of places. From a visit to the local museum , to a quick trip to Mars . You can project the tour on a screen or share it on Google Classroom. These tours are a mixture of 360° and 2D imagery. There are no pop ups within the panoramas.

Past, present and future

There are tours that look at the past, that explain how systems work today and what we should be thinking about to preserve our future. You can search for a specific tour or browse through by subject: arts , natural history , science and technology , geography , history . 

And there's more...

Once you've been through a tour with your class there are more  virtual field trips  to try or you can go to   Learn with Arts & Culture . There's subject related material and lesson plans that you can use in the classroom or give to students as worksheets to work through at their own pace.

Ready to begin your virtual field trip?

 Click here to set off

Hampi - Poetry in Stone

Archaeological survey of india, the james webb space telescope explained, 10 spectacular sites you can explore in south africa, south african tourism, mahabalipuram - sculpture by the sea, what will the james webb space telescope see, game drives: a south african adventure, rajghat: varanasi through the millenia, ellison onizuka, superstars of the south african bush, sarnath - turning the wheel of law, newton’s laws of motion in space, 5 things you didn't know about south africa's "hole in the wall".

You ARE an ARTiST!

The Ultimate Guide to Virtual Art Museum Field Trips

If there is one thing the pandemic taught us, it’s that you don’t necessarily need to leave your home to have access to things. There are so many resources you can use to enrich your homeschooling, right online! Virtual Art Museum Field Trips are one of those things!

Why Virtual Field Trips Are So Valuable

Besides the fact we already mentioned, you don’t have to leave your home. There are some other great reasons why virtual field trips are so valuable to homeschoolers.

  • Easier on mom – As a homeschooling mom it can be taxing to organize outings for and with all your children. And stressful to navigate public places with, especially ones where they may need to be quiet and orderly!
  • Cost effective – No gas used, no museum tickets to purchase, no lunches to buy while you are out.
  • Vastly increased field trip options – With virtual field trip you have access to museums around the globe, not just in your local area or where you can travel to easily.
  • You are not limited by ages – I used to have a hard time taking my older children to things because I always had to have the little in tow.

Virtual Art Museum Field Trips To Take In Your Homeschool

I have to say, as I did research for this topic I was truly astounded at the amount of virtual art museum field trip resources there are!

Art Credit For High School - The Ultimate Guide to Virtual Art Museum Field Trips is your extensive guide to why, how, and where to find virtual art museum resources.

Two HUGE “Catch All’ Sites For Virtual Field Trips

I feel as though these two sites I am going to mention need a special place here in this list. Why? Because each one houses SO MANY museums and art works right in one place. So if you are looking for a place to start, I suggest one of these sites.

Google Arts & Culture Art Expeditions – I can’t believe all that is housed in the Art Expeditions (virtual field trips that explore the creative world, from painting to literature and performing arts)! Explore masterpieces and artists through the ages, get to know the movements, learn more about iconic writers and their stories in the Page turners section, tour museums around the world and so much more!

The Art Institute of Chicago – They put 44,000+ works of art online for you to view in high resolution! The museum also includes a bibliography, exhibition history, notes on provenance, audio and video histories and descriptions, and educational resources like teacher manuals, lesson plans, and exams. 

virtual field trips museums

23 Art Museums with Virtual Resources For Your Homeschool

The British Museum  and Google Cultural Institute teamed up to create one of our favorite interactive projects:  The Museum of the World.  The British Museum’s digital art collection lets users travel through time while seeing how each historical piece in their collection connects with others. 

The Frick Collection – Located in the Henry Clay Frick House (New York City, New York), the Frick Collection houses the art collection of industrialist Henry Clay Frick. The collection features some of the best-known paintings by major European artists like Bellini, Rembrandt, Vermeer, as well as numerous works of sculpture and porcelain. The entire museum can be viewed virtually.

Frida Kahlo Museum – Also known as La Casa Azúl (the Blue House) and located in Mexico City. In Google Street view style you can take a virtual tour of the museum both inside and out.

virtual field trips museums

The Georgie O’Keeffe Museum – Located in Sante Fe, New Mexico. dedicated to the artistic legacy of Georgia O’Keeffe and her work on American Modernism. The  museum website  offers creative activities, stories, and education about Georgia O’Keeffe’s life, along with six virtual exhibits available through Google Arts and Culture: Georgia O’Keeffe, Modernism, Oil Paint, Canvas, American Modernism, United States.

The J. Paul Getty Museum – Located in Los Angeles, California. The collection of the J. Paul Getty Museum comprises Greek, Roman, and Etruscan art from the Neolithic to Late Antiquity; European art—including illuminated manuscripts, paintings, drawings, sculpture, and decorative arts—from the Middle Ages to the early twentieth century; and international photography from its inception to the present day.

Guggenheim – Featuring over 1,700 artworks by more than 625 artists, the Collection Online presents a searchable database of selected artworks from the Guggenheim’s permanent collection of approximately 8,000 artworks. There are also Virtual Group Tours with an actual guide, as well as printable activities for kids. (Google Arts & Culture also has an awesome section on the Guggenheim!)

The  Hermitage Museum   Located in Saint Petersburg, Russia. The second-largest and eighth-most visited art museum in the world. The Hermitage has over 60,000 pieces of artwork on display, including works like the Peacock Clock by James Cox, Madonna Litta by Leonardo Da Vinci, and works by Rembrandt, Michelangelo, and Antonio Canova. The online tour is extremely comprehensive and allows you to virtually walk through all 6 buildings in the main complex, treasure galley, and 9 different exhibition projects.

High Museum of Art – Located in Atlanta, Georgia. It offers over 15,000 works of art in its collection and is the leading art museum in the southeastern U.S. The museum focuses on 19th- and 20th-century American art, historic and contemporary decorative arts and design, European paintings, modern and contemporary art, photography, folk and self-taught art, and African art. The museum’s partnership with Google Arts and Culture offers 4 online exhibits for viewing: Bill Traylor’s Drawings of People, Animals, and Events; How Iris van Herpen Transformed Fashion; Incredible, Innovative, and Unexpected Contemporary Furniture Designs; Photos From the Civil Rights Movement

Mornings with Monet and Monet art lessons with You ARE an ARTiST. The Ultimate Guide to Virtual Art Museum Field Trips

La Galleria Nazionale  – Located in Rome, Italy, displays about 1,100 paintings and sculptures of the 19th and 20th centuries — the largest collection in Italy. It features work from famous Italian artists like Giacomo Balla, Umberto Boccioni, Alberto Burri, and foreign artists like Cézanne, Monet, Pollock, Rodin, and Van Gogh. It has teamed up with Google to offer 16 different virtual exhibits for online viewing.

The Louvre – The world’s largest museum. Explore the The Body in Movement, Founding Myths: From Hercules to Darth Vader, and much more through their 360-degree viewing feature. They also have a Louvre for Kids with easier wording and engaging cartoon like navigation, kids can view and learn about the art at the gallery.

The Met – Located in NYC, The Met has many of it’s exhibitions online. You can view photos of the pieces, read background information, and some even have video tours! The Met also developed  #MetKids  for, with, and by kids—but parents and teachers can have just as much fun using it. It has features like a fun and highly interactive map, a “time machine” search function, informational and how-to videos, and so much more.

The  Museo Nacional del Prado  located in Madrid Spain, is considered to have one of the greatest collections of European art in the world and offers guests the single largest collection of Spanish art. The collection currently comprises around 8,200 drawings, 7,600 paintings, 4,800 prints, and 1,000 sculptures. Well known works include Las Meninas by Diego Velázquez, The Third of May 1808 by Francisco De Goya, and The Garden of Earthly Delights by Hieronymus Bosch. The museum’s online gallery allows you to get a close look at over 10,000 different pieces of art.

The National Gallery – Located in London. Click and scroll your way around with their three interactive virtual tour options. 1 showcasing 18 different rooms in the museum, 1 showcasing the Sainsbury Wing, and a Google Virtual tour. The National Gallery has hundreds of paintings in its collection ready to be viewed online, many of which are from the Renaissance period.

The National Gallery of Art – Located in Washington, D.C., offers online 3D virtual tours of exhibitions such as Raphael and his Circle , and Degas at the Opera .

Famous artist Georgia O'Keeffe quote

Museum of Modern Art – Founded in 1929, the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in midtown Manhattan was the first museum devoted to the modern era. Through Google Arta & Culture you can view 129 artworks from MoMA’s collection.

National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art – Located in Seoul, Korea, this virtual tour takes you through six floors of Contemporary art from Korea and all over the globe.

Musée d’Orsay – Instantly transport to the middle of Paris with the Musée d’Orsay and their online tours and art collection. Here you can explore art history with the largest collection of impressionist and post-impressionist masterpieces from renowned artists such as Monet, Renoir, Van Gogh, and many more.

Rijksmuseum – located in Amsterdam the Rijkmuseum showcases  the masterworks from the Dutch Golden Age, including works from Vermeer and Rembrandt. Google offers a  3D virtual museum tour   through Street View, where you can zoom in on every tiny detail of each work of art, and listen to stories about 18 masterpieces

San Diego Museum of Art – 360-degree scans of your favorite galleries, zoom in to see art details, and read full label text in both English and Spanish. they also offer FREE docent tours through Zoom.

The Tate Modern  – Check out  this video tour  of their famous Andy Warhol exhibit. Museum curators Gregor Muir and Fiontán Moran talk in-depth about Andy Warhol and his work through the lens of the immigrant story, his LGBTQ identity, and more.

Learn about Vincent Van Gogh in The Ultimate Guide to Virtual Art Museum Field Trips

The Van Gogh Museum  – home to the largest collection of van Gogh pieces in the world. The museum, virtual tours, ebook “stories,” and online collection dive into the life of van Gogh and the inspiration behind his art. Moreover, we think teachers everywhere will appreciate how big a fan he was of reading books!

The Vatican Museums – You can finally say you’ve seen the Sistine Chapel thanks to this online program! And, you can also virtually visit the Raphael Rooms, the Chiaramonti Museum, and more historic sites through  these virtual tours .

The Ultimate Guide to Virtual Art Museum Field Trips is your extensive guide to why, how, and where to find virtual art museum resources.

Tips For Making The Most Of Your Virtual Art Museum Field Trip

  • Study some of the works of art ahead of time in books such as 13 Artists Children Should Know , Art That Changed the Word , The Arts: A Visual Encyclopedia
  • Learn about the city or country the museum is in
  • Learn more about the a specific artist or artist style/time period
  • Recreate a work of art or style – don’t think you can do this, then try using a coloring book like Art Masterpieces to Color , or one of Dover Masterworks coloring books for different artists.

virtual field trips museums

Additional Art Museum Resources For Your Homeschool

  • Van Gogh Experience for Homeschoolers
  • Take a virtual tour of famous artists with Nana’s podcasts
  • Famous Artist Vincent Van Gogh (paint your own Starry Night)
  • Learn about Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa  
  • Learn about beloved artist Eric Carle  
  • Getting to Know the World’s Greatest Artists – Mike Venezia’s  Getting to Know the World’s Greatest Artists  book series are such a fun way to introduce young children to the masters! These books present the artists to children in a relatable way and make them seem more like real people.
  • A Child’s Introduction to Art – book review from The Curriculum Choice

So many famous artists to learn about in The Ultimate Guide to Virtual Art Museum Field Trips

The Famous Artists Series

The Famous Artists Series : The You ARE An Artist Clubhouse Membership offers 47 famous artists video lessons for your homeschool including:

  • Michelangelo
  • Lichtenstein
  • Beatrix Potter

… and a new one added about once a month!

The Famous Artists series is exclusive to the  You ARE an Artist Complete Clubhouse . There is so much to learn about art, artists, and art history! The Famous Artist series is the perfect way to introduce these master artists and their works to your kids!

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virtual field trips museums

Why wait? Save time and avoid lines with advance tickets .

Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago

Providing unique experiences designed to spark scientific inquiry and creativity since 1933.

Museum hours Open today from 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Museum hours Open tomorrow from 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

5700 s. dusable lake shore drive chicago, il 60637.

Plan a visit

Virtual Field Trips

Take a Museum field trip without leaving your classroom.

When you can't come to MSI, take a virtual field trip with us instead. Participate in a facilitated Learning Lab livestream, or take a live virtual tour of some of our most popular exhibits. And check out our free online STEM learning tools for new ways to engage.  

Virtual Field Trip offerings

Live from the heart.

Go live into the operating room to watch heart surgery and learn about careers.

Virtual Crime Lab

Solve a crime with fingerprint analysis, chromatography, white powder analysis and more.

Virtual Mars 2040

Learn how NASA plans to get the first manned mission to Mars by the year 2040.

Virtual MedLab: Diabetes

Learn about vital signs and medical examinations while you analyze data to diagnose and understand diabetes.

Virtual Weather Wise

Explore atmospheric phenomena and learn how scientists predict weather.

  • Grades 6-12
  • School Leaders

FREE Poetry Worksheet Bundle! Perfect for National Poetry Month.

40 Amazing Educational Virtual Field Trips

No permission slips needed.

Amazing Educational Virtual Field Trips

Virtual field trips are a game changer. Not only do they fill in for real field trips when budgets and other roadblocks prevent in-person options, but virtual field trips also open doors to educational experiences all over the country and the world, both past and present. No fundraising or permission slips required!

(Note: For anyone who needs it, YouTube offers a closed-captioning option. Just click the CC button in the bottom right-hand corner.)

1. Amazon Career Tours

Amazon career tours

Amazon Career Tours are free virtual field trips that inspire students to pursue careers of the future. Tour whenever, wherever on Kahoot! Each tour comes with a Teacher Toolkit that includes a facilitation guide and student worksheets.

  • (New!) Amazon Music: Careers Behind the Beats : From studio to streaming, check out how computer science and amazing professionals make listening to your favorite songs possible.
  • Amazon Fulfillment Center Tour : Explore how packages get delivered at lightning speed and how computer science, engineering, and real people work together to make the magic happen. 
  • Data Center Tour 1: Uncovering Cloud Computing : Do students know what “the cloud” actually is? Find out how we went from renting movies at the store to streaming them from anywhere at any time.
  • Data Center Tour 2: Keeping Data Safe and Sustainable : Discover the infrastructure that keeps your information safe and sustainable while diving into data careers of the future.
  • Space Innovation Tour : Students will learn about the amazing technology on board the Orion spacecraft in NASA’s Artemis I flight test and hear from the engineers who made it all possible.

There are so many amazing online options when it comes to zoos that we couldn’t narrow it down to just one. Most zoos have live webcams in some of their most popular exhibits, such as the KC Zoo Polar Bear Cam and the Giant Panda Cam at Smithsonian’s National Zoo . However, some zoos offer a more in-depth look. You’ll definitely want to check out the San Diego Zoo as their site for kids includes behind-the-scenes videos and stories, as well as a variety of printable activities and online games. Check out our full list of virtual zoo goodness.

3. The Aquarium

It’s a similar story with aquariums. You have your pick of live webcams, but our favorites are the Georgia Aquarium’s Ocean Voyager webcam (wait for the whale shark!) and the “Jelly Cam” at Monterey Bay Aquarium (so soothing). The Seattle Aquarium even has a 30-minute video tour . Want more under-the-sea fun? Here’s our ultimate list of virtual aquarium field trips.

4. The Farm

The classic preschool field trip goes online! You can have your pick of dairy farm field trips, but we like this one from the Dairy Alliance  and this one from Stonyfield Organic . Farm Food 360 gives students the opportunity to immerse themselves in Canadian farm and food tours—from raising pigs to making milk and cheese. We’re also loving these virtual egg farm field trips from the American Egg Board.

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5. An Art Museum

Metropolitan Museum of Art's #MetKids

We found 20 art museums with virtual tours , including the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s # MetKids and its awesome Where’s Waldo? setup. And you can’t miss the world-famous Louvre in Paris (no passport needed!). Check out the current virtual tours: Traveling Materials and Objects, the Advent of the Artist, the Body in Movement, and Founding Myths: From Hercules to Darth Vader!

6. A National Park

From webcams at Hawaii volcanoes to a virtual run along the rim of the Grand Canyon , you have tons of options here. Our top pick would have to be Yellowstone. 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 and the opportunity to make their own predictions for its next eruption . Check out everything the National Park Service has to offer virtually.

7. A 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.

8. A Recycling Center

Take your students on a virtual field trip of a recycling center and a modern landfill . Plus, there’s a full-on curriculum that includes lesson plans, take-home handouts, and more.

9. 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 .

10. Nature Lab

The Nature Conservancy has a brand-new virtual field trip entitled “You’re the Scientist! Citizen Science, Frogs & Cicadas.” Check out their full library of videos on topics like climate change and water security.

11. Discovery Education

Discovery Education hosts a variety of virtual events —each with a companion guide with hands-on learning activities. Current offerings include “Making a New Life: The Courage of a Refugee” and “The Future Is Now” (architectural and engineering innovations). Stay tuned for their upcoming civics virtual field trip, “The American Ideal.”

12. 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 long.

13. The Strong National Museum of Play

Explore online exhibits and discover the history and evolution of play. Check out board games that changed play, sports video games that shaped digital play, and the making of Monopoly to name a few.

14. U.S. Census Bureau

Kids can learn about the most recent Census and how census data is collected and used. This virtual field trip also features interviews with subject matter experts and an interactive challenge.

15. National Constitution Center

The “Museum of We the People,” the Constitution Center serves as a “headquarters for civic education.” Check out the Interactive Constitution section , and be sure to watch the virtual tour .

16. The Johnson Space Center

Houston, we have a virtual field trip. Three, actually. All with companion educator guides. The star of the show is the behind-the-scenes tour of the Johnson Space Center .

17. Birthplace of Music

Boise State put together this fully interactive virtual field trip with text, photos, audio, and video about the history of music. The four featured music locations are: Vienna, Austria; New Orleans, Louisiana; Cleveland, Ohio; and Bristol, Tennessee-Virginia.

18. Colonial Williamsburg

This living-history museum provides a look into life in an early American community. The website offers five different webcams featuring areas such as the tavern and the armory.

19. 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.

20. Mount Rushmore

This virtual tour comes with a real tour guide! Blaine Kortemeyer is the Assistant Chief of Interpretation and Education, who lends his expertise on the building of this national monument. The 3D Explorer is also an excellent tool.

21. The Manhattan Project

Take a visit to the National WWII Museum for “a cross-country virtual expedition to discover the science, sites, and stories of the creation of the atomic bomb.” Don’t forget to download the classroom guide!

22. 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.

23. The Smithsonian

The National Museum of Natural History’s virtual experiences are self-guided, room-by-room tours of permanent, current, and past exhibits. Be sure to send kids to the second floor Bone Hall so they can take a look at all different kinds of skeletons.

24. Google Arts & Culture

A collaboration with over 1,200 leading museums and archives, Google Arts & Culture is an incredible storehouse of monumental works of art. We recommend the Street View and Play sections.

25. 360 Cities

Boasting the world’s largest collection of 360° image videos, 360 Cities provides kids with the opportunity to see stunning panoramas across the globe, including their video of the ice floe on the Vistula River in Poland.

26. Buckingham Palace

It’s the official residence of the Queen of England, and boy, is it opulent! Get a peek inside the gorgeous Grand Staircase, White Drawing Room, Throne Room, and Blue Drawing Room.

27. The Great Wall of China

See one of the wonders of the world with this amazing, thousands-year-old fortification system known the world over. This virtual tour has four scenes available (you have to pay to get access to all 14). The bird’s-eye view of Mutianyu pass is a highlight.

28. Easter Island

Easter Island Moai Statues at Rano Raraku under sunny summer sky. Rano Raraku, Rapa Nui National Park, Hanga Roa, Easter Island, Chile.

Most of us recognize the giant stone statues of Easter Island, but what’s the story behind them? Nova’s online adventure “Secrets of Easter Island” delves into the mystery with a virtual tour.

29. 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!).

30. Ancient Egypt

You don’t need a time machine! Discovering Ancient Egypt has a ton of free resources, but it’s the interactive pyramid map and 3D temple reconstructions that really give it a field trip feel.

31. Back Through Time

Virtually visit Turn Back the Clock , a museum exhibit that ran for two years at the Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago. Through compelling personal stories, innovative interactive media, and pop culture artifacts, the exhibit takes guests through seven decades of history—from the dawn of the nuclear age to significant policy questions our leaders face today.

Landscape on planet Mars, scenic desert scene on the red planet

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 liked that, check out this 4K tour of the moon . These may go down in history as some of the best virtual field trips your students get to experience.

33. The Battleship New Jersey

Take a virtual tour of this historical battleship located on the Camden waterfront. This battleship has traveled more miles than any other!

34. The Vatican

No need to travel to Rome! Take in the amazing art and architecture located in the Vatican Museums with these 360-degree views.

35. Space Center Houston

Space Center Houston Virtual Tour

Download the app and climb aboard the virtual tram line! Take a virtual walk through the Space Center Houston with informational stops along the way.

36. The Louvre

Virtually visit museum rooms in the famous Louvre located in Paris. Even check out The Louvre kids’ site for student-friendly galleries and stories. You can’t visit The Louvre without seeing the Mona Lisa , so check out their immersive Mona Lisa experience available in the app store.

37. Ellis Island

Map of Ellis Island Virtual Field Trip

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, explore colorful charts and graphs with immigration data, 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.

38. Plimoth Patuxet Museums

Desk with laptop featuring a Wampanoag Native American.

Travel back to the 17th century with options for free, on-demand, digital resources or a live, 1-hour virtual school program led by a Plimoth Patuxet Contemporary Indigenous Museum Educator. Students explore Wampanoag daily life and history; discover the real history of Thanksgiving and the legend behind it; meet a 17th-century Pilgrim; get an interactive sneak peak into 17th-century wardrobes; and learn about simple machines and water power at the Plimoth Grist Mill. There are also options for virtual hands-on history workshops, including Wampanoag Pottery and Write Like a Pilgrim.

39. Children’s Museum Houston

Children's Museum Houston museum educators giving a tour

When you can’t visit the museum in person, 3D virtual field trips to the Children’s Museum Houston are the next best thing. All videos are produced and curated by museum educators and feature hands-on activities that can be done in the classroom. Topics include nutrition, math, states of matter, forces and properties of water, and more.

40. Museum of the American Revolution

Beyond the Battlefield Virtual Field Trip featuring Laruen Tarshis, author of I Survived series

Beyond the Battle Field is a virtual field trip for grades 2-8 hosted by Lauren Tarshis, author of the I Survived historical-fiction series for kids. Students will meet a museum educator as well as the museum curator, and explore artifacts and documents from the American Revolution. Plus they’ll hear the stories of teens who served during the war. There’s also a Classroom Kit available with a vocabulary list and discussion questions by grade level.

If you liked this roundup of the best virtual field trips and want more resources like this, be sure to  subscribe to our newsletters.

Plus, check out the best field trip ideas for every age and interest (virtual options too) ..

You can't always get there in person, but lots of places will let you "visit" online. These are the best virtual field trips out there!

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Virtual Field Trips

Bring the cma to your students.

The 21 st -century museum, much like the 21 st -century classroom, is a dynamic space that is changing constantly. Whether welcoming your students into our physical space, or providing online options, CMA school programs are developed to align with classroom goals and meet standards across the curriculum to ensure a well-rounded, engaging learning experience. 

CMA virtual field trip options include:

  • in-gallery pre-recorded video tours
  • live experiences with trained educators

Read more below, or reach out to us at 803-343-2163 or [email protected] .

Title 1 Schools

The Art for All program is designed to offer Title I schools the opportunity to enjoy a field trip to the Columbia Museum of Art free of charge, whether in-person or virtually. In 2021-2022, Title I schools are eligible to take advantage of this opportunity while funds remain.

This program is supported by the Lipscomb Family Foundation, the Coles Family Foundation of Central Carolina Community Foundation, and the Sonoco Foundation.

Pre-Recorded Video Gallery Tours

These 30-minute videos follow an educator through the galleries, replicating a CMA visit experience. The educator will incorporate inquiry-based discussion techniques that allow the teacher to further the conversation by pausing the video and facilitating discussion. Each purchase includes a video link and an introduction for teachers on how to facilitate image-based discussion.

$25 per video.

Studio Kit Add-On These kits can be added on to any virtual field trip option for an additional charge. These sets include materials for students to complete the studio lesson that connects with their virtual discussion. $3 per student. Kits can be mailed out for an additional $10 fee or picked up from the CMA for no additional charge. 

Book Yours Today

Program Choices

Animal Nature Come with us on an animal safari! We’ll be on the lookout for creatures of all kinds and learning about the natural environments they inhabit. In the studios we’ll make our own artful animals and habitats. Download Pre-Visit Guide

Sense-ational Art In this tour we’ll be using our senses to make discoveries about the art we see and the world around us. Join us as we explore texture, sound, and smell throughout the galleries and create multimedia masterpieces in the studios. Download Pre-Visit Guide

Rock, Paper, Silver In this tour we’ll explore natural resources and how they make up the materials used in works of art. We’ll use scientific and mathematical skills to discuss three-dimensional works of art from sculpture to architecture. In the studios we’ll create our own 3D creations. Download Pre-Visit Guide

How Art Works From a hammer and chisel to a well-oiled machine, art can be created with all sorts of things. In the studios we’ll learn the ins and outs of how art is made and the impact that art has in society. Download Pre-Visit Guide

Visions of the United States American life has been shaped by so many forces, from Native American tribes and African cultures to European fashions and popular culture. In the galleries we will discuss how art reflects American values and changing ways of life. In the studios students will create their own interpretation of Americana. Download Pre-Visit Guide

The Imaginative Worlds of M.C. Escher February 6 – June 6, 2021 Get a closer look at one of the most masterful printmakers of all time in The Imaginative Worlds of M.C. Escher. On this tour we’ll explore geometry, perspective, world cultures, and more as we delve into to the intricate and intriguing work of this graphic artist. Download the Pre-Visit Guide

30 Americans Explore some of the most dynamic and thought-provoking works from major Black artists from the last four decades. The varied works in this exhibition touch on historical events, identity, media, and materiality. Download Pre-Visit Guide

Ways of Life Art doesn’t just tell us about the artist’s own ideas; it can tell us about what life is like in a certain time and place. In this tour we’ll explore art spanning from ancient Mesopotamia to the modern-day United States as we discuss how art shapes our understanding of cultures around the world. Download Pre-Visit Guide

Visions from India Was on view October 16, 2020 – January 10, 2021 Explore the diverse and incredibly varied works of 20 contemporary Indian artists, ranging from the meticulously detailed to soaring installations. The tour delves into Indian politics and history as well as current cultural touch points. Download Pre-Visit Guide

Balance of Power Art is one of many ways people have demonstrated prestige and privilege over time. In the galleries we’ll examine figures and symbols in works of art from the powerful to the powerless, discussing who is and is not being depicted and why. Download Pre-Visit Guide

Making a Modern World Being modern has meant different things in different eras. In this tour we’ll explore the notion of modernity through both history and art, from the Renaissance up to the present day. In the studios students will explore modernity and what it means in their daily lives through their own creations. Download Pre-Visit Guide

virtual field trips museums

Pre-Recorded Video Gallery Tour: Black Is Beautiful

Please enjoy this free video tour of the exhibition Black Is Beautiful: The Photography of Kwame Brathwaite .

In the late 1950s and throughout the 1960s, Kwame Brathwaite used photography to popularize the political slogan “Black Is Beautiful.” This exhibition—the first ever dedicated to Brathwaite’s remarkable career—tells the story of a key figure of the second Harlem Renaissance.

This discussion of Black Is Beautiful is an example of what you'll see in a recorded video tour.

Live Virtual Field Trips

These 40-minute live virtual field trips provide access to high-resolution images of objects in the CMA collection along with live discussions facilitated by trained educators. Supplemental images are included, and in some cases video or audio components. Each virtual discussion comes with a cross-curricular studio art lesson plan that teachers can use to further enhance their classroom experience and reinforce the big ideas of the virtual discussion. 

Virtual discussions with a CMA educator cost $75.

Show Me a Story Art can tell all sorts of stories. Join us in the galleries to unravel these tales, discovering stories about famous figures and everyday events. Along the way we’ll explore ways artists use shape, color, and other elements of art to create new worlds before creating our own in the studios. Download Pre-Visit Guide

All Around Our State While art can tell us about cultures around the world, it can also give vital information about our own region. In this tour we’ll span centuries of South Carolina history and culture, from one of the first Colonial artists to Native American art all the way up to the 21st century. In the studios students will explore how art and the written word intersect to inform historical understanding by creating their own periodicals. Supported by the South Carolina Arts Commission . Download Pre-Visit Guide

Balance of Power Art is one of many ways people have demonstrated prestige and privilege over time. In the galleries we’ll examine figures and symbols in works of art from the powerful to the powerless, discussing who is and is not being depicted. Download Pre-Visit Guide

AP Art History: East/Central Asia This super-sized session (1 hour 15 minutes, or two 35 minute sessions) will cover a range of art from China, Tibet, and Afghanistan. Join us for an interactive discussion as students examine works from the 250 and the CMA collection while also gaining an understanding of Buddhism, the Silk Road, and how politics impact art. Download Pre-Visit Guide

Image Sets and Lesson Plans

These pre-existing image sets and editable lesson plans provide teachers with resources they can use to build their own options.

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12 Virtual Field Trips Your Kids Can Take

Verywell / Caitlin Rogers

  • Art and Culture

History and Social Studies

Though nothing can ever match the experience of going on a field trip to explore something in the real world, a virtual field trip can come close. Popularized at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, virtual field trips for kids are likely here to stay. They offer families and schools a chance to allow kids to explore a world-class museum or monument without having to schedule travel or spend a mint. In fact, these virtual field trips are free!

So, if you have a free morning or afternoon and want to keep curious kids busy, head to one of these virtual field trip sites. A virtual tour can be a learning experience in itself or help families decide where they want to travel to next.

Art and Culture 

If your child has always had an interest in the arts or you find that they are looking to draw or color something new, then these options below may be a great choice for your kid.

Metropolitan Museum of Art

Whether you’re obsessed with fashion, sculpture, music, or poetry, The Metropolitan Museum of Art has a virtual tour for you. With online and in-person exhibits made viewable thanks to Google’s street view cameras, you can make your way through museum rooms or photo galleries full of art to admire. 

This tour is presented in partnership with Google's Arts & Culture program, which features tours from museums large and small, all around the world. Visit cool collections and classic artworks without leaving your home.

The Blue House Frida Kahlo Museum

We can’t decide what’s more fun to look at in this virtual tour of The Blue House , a museum dedicated to Frida Kahlo: the art itself or the architecture housing it, which ranges from brightly painted houses and walls to lush greenery and fascinating trees.

Of course, the museum is also the place where she lived, died, and created much of her work—so you get up close and personal with Frida Kahlo the artist and Frida Kahlo the woman. 

The National Gallery of Art 

Scrolling through photos of art in a museum online isn’t that different from looking at them in a book—unless you're taking a virtual field trip to The National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC!

This museum has found a way to make viewing art interactive. With its children’s video tours, it brings 50 different historic pieces of art to life in just a few minutes, including audio effects, narration, and close-up shots of the details featured in each work.

There are also conversation starters about art, a guided video tour of Stuart Davis’ work hosted by John Lithgow, and an interactive app for kids. 

Got a future paleontologist, zoologist, or "Bill Nye the Science Guy" on your hands? For kids obsessed with animals, outer space, dinosaurs, chemical reactions, or how the world works, these science field trips are engaging and educational.

Smithsonian Museum of Natural History

If your child is interested in learning about the natural environment and the organisms that inhabit it, the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History is a great option. Current, past, and permanent exhibits are included in this virtual tour, which allows you to navigate through the museum using your device or to click on different areas to visit on an interactive map.

There is even a series of narrated tours on video for kids who want to dive deep into a topic (like megalodons). The 360 degree images on this tour are crystal clear, making it feel like you are really there!

San Diego Zoo

Not only does the web site for the San Diego Zoo feature exhibit cams and zookeeper-hosted videos of many of its animal residents, but it’s also a great resource for animal crafts, online games, and fact-based infographics about different species. It’s more than just tuning into a live cam; it’s a virtual visit that gets close to being as fun as the real deal.

Seattle Aquarium

The Seattle Aquarium is a mecca for marine biologists-in-training. Check out what kinds of exhibits the aquarium houses on location through live cams, activities, and fact sheets, then head over to YouTube , where staff host a virtual field trip by walking-and-talking you through several of the species native to the Puget Sound that spend their days inside the aquarium.

Farm Food 360

Is your kid curious about how chickens, cows, or pigs are raised? No problem! At Farm Food 360 , you can read about how more than a dozen Canadian farms are run and watch a series of videos about each one, explaining everything from how a farmer spends their day to environmental sustainability of modern-day farms. 

Johnson Space Center

Mini Neil Armstrongs should check out the Johnson Space Center online for aerospace education opportunities. Boeing and Discovery Education host two virtual field trips on space exploration: Innovating the Future and ecoAction.

Both trips consist of a video series and companion educator guides, so you can apply your newfound knowledge over the course of a few days’ worth of lesson plans and activities . 

Museum of Science

The Museum of Science , a Boston-based science hub, is worth a trip at some point in your life. Until you can get to Boston, the museum is hosting virtual content, including live animal demonstrations to chats about current science events to planetarium tours.

If your kid's life goals include becoming president of the United States, these field trips focused on American history, civics, and notable landmarks will be right up their educational alley.

Ellis Island

Whatever country your family tree can be traced back to, it's likely that you have some kind of connection to Ellis Island . Through Scholastic’s website, you can take a 30-minute virtual tour of Ellis Island and follow it up with an interactive story and photo tour, diaries of real young immigrants, and colorful charts and bar graphs depicting important statistics about immigration through the decades.

Yellowstone National Park

You can go on virtual “walks” through Yellowstone National Park in a series of videos on the National Park Service’s website. When you’re done, dig deeper into fascinating areas of the park—like Mammoth Hot Springs and Norris Geyser Basin—by reading about their histories, taking guided photo tours, and exploring their landmarks on an interactive map.

Mount Rushmore

You've seen Mount Rushmore in history books, but that didn't get you as close to Teddy Roosevelt’s left nostril as you hoped! Never fear: you can go on a "deep dive" (pun intended) on this virtual tour of the famous American landmark.

Featuring a 3D explorer, a 360 degree virtual tour, and a video about how the landmark has been digitally preserved over the years, you can get a good look at the true size and scale of this impressive monument—and learn a little about history, too.

By Sarah Bradley Sarah Bradley has been writing parenting content since 2017, after her third son was born. Since then, she has expanded her expertise to write about pregnancy and postpartum, childhood ages and stages, and general health conditions, including commerce articles for health products. Because she has been homeschooling her sons for seven years, she is also frequently asked to share homeschooling tips, tricks, and advice for parenting sites.

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Virtual Travel for Kids: Virtual Field Trips, Zoos, Museum Tours

Virtual Travel and Field Trips For Kids

A resource list of online museum tours, virtual field trips, zoo live feeds, & ways to travel at home for kids

Looking for ways to keep young minds busy? Travel the world virtually, no passport necessary! I’ve got tons of links for online museums, virtual field trips for kids, wildlife live feeds, kid-friendly travel documentaries, game ideas, and links for travel-related learning and play at home.

This is a great resource list for parents, grandparents, teachers and anyone who wants to help kids learn about the world and keep exploring in-between trips. Be sure to pin it for later and share with friends or family!

Ready for some armchair travel and virtual field trips for kids? Let’s go!

This article contains affiliate links. If you click through and make a purchase, I might earn a commission, at no additional cost to you. Thanks for your support in this way! Learn more in my Disclosure Policy .

Pin these virtual field trips for later!

Google arts and culture project and virtual reality tours.

Some of the sites in my list below participate in the Google Arts and Culture project , which is content from over 2,000 organizations that have partnered with Google to bring their collections and galleries online.

For some online experiences, a virtual reality viewer can be used to immerse yourself in the tour. The simplest virtual reality headsets use a smartphone for this, with an inexpensive viewer like Google Cardboard which you can order from Amazon .  You can use a viewer with a smart phone and the Google Arts & Culture app (downloadable from the Apple Store or Google Play ) or other websites with virtual reality tours.

virtual field trips for kids - exploring global cultures

Virtual Field Trips for Kids: Global Exploration & Cultures

Check out all of these virtual field trip resources for learning about new cultures and places around the globe. Click on the blue text throughout this article for links.

National Geographic Explorer Classroom

Explorer Classroom is a free live YouTube show that connects students with explorers around the world! All events are open to the public and are accompanied by a downloadable event guide with additional information, resources, and discussion questions. During registration, parents and teachers can even choose the option of their group being featured on-screen to interact in real-time with the presenter. Check out upcoming and past sessions on their website. Also don’t miss the National Geographic Education resource Library online .

Global Trek

Travel virtually around the globe with this website! Select a country and learn about the people, wildlife and history there.

Colorful Communities around the World

Check out this Google Earth virtual tour of some of the most colorful cities around the globe. Explore neighborhoods in Semarang, Indonesia; Capetown South Africa; Chefchaouen, Morocco and more. Click the arrows in the bottom right of the page to jump to the next city.

PBS Learning Media: Virtual Field Trip to Africa

This virtual field trip to Africa explores the balance of humans and nature in the countries of Kenya and Burkina Faso. Students will learn the importance of grasslands and how ecotourism has benefited both the people and Kenya’s majestic wildlife. Get the accompanying teacher’s guide here.

photo of child with goggles and wings ready for an adventure

Interactive Virtual Field Trips

Airbnb Experiences is now offering paid virtual field trips for kids! Check out all their interactive global adventures with kid-friendly hosts here . Check out options like a tour of a baby goat farm in New Mexico , learning about space from an astronomer in Norway , uncovering Pompeii with an archaeologist , and so many more!

Virtual Tour: Chefchaouen Morocco's Blue City

National Geographic Kids

Tons of virtual field trip and learning resources including games, science, animals, trivia and more.

Virtual Day of the Dead | Dia de los Muertos

Learn about how the holiday of Day of the Dead is celebrated in different regions of Mexico and the United States with my virtual Day of the Dead feature!

Kids Web Japan: Virtual Culture

Learn about Japanese culture: sports, games, food, origami and more.

The Wonderment

The Wonderment is a non-profit organization that helps kids, teachers and community leaders share ideas, help communities and connect with others. Check out all the ideas, stories and resources here.

Dances Around the World

This (paid) downloadable lets kids learn 18 different traditional and cultural dances from Italy, Russia, Africa, India, China, and Mexico. Includes links to see the dances being performed.

Dances Around the World

U.S. and World Population Clock

Learn about U.S. and world population statistics from the U.S. Census website.

Homes by Tinybop

Kids can explore homes around the world with this app. Make meals, decorate, and play games. Play with pets and farm animals, listen to the radio, or play music. Download it on Google Play or the Apple Store .

Discovering Egypt

This site is run by an artist and researcher who has been fascinated by Ancient Egypt since he was a kid. Find information on hieroglyphs, pyramids, pharaohs, mummification, games and more. Also check out the episode of Nat Geo Kids’ “Are We There Yet: Egypt Pyramids” and all of their Egypt resources .

Virtual Costa Rica

Is Costa Rica on your family travel wish list? Check out this two-part Costa Rica virtual field trip from the family blog Two Weeks in Costa Rica. It includes wildlife cameras, volcanoes, storybooks and even how to plant a pineapple! Also check out the episode “Are We There Yet: Costa Rica Animal Rescue” from Nat Geo Kids.

For Purpose Kids Toolkits, Subscription & Products

Gift Ideas & Activity Kits for Little Global Citizens

Looking for unique gift ideas for kids? For Purpose Kids is a social good brand inspiring the next generation of global citizens by teaching kindness and doing good as a way of life. Check out all of their fun and interactive activity kits and gifts centered around helping people, animals, and the environment!

virtual museum tours for kids

Virtual Museum Tours for Kids

Explore some of the world’s best kid-friendly museums and collections on a virtual field trip from home.

Smithsonian Natural History Museum

Virtual tours of the Natural History Museum in Washington, DC. Start in the iconic rotunda and see past and current exhibits like the Egypt Exhibit, Ocean Hall, Fossil Lab, Hall of Mammals and so much more!

Virtual Tour: Smithsonian Natural History Museum

Fun Stuff For Kids and Teens from the Smithsonian

Check out the Smithsonian Institution’s roundup of “Fun Stuff for Kids and Teens” from all of their museums online.

Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum

Take a tour of the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum, which maintains the world’s largest collection of aviation and space artifacts. It’s part of the Google Arts and Culture App that makes museum collections available online.

National Museum of African American History and Culture

The newest addition to the Smithsonians, the African American History and Culture Museum explores the richness and diversity of the African American experience and how it helped shape the nation. Get access to all the NMAAHC digital resources here , including their excellent guides on talking about race with kids with targeted resources for educators and parents or caregivers .

The British Museum

The British Museum’s “Young Explorers” site lets you explore facts, museum objects, games and more.

British Museum Archaeology Virtual Field Trip

Budding archaeologists can feel like Indiana Jones with this free virtual field trip lesson plan for grades 1-4.

The Hirshhorn Museum

The Hirshhorn Museum, a Washington DC Smithsonian museum that focuses on modern and contemporary art, has brought their HirshhornKids program online! They’re sharing ways to explore art and make hands-on projects at home inspired by Hirshhorn artworks. Check out this fun project for transforming rocks into Picasso art !

National Gallery of Art

The National Gallery in Washington, DC has introduced an app with interactive activities inspired by works in their collection. It also includes a virtual sketchbook and gallery space where users can save their art. Additionally, don’t miss their online resource “An Eye for Art,” which introduces children to more than 50 great artists and their work. it includes activities and explorations that inspire artistic development, focused looking, and creative writing.

Lesson Plan: “A Picture’s Worth a Thousand Words”

This free lesson plan for grades 6-8 has activities for using artwork as an inspiration for creative writing.

Smithsonian American History Museum

The National Museum of American History has home resources designed to help kids explore American history. Don’t miss the online multimedia version of their Star Spangled Banner exhibit .

Love Washington, DC museums? Don’t miss my virtual Washington DC field trip for kids of all ages, with over 150 ways to explore DC’s museums, galleries and sights from home!

Boston Children’s Museum

Designed for children and families, the exhibits of the Boston Children’s Museum focus on science, culture, environmental awareness, health & fitness, and the arts. Take a virtual tour or find resources for parents and educators here.

The Field Museum

Located in Chicago, the Field Museum grew out of items on display in the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition to nearly 40 million artifacts. You can view their collections online, but for kids their best resource is the museum’s YouTube channel The Brain Scoop .

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Met in New York City has in its collection more than 5,000 years of global art through its three sites in New York City. View its collections and exhibits online. Also check out the episode from National Geographic Kids “Are We There Yet: Met Museum.”

I Heart Art - The Met Museum shop for kids

Gift Ideas For Little Artists

Looking for gift ideas that inspire a love of art and culture? Check out The Met Museum’s gift guide for kids of all ages including books, games, puzzles, playsets, art kits, and toys! Top picks: musical Mozart Magic Cube , magnetic world map puzzle , pop-up Victorian dollhouse , and a Fun with Hieroglyphs kit.

The Louvre is the world’s largest art museum and a central landmark of Paris, France. Visit online through their virtual tours of some of their most famous collections.

Virtual Tour: The Louvre Museum Virtual Tours

MMCA Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea

The MMCA in Seoul, South Korea is filled with collections of modern and contemporary art, whose bright colors, unique materials and bold shapes may capture kids’ attention better online than traditional art. (I visited when I was in Seoul and loved it too!)

Check out more museums online with Google Arts and Culture and my virtual Washington DC field trip .

virtual field trips zoo and safari webcams

Virtual Zoo Field Trips & Wildlife Webcams

See wildlife around the globe with these zoo livefeeds and wildlife webcams for your own zoo virtual field trip!

Smithsonian’s National Zoo

No zoo virtual field trip would be complete with a stop at the National Zoo! It’s part of the Smithsonian Institution museums in Washington DC.  Founded in 1889, the National Zoo was one of the first to establish a scientific research program.  Don’t miss the National Zoo webcams including the famous DC panda cam and cheetah cub cam. You can download an activities guide on the webcam page, and find their at-home educational activities here .  Be sure to follow along on Facebook for updates on panda Mei Xiang’s adorable new cub named Xiao Qi Ji (pronounced Shiau-chi-ji) which means “little miracle” in Mandarin.

Atlanta Zoo

The Atlanta Zoo’s online offering is solely-focused on pandas. Don’t forget to press play (pandas are lazy but not THAT lazy – it took me a minute to realize the first time I watched!).

Virtual Tour: Panda at a zoo

Houston Zoo

The Houston Zoo’s live webcams include giraffes, gorillas, elephants and flamingos.

Cincinnati Zoo

As a native Cincinnatian, I was lucky to grow up with the Cincinnati Zoo! You might know their most famous resident, Fiona the preemie hippo . If you’re not familiar, the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden is the second-oldest zoo in the United States, and has tons of conservation and wildlife education programs. Check out their Facebook page for “Live Safaris.”

Catch up on past days’ safaris with their list of Home Safari Resources which includes a little project to go along with each.

Tembe Elephant Park, South Africa

This park’s location is very remote, and is renowned for having the largest elephants on the planet. You can also spot lions, leopards, rhinos and buffalos, which along with elephants, make up the “Big 5” ( the top animals to see in Africa on safari). Viewing hours: day and night.  Be sure to turn on your sound to hear the birds and animals!

Virtual Tour: Elephant at a watering hole

Love safaris and animals? Be sure to check out my full wildlife field trip s guide including how to see a live guided safari for FREE twice a day!

Rosie’s Pan: Balule Nature Reserve, South Africa

This hidden camera at a secluded watering hole often catches lions, leopards, elephants, rhinos, giraffes and more. The first time I watched it, I saw a leopard! Viewing hours: day and night.

GRACE Center, Democratic Republic of Congo

This corridor connects the gorillas’ forest habitat with their night quarters at the The Gorilla Rehabilitation and Conservation Education Center (GRACE). It’s so exciting to see gorillas relaxing here!

virtual field trips museums

Gift Ideas For Kids

Looking for gift ideas for kids who love animals and science? Check out We Craft Box , which offers both one-time ship craft boxes as well as monthly subscriptions. Each subscription box comes with a themed story,  photo directions, and all materials needed that can be shared between two children. Recommended for kids ages 3-9.

Wolfpack Webcam

The International Wolf Center advances the survival of wolf populations by teaching about wolves, their relationship to wildlands and the human role in their future. View their live webcams online day and night.

Orangutan Jungle School

The Smithsonian is offering episodes of its show Orangutan Jungle School for free. Watch young orangutans at a rehabilitation center learn the skills they’ll need to be released back into the wild! (You can also get a free 7-day trial to the channel to watch other shows.)

Virtual Aquarium Field Trips for kids - Ocean Webcams

Virtual Aquarium Field Trips & Ocean Webcams

The georgia aquarium.

The Georgia Aquarium has so many great livefeeds for an aquarium virtual field trip! Some favorites: Jellyfish , Beluga Whales , Southern Sea Otters and Ocean Voyagers – sharks, rays, turtles and more!

The National Aquarium

Located in Baltimore, Maryland, the U.S. National Aquarium is home to more than 20,000 fish, birds, amphibians, reptiles and marine mammals living in award-winning habitats.

Calling future scientists!

Budding marine biologists can help Zooniverse with their “Beluga Bits” project. They need home scientists to examine underwater photos of wild beluga whales and help them catalog the data. More info here!

Ocean lovers of all ages: don’t miss my guide to many more aquarium field trips with my feature on ocean live feeds and aquatic webcams .

space and science virtual field trips for kids

Space & Science Virtual Field Trips

Space center houston virtual camp out.

The Space Center Houston is hosting virtual camp outs on a “pay what you can” basis. The next event is December 12 – register at the link above at least 24 hours ahead of time.

Nickelodeon Slime in Space

Take a virtual field trip into space with Nickelodeon and a group of NASA astronauts as they figure out what happens when you send slime into space! Includes “Slime in Space Resources” for teachers and parents.

Best Slime Recipes

To go along with this field trip, get the 4 best slime recipes from Home Science Tools.com .

Access Mars

Explore the surface of Mars with footage collected by the NASA’s Curiosity Rover.

National Air and Space Administration

NASA has a crazy amount of content available on its NASA At Home site! Future astronauts should be sure to “Imagine You’re An Astronaut” for fun info, video, history and learning projects. Nat Geo Kids has an episode “Are We There Yet: NASA. ” And don’t miss this interactive exhibit of Neil Armstrong’s Space Suit from the National Air and Space Museum.

International Space Station

Got a pair of old 3D glasses laying around? Check out this cool 3-D virtual tour of the Space Station!

Virtual Field Trip: International Space Station

Google Moon

You’ve probably heard of Google Earth, but did you know there’s also Google Moon? Explore tours of lunar landing sites narrated by Apollo astronauts and learn about the moon and space missions there.

Weather School

The Capital Weather Gang, as the meteorologists at the Washington Post are known, hosted two weeks of “Weather School” videos this spring on their Facebook page.

Science Gift Ideas For Kids

Looking for gift ideas for kids who love science? Check out Creation Crate , which delivers hands-on technology projects and online curriculum right to your door. Club SciKids sends engaging and fun career-related science kits each month. Groovy Lab in a Box ships boxes full of hands-on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) experiments for ages 8+. And kids’ toys retailer Maisonette has lots of creative STEM gift ideas.

virtual field trips for kids

Virtual Field Trips for Kids

Explore national parks and tourism sites and get links to tons of virtual field trips around the globe!

U.S. National Parks – Virtual Tours via Google Earth 

Take virtual tours of more than 30 U.S. National Parks, including Bryce Canyon, Death Valley, Dry Tortugas , Sequoia and more.

Become a Junior Park Ranger!

Get ready for your next vacation by learning how kids can take part in the National Parks Junior Ranger Program .

Virtual Field Trip: Death Valley National Park

Google Earth: UNESCO World Heritage Sites

You can also explore UNESCO World heritage sites via Google Earth These are sites for having cultural, historical, scientific or other form of significance by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. Check out Google’s suggestion for their top 8 culture sights here . Also, you can explore a wide variety of landmarks through Google Street view, including Stonehenge , Machu Picchu , the Roman Colosseum and the Egyptian Pyramids . The platform also recently launched the Heritage on the Edge initiative, which features five Unesco World Heritage sites under threat from climate change. The project includes 3D maps, augmented reality features, and expert opinions on how we can protect these treasured landmarks.

Jane Goodall’s Roots and Shoots

The Roots & Shoots Foundation, founded by English primatologist and anthropologist Jane Goodall, has the goal of inspiring and empowering kids to affect change in their communities and the world. Now established in 110 countries around the globe, Roots & Shoots has both a YouTube channel and website with resources for kids and distance learning toolkits and lesson plans for educators.

Mount Vernon

Mount Vernon was the plantation of George Washington, the first President of the United States, and his wife Martha Washington. Explore and learn about the site with a very cool and immersive virtual tour.

Jamestown Settlement & American Revolution Museum

This site has a wealth of American history resources and interactive experiences online. They’re hosting live learning sessions on Wednesdays and even share colonial recipes you can make at home.

Machu Picchu

Experience the Incan ruins of Machu Picchu in Peru with this interactive virtual tour in 360 degrees. Explore further with this Machu Picchu resource from Nat Geo Kids and Peru country fact file .

The World’s Largest Cave

National Geographic has a really cool virtual tour of the world’s largest cave, Son Doong in Vietnam. Use the map to navigate. Be sure to turn your sound on to hear the sounds of the rainforest and traditional singing!

Virtual Chichen Itza

Take a virtual field trip to one of Mexico’s most-visited landmarks, the Mayan ruins of Chichen Itza. These ruins are a UNESCO World Heritage Site and pre-Columbian city built around 600AD. Also check out this National Geographic Kids video about Chichen Itza and explore the Smithsonian Museum of the American Indian’s online exhibit Living Maya Time .

Discovery Education 

Join Discovery Education live for new virtual field trips for kids, or watch on demand. All are free and have a companion guide that includes learning activities.

The Nature Conservancy

This global environmental nonprofit offers a wealth of virtual field trips and downloadable teacher guides. Designed for grades 5-8 but customizable for all ages, their Nature Lab virtual field trips let you travel to the rainforest of Borneo, the coral reefs of Palau, an ecosystem in Colombia and more! Also check out their guide to creating an at-home nature lab summer camp .

Great Wall of China 

Explore the Great Wall of China virtually and see amazing 360-degree views of the surrounding countryside. To go along with it, National Geographic Kids has a Great Wall “Are We There Yet” episode and 30 cool facts about China .

Virtual Tour of Great Wall of China

The largest collection of 360-degree images and videos online, this site allows kids to explore cities across the globe for a virtual field trip.

Ellis Island

This Scholastic teacher’s activity guide for Ellis Island lets you explore Ellis Island from home.

Great Lakes Now

Explore the coastal wetlands of the Great Lakes region with these virtual field trips.  

Virtual Field Trip: Winged Creatures in 360-Degrees

Using 360-degree videos and images, these field trips from Detroit Public Television let students explore a penguin conservation center, raptor habitat, and bat habitat.

Bradshaw Foundation

The Bradshaw Foundation is a nonprofit organization focused on archaeology, anthropology and genetic research. It works to discover, document and preserve ancient rock art around the world, and promote the study of early humankind’s artistic achievements. Check out their photos and information on cave painting around the globe, then this kids art project with tips for creating your own cave paintings .

Virtual Field Trip: Cave Paintings in Laas Geel Somaliland

Travel Books for Kids

Storytime from space.

Check out these videos of astronauts reading stories for kids from space!

Recommended Travel Books

And here are some great travel books for kids available from Amazon.

global craft projects for kids

Travel-Related Craft Projects & Games

Hop over to my Pinterest board of global crafts for kids, including a printable “passport,” crafts for celebrations around the world, paper plate carnival masks and more!

Hands-On Activity Ideas for Families

We Are Teachers has a great guide for hands-on home learning activities that could go along with many of these field trips.

And don’t miss these travel and geography-themed games available on Amazon.

virtual field trips museums

Crafty Gift Ideas For Kids

Need gift ideas for crafty kids? Kid Made Modern offers a smorgasbord of craft options for kids, including subscription boxes, craft kits, stocking stuffer ideas and even online craft classes! Top picks: a create a comic book kit , a shrink art jewelry kit , a my first painting collection , and an arts and crafts supply library to let imaginations run wild!

Online Music and Concerts for Kids

Music for Kids + Fun Stuff

The kennedy center.

The Kennedy Center in Washington, DC is home to the National Symphony Orchestra, Washington National Opera, the Washington Ballet among other performance groups. They have a wealth of digital arts learning resources online, including a playable Top 10 List of Classical Music that kids will enjoy, an instrument-spotting guide , and a musical tour of Europe .

Dr. Seuss Raps

Have you discovered Wes Tank’s story raps? Head over to YouTube and check out videos of him rapping Dr. Seuss favorites over hip hop beats by Dr. Dre and others. (Dr. Seuss and Dr. Dre – get it?!) It’s super catchy and fun for both kids and adults, and kids can read/rap along at home. Find more of his original story raps at Kidoodle.tv , a free “Safe Streaming” platform for kids entertainment.

FOX IN SOX | Dr. Seuss Raps over Dr. Dre Beats

Birthplaces of Music Virtual Field Trip

Take an interactive virtual field trip through the birthplaces of 4 types of music: classical, jazz, rock n’ roll, and country. It’s geared toward high school students, but music lovers of all ages will find it interesting.

Where on Earth Is Carmen Sandiego?

Find out and test your geography knowledge with this revamp of the classic game from Google Earth.

Virtual Disney World

This YouTube Account helps you virtually experience the best of Walt Disney World’s attractions, shows, hotels and more. 

The blog Practical Wanderlust also has their own tips from a former cast member on a how to have a virtual Disney tour .

Disney World Virtual Tour

Additional Learning Resources

Here’s a roundup of other travel, geography and other global learning resources I came across in my virtual field trip and ‘travel from home” research. Be sure to check out my other guides to aquarium virtual field trips and zoo and safari field trips for additional related resources for teachers and parents.

  • Maryland Public Television & PBS Learning Media Free standards-aligned videos, interactives, lesson plans, and more for teachers.
  • Nat Geo Kids: Are We There Yet? Global adventures for kids video series hosted by brother-and-sister duos.
  • Smithsonian Learning Lab: Discover, Create, Share
  • Smithsonian Science Education Center: Distance Learning
  • Aquarium of the Pacific Online Learning Academy 
  • Smithsonian: 7 Ways to Learn about Natural History From Home
  • Smithsonian: 8 Digital Education Resources from the Smithsonian
  • Boston Children’s Museum: Play and Learning Resources
  • U.S. National Parks Learn and Explore
  • National Geographic Family: Fun Ideas to Help Your Kids Explore the World
  • CIA World Factbook
  • The Spy Museum: Lesson Plans Online
  • KidsNuz: 5-Minute Daily Newscasts for Kids
  • Curiosity Stream   Access to a huge library of documentaries and non-fiction television shows. (paid subscription)

Looking for more virtual travel resources to keep traveling and learning from home?

Check out my all of my virtual travel content here ! Includes a Washington DC field trip , safari and zoo virtual field trips and aquarium live feeds (for kids of all ages!) and my virtual travel and things to do in-between trips (mostly for grown-ups).

Pin these virtual field trips for kids or share with friends or family!

The Haphazard Traveler is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

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I was a travel hot mess, but I got better! I kept the name and now blog my best tips for culture + adventure travel from around the globe. Follow along for travel advice, destination guides, and photography from faraway lands and at home in Washington, DC.

Travel Writer | Photographer | Licensed Drone Pilot Member, Society of American Travel Writers (SATW)

The Great Salt Lake exhibit at NHMU.

Virtual Field Trips

Welcome to the Natural History Museum of Utah! The Museum is an active research institution and one of our state’s top visitor attractions. Each year the Museum hosts approximately 300,000 guests from around the world, including 40,000 students visiting on free field trips.

We are proud to share our Virtual Field Trips with you. Listed below, you'll find virtual experiences developed and led by our own expert scientists and educators. Here, you can visit our permanent exhibits, our current special exhibition, and our past special exhibitions.

We are happy to provide students and lifelong learners with a taste of all the Natural History Museum of Utah offers—billions of years of natural history. 

Come explore with us by selecting an exhibition below.

We look forward to hosting you in person soon!

Our Backyard

Our Backyard is an intimate, discovery-based environment designed for younger museum visitors to experience natural history first hand. Entering the exhibit, guests will come face to face with live animals and insects native to Utah, explore an underground crawl area, and get their hands wet in the stream play area. 

Past Worlds

Walking through the Past Worlds exhibition, guests will journey through millions of years of Utah’s ancient environments and their changing life forms. Stories of long lost ecosystems and animal diversity, as well as those highlighting the work of Museum paleontologists can be found along the way.

Great Salt Lake

The Great Salt Lake exhibition is a remnant of the once-massive Lake Bonneville, which stretched 300+ miles end to end. Learn about how the Great Salt Lake and surrounding area have evolved over time and meet the diverse creatures that now make it their home.

First Peoples

The First Peoples exhibition allows guests to explore the stories of the Great Basin’s prehistoric peoples, as well as today’s archaeologists studying how those people survived and thrived in this desert landscape.

Utah is a geological wonderland and the Land exhibition introduces guests to the three physiographic regions that formed over millions of years: the Middle Rocky Mountains, Basin and Range, and Colorado Plateau.

The web of life is illustrated in the Life exhibition, exploring complexity from DNA to Ecosystems, with a focus on Utah’s extraordinary biological diversity. This exhibition is rich with images, sounds of the landscape, hands-on experiences, live animals, and research stories.

Native Voices

The Native Voices exhibition features the traditions of Utah’s native people. Designed in consultation with Utah’s Indian community, this exhibition depicts Native American art and culture and interprets the deep memory and contemporary presence of Utah’s indigenous people.

Past Special Exhibitions

Nature all around us.

A homegrown special exhibition, Nature All Around Us introduced guests to the wild plants and animals that share our communities throughout Utah. Guests discovered hidden worlds in familiar places, from backyards to city streets, and learned just how intertwined our lives are with nature. This exhibit is now touring.

Antarctic Dinosaurs

Embark on an adventure to uncover never-before-seen dinosaur fossils from one of the most isolated environments on Earth! Antarctic Dinosaurs , hosted at NHMU from October 2020 to April 2021, was an immersive experience that transported visitors back 200 million years to discover what life was like in prehistoric Antarctica.

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The 19 Best Free Virtual Field Trips of 2024

Stuck at home? Travel virtually all over the world instead (but seriously, check out the Son Doong Cave)

virtual field trips museums

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When you can't get away, your kids still can by taking a virtual field trip to a museum, farm, zoo, or another fun location. We compiled our list of favorites to help you keep your kids engaged and entertained. Some of these are virtual tours (you can actively decide where to go on the tour) and others are video walkthroughs (just watch and learn), but all give you a great experience of the location.

Best Art-Centric Virtual Tour: The Met

A glimpse at some of the greatest works of art created.

Online exhibits on various topics.

There's only one view of the museum currently available.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art is home to over 5,000 years of art from around the world. You can see some of it from the comfort of your home. Take a virtual stroll through part of the museum using Google Street View. There are also numerous online exhibits on topics like Coco Chanel, Vermeer, Catholic allegory in art, and more.

Best Tour of Space: NASA

The volume of space videos.

The approachable aspect of the videos.

So much more to see on the site.

It's not easily searchable unless you know what you're looking for.

This might be cheating a bit because it's really a collection of videos, but, oh boy, what a collection to tour! The Galleries open up an array of videos covering space topics from testing a parachute for Mars to moving water in space. Each video is a mini virtual tour that will awe kids and encourage interest in science and space.

Best Tour of the White House: Google Arts & Culture's The White House

Stunning 360-degree images.

See inside and outside the White House.

Offers views of 140 paintings.

Once inside a tour, it's hard to know what you're looking at.

No search functions.

Every President since John Adams has occupied the White House and now your children can visit it, too. Google Arts & Culture offers four museum views (three tours of The White House and one of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building) plus a look at more than 140 paintings that grace (or have graced) the walls of the country's most famous abode. The 360-degree images let kids explore to their heart's desire.

Best Cave Virtual Tour: Son Doong Cave

Son Doong is beautiful.

The virtual tour includes lots of information.

Zoom into areas for a more detailed look.

No supplemental online activities.

Son Doong is the world's largest natural cave. Located in Vietnam, it features a subterranean river and the largest cross-section of any cave worldwide. National Geographic's virtual tour lets you explore the cave with full 360-degree views and immersive sounds. You can even zoom in one area to check out the campers in their tents. Son Doong is beautiful and worth a virtual visit.

Best National Park Virtual Tour: Yellowstone

Offers multiple tours.

Lots of historical information.

Amazing images.

No video tours.

Lots of written information that can turn off some kids.

Yellowstone offers seven virtual tours appropriate for older elementary and middle school ages. There's a lot of written information along with the images, and the tours aren't in video. However, the information is fascinating, and the photos are stunning.

From learning about old Fort Yellowstone to discovering park anomalies like Mud Volcano, these tours are a great way for kids to discover unique facts about America.

Best Natural History Tour: Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History

So many exhibits to see!

Easy, clickable maps.

Quick and easy to navigate.

It's not always easy to read the signs in the exhibits.

This iconic museum is dedicated to understanding the natural world and humanity's place in it. There's so much to see it can't possibly be listed here. However, the museum offers an online tour of most of its exhibits. Split this tour up into multiple lessons, so kids don't get overwhelmed.

Skip the ground floor and go straight to the first or second floors.

Best Aquarium Virtual Tour: National Aquarium

Easy to find exhibits.

Fun to explore using the 360-degree options.

Some scenes spin quickly, which can frustrate young learners.

Baltimore's National Aquarium features more than 20,000 aquatic animals. Kids can click and drag images to navigate their way around and use arrows, the map, or a scene list to explore various exhibits. Explore eight areas, such as the Amazon River, a tropical rain forest, and jellyfish.

Best Tours of the World: AirPano

Bright, well-produced videos and images.

Offers tours of numerous countries.

Includes video and still frame-images.

What's not to like?

AirPano has a variety of tours in China, Portugal, Switzerland, and more countries. Children can visit the Zhangjiajie Glass Bridge in China, an underwater cave in Indonesia, ski resorts in France, and more destinations around the globe.

What makes this site so good is that it offers narrations of several tours, provides closeups through interactive actions, and includes short chunks of written information that's easy for kids of most ages to read. The tours are also fairly short, which makes these tours great for younger kids, but older kids will still enjoy the trip.

Best Virtual Tour for Car Lovers: Lane Motor Museum

Totally unique tour.

An inside look that allows for deep diving into collections.

There's no way to tell what a specific vehicle is unless you know cars.

Scroll to the bottom of the link to watch a fun virtual tour of one of the most unique car museums in the world. Lane Motor Museum is home to an oddball collection of vehicles dating from the 1920s up to modern times.

Your child will love seeing amphibious vehicles, microcars, prototypes, and more. The tour is easy to click through and offers six angles to entertain viewers.

Best Tours of Nature: Nature Works Everywhere

Tours are narrated and easy to follow.

Provides student handouts, vocabulary, and discussion questions.

We wish there was a larger library of tours!

Explore nature around the world with Nature Works Everywhere's virtual tours. Visit the coral reefs of Palau, the deserts and grasslands of Africa, a rainforest (from a canoe's viewpoint), a renewable energy plant, and more.

The tours are narrated and give great, quick facts to help kids learn in simple, straightforward ways. All tours are appropriate for grades 3 through 12 but are marked with notes about the grades most likely to enjoy the tour.

Best Historical Tour: Ellis Island

A clear explanation of Ellis Island, how it worked, and why it was needed.

Includes children asking questions of tour guides.

The images in much of the tour are small in order to focus on the tour guides.

Ellis Island is a key piece of American history. This virtual tour offers lots of anecdotes and features actual guides from Ellis Island telling stories. Plus, it includes lots of pictures and views of the island.

It's more appropriate for fourth grade and up, mainly due to the litany of facts and complexity of the information provided.

Best Slime-Based Virtual Tour: Slime in Space

Nickelodeon

It's playful and educational.

Good production values.

Fun experiments.

It's a video, not an interactive virtual tour.

What happens to Nickelodeon's iconic slime when it's in space? That's the concept behind the Slime in Space virtual field trip. Featuring real astronauts and Nickelodeon celebrities, the 15-minute video shows kids how slime and water react in a microgravity environment 250 miles above the Earth. Along the way, it answers burning questions like, "Is slime a solid or a liquid?" and "Can you slime a person in space?" (The answer is: yes, very slowly.)

Best Virtual Zoo Tour: San Diego Zoo

Live cams of the animals.

A variety of educational videos.

Fun games and activities.

Fixed camera angles mean you're not always guaranteed to see the animals.

The San Diego Zoo is home to more than 3,500 animals of more than 650 species and subspecies. It's widely considered one of the best zoos in the world. But, if you can't make it to California, it has a robust virtual experience online.

You can peek in on the animals through live cams. There's also a variety of videos that teach kids about vultures or show them how to draw a tiger, for example. There are also zoo-related games and activities kids can do at home.

Best General Farm Tour: FarmFood 360

360-degree views of the farm.

Offers a free app for Android and iOS.

It can be hard to see things on a mobile device.

FarmFood 360 gives an inside look at the activities of a Canadian farm. Kids see 360-degree views of the farm as they learn about milk and cheese production, sheep farming, egg processing, and more.

There's an app available for Android and iOS devices, and it's compatible with some virtual reality headsets.

Best Virtual Planetarium: Stellarium

Realistic night sky simulation.

Mobile apps are available.

Includes a telescope control module for experienced astronomers.

Can be difficult to navigate.

The mobile apps aren't free, but the money supports the project.

Stellarium Web is an online planetarium created by two brothers. Offering an accurate and realistic view of the night sky, it lets you pan around and spot stars, satellites, and other celestial bodies.

It offers mobile apps for Android and iOS that aren't free. The money goes toward paying server and development costs for the two-person project.

Best Living-History Virtual Tour: Colonial Williamsburg

Next best thing to being there.

The virtual scavenger hunt.

The virtual tours are highly interactive.

Virtual tour models can load slowly.

Condensation or inclement weather can obstruct the webcam views.

Colonial Williamsburg is a living-history museum in Virginia that offers a glimpse at what life was like in the 18th century. Its virtual tour is highly interactive and includes videos, informational signs, and 3D models you can rotate.

With its various webcams, you can see the armory, courthouse, merchants square, and more. Colonial Williamsburg's website also offers a virtual scavenger hunt your kids can participate in as they tour the area.

Best European Museum Virtual Tour: The Louvre

It's the Louvre.

The website offers a list of online family-friendly activities.

The virtual tours include a map and an information button.

The website offers limited language options.

Sure, we'd love to jet off to France and tour its fabulous museums personally. But if that's not an option, the Louvre has several virtual tours available on its website. The offerings include exhibitions on the body in movement, founding myths, Egyptian antiquities, and more.

The Louvre also has a handy list of family-friendly online resources everyone can enjoy, including a Mona Lisa VR experience.

Best Factory Virtual Tour: M&M Factory Tour

Zoonar RF / Getty Images

Who doesn't love chocolate?

360-degree views of the factory.

It's short.

The Food Network teamed up with candy maker Mars to give M&M fans a virtual tour of one of its factories. During the short YouTube video, viewers can pan around as a tour guide explains how unrefined chocolate is turned into the little candies we know and love.

Best General Virtual Tour Resource: Discovery Education

An eclectic variety of virtual field trips.

Watch live or on demand.

Trips come with a companion guide packed with activities.

A schedule of when field trips go live would be nice.

Discovery Education offers a variety of virtual field trips for kids learning from home. The offerings change often but currently include an NFL experience, a doodling experience meant to encourage creativity, and a virtual field trip through the internet of things. You can watch the field trips live or catch the videos later on-demand.

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Virtual Field Trips

Two children stand in a grassy field with a snowy mountain range in the background. One child looks through binoculars and the other looks in a book.

Explore the World with Virtual Field Trips

Designed for ages 9-15 but customizable for all ages, virtual field trips allow students to travel the world and explore natural environments without leaving the classroom. Each virtual field trip contains a video, teacher guide and student activities.

Scenic view of long leaf pine trees

Working Trees: Reforestation and Responsible Forestry

Forests represent a powerful opportunity to pull carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere, helping to cool our planet while also providing clean air, clean water, and habitat for wildlife.

Constructed wetland surrounded by farmland

Less Harm on the Farm: Regenerative Agriculture

Food is more than something we eat to survive; it's a part of how we thrive. Learn how regenerative agriculture can help us feed a growing population while restoring nature.

A snow capped mountain is reflected in the surface of the water on Jackson Lake.

Climb-It Change

Explore how climate change is impacting alpine ecosystems and go on a climbing adventure with scientists who take you to some of the most stunning mountain ranges in the United States. This film is a Rocket Soul Studios production.

coral reefs

Protecting Our Oceans and Ourselves

More people rely on our ocean for food, energy, transport, recreation and other natural resources than any other time in history.

tree

Climate Heroes: The Power of Trees

Trees are our climate superheroes! From Louisville, Kentucky, in the United States to St. Vincent and the Grenadines in the Caribbean, trees are playing critical roles in cleaning our air and improving our resilience in the face of climate change.

cicada

You’re the Scientist! Citizen Science, Frogs and Cicadas

The conservation community relies heavily on volunteers not only to restore natural areas but to help gauge the success of restoration efforts.

city

Changing Climate, Changing Cities

Get a front-row, ground-level seat to the challenges cities face as they confront this force of nature, and discover the solutions experts are promoting to mitigate it.

coral reef

The Secret Life of Corals

Learn how fragile reefs are being damaged by human activity and climate change, and how scientists are developing ways to restore corals.

orangutan

Borneo: The Symphony of the Rainforest

On this journey, we’ll learn how experts are using cutting-edge science to find out how healthy the rainforest is—and to discover where it needs some help!

Clayquot Sound

View from a Canoe

Can you imagine a place with 100 million acres of forest and 30,000 miles of coastline? It exists. The Emerald Edge is home to the largest intact coastal temperate rainforest.

desert

Wild Biomes: America’s Rainforests & Deserts

Two wildly different ecosystems, both dependent on the same precious resource: Water. On this virtual field trip, we’ll travel to Seattle and Arizona.

coral reefs

The Coral Reefs of Palau

Join our expert scientist, marine biologist Stephanie Wear, on a virtual field trip to the coral reefs of Palau where you'll explore amazing underwater cities.

panda

China’s Great Forests

Join our expert scientist Yue Wang, a conservation planning officer for The Nature Conservancy, on a virtual field trip across the world to two stunning provinces in China.

windmill

Powering the Planet: Renewable Energy

Join scientist Alex Wegmann as we embark on a Virtual Field Trip to explore a compelling question: How can we get the energy we need without harming nature?

mountains

Journey of Water: Colombia’s Páramo

In this virtual field trip, we will explore the magical páramo ecosystem and the stunning mountain landscapes found just beyond the capital city of Bogotá.

boats

Peru: A Coastal Ecosystem

Join fisheries scientist Matias Caillaux to explore the Humboldt Current Ecosystem off the coast of Peru while learning about the area’s amazing diversity and productivity.

bird

Ridge to Reef: A Virtual Field Trip to Hong Kong

The “Ridge to Reef” (R2R) concept is a holistic approach that takes into consideration all the environments within a watershed — from the top of the mountains down to the ocean — and shows that what happens on land affects what happens in the water.

Stay connected for the latest resources from Nature Lab

Don't miss new Nature Lab teaching guides and videos. Sign up to get the monthly Nature Lab newsletter with free environmental education materials for educators and families.

Explore Our Youth Curriculum

Access resources aligned to The Nature Conservancy’s research and designed specifically for a young audience and classroom use.

virtual field trips museums

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virtual field trips

Virtual field trip videos.

Interactive learning awaits! Come explore National Children’s Museum and dive into STEAM topics and activities with our FREE virtual field trip videos.

Our two 20-minute, virtual field trip videos and accompanying resources align with learning standards and are available to everyone at no cost.  Simply select which virtual field trip video you’d like to experience and fill out the form at the bottom of this page to receive instant access!

  • climate action heroes

Dreamers will learn the difference between weather and climate, the effects of climate change, and the importance of using their climate action superpowers for good!

Note: Climate Action Heroes is an engaging viewing experience for all ages but is particularly meaningful for independent 3rd – 5th graders.

  • head in the clouds

Dreamers will virtually wander the Museum’s weather-themed exhibits, head outside to observe the sky, and explore cloud identification and basic meteorology principles.

Note: Head in the Clouds is an engaging viewing experience for all ages but is particularly meaningful for independent 1st – 4th graders.

virtual field trips museums

here’s how it works

Upon completing the form below, you will receive an email with the following information:

  • the virtual field trip video
  • pre and post “visit” resources, including all tools, lists of required activity materials and learning standards, and recommended additional resources and activities

Be sure to check your Junk and Spam folders! If you have any questions, please contact us !

request form

  • name * first last
  • email * email confirm email
  • address * city state Alabama Alaska American Samoa Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware District of Columbia Florida Georgia Guam Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Northern Mariana Islands Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Puerto Rico Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah U.S. Virgin Islands Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming Armed Forces Americas Armed Forces Europe Armed Forces Pacific zip
  • school name
  • informal educator
  • school administrator

accessibility

Skip to Main Content of WWII

Virtual field trips.

virtual field trips museums

The National WWII Museum offers the following interactive, fast-paced interactive lessons that are videoconferenced LIVE into classrooms across the country. Guided by a museum educator, students analyze maps, photographs, artifacts, posters, speeches, and songs as they explore the chronologies, strategies, motivations, and outcomes behind these fascinating chapters of WWII history. All sessions are built to invite student participation and allow for a Q & A at the end. 

These virtual field trips are not virtual tours of the museum. 

Virtual Field Trips are $100 per session.

Virtual Field Trips are typically held between 7:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. CT. If you need to book outside of those hours  or would like to book multiple / consecutive Virtual Field Trips please email the distance learning team .

Explore all of our program offerings below. 

Register Now

Virtual Field Trip Options

virtual field trips museums

What Comes Next: The End of World War II

This Virtual Field Trip focuses on what comes next in the five years following World War II in Europe and Japan. Students will learn about how the United States and the other Allied Powers began the process of rebuilding and recovery after the war. This Virtual Field Trip will cover topics including the creation of the United Nations, the Marshall Plan, the Nuremberg Trials, and the Occupation of Japan. Utilizing primary sources like maps, photographs, and oral histories from the Museum’s collection, students will learn about the state of the world after World War II.

Los Veteranos Virtual Field Trip

Los Veteranos: Latinos in WWII

An important part of U.S. history long before WWII, the war gave Latinos new opportunities and presented them with new challenges. Because Latinos did not serve in segregated units, as African Americans did, their WWII history is sometimes overlooked. Was that history unique, and if so, how? Students learn about Latino WWII heroes and average soldiers, as well as issues of ethnicity and acculturation on the Home Front.

This program is offered free of charge during National Hispanic Heritage Month (September 15- October 15) through generous support from Pan American Life Insurance Group.

Pearl Harbor Virtual Field Trip

A Day of Infamy: The Japanese Attack on Pearl Harbor

In the war that changed the world it was the day that changed the war—a “Day of Infamy.” That day brought the United States into WWII, adding the strength and determination of the American people to the Allied arsenal as it struggled to defeat the Axis. Students explore Japanese and American motivations and actions through animated maps and both Japanese and American primary sources.

virtual field trips museums

Iwo Jima and the War in the Pacific

Students learn about the vastness of the Pacific Theater by exploring its geography. They survey the Island Hopping campaign using maps and viewing video of oral histories. Next they will try their hand at being historians through an artifact investigation of a Navy “Shellback” certificate. This leads up to the invasion of Iwo Jima. Here they explore the campaign and analyze the photograph of the flag-raising on Mt. Suribachi.

Operation Overlord Virtual Field Trip

D-Day: The Turning Point of the War in Europe

Students receive background on Operation Overlord through maps and audio-visual presentations, explore a map of Northern Europe to learn about the challenges of planning and executing Operation Overlord. The students will play the role of an Allied Commander as they make decisions about where and when D-Day should be launched through voting on scenarios with their classmates. D-Day: what a difference a day makes

Holocaust Virtual Field Trip

The Holocaust: One Teen's Story of Persecution and Survival

Hear personal testimony from Eva Schloss, stepsister of Anne Frank and survivor of Auschwitz. Through video recorded selections of Eva's story from the Museum's oral history collection, students will encounter the physical and emotional ordeal of going into hiding, being captured by the SS and sent to the largest concentration camp in the Third Reich. Students will understand the necessity of exploring this topic even as we approach 70 years after the war's end.

Sponsored by Taube Philanthropies and part of the Taube Family Holocaust Education Program.

Women Working in WWII Virtual Field Trip

Don't You Know There's A War On?! The American Home Front

Students explore rationing, scrapping, War Bonds, and war production through the eyes of students. Together they find answers more satisfying than the wartime standard: “Don't You Know There's A War On?” Primary sources viewed include wartime newsreels, high school yearbooks, posters, photographs, and songs.

Now with two options: Book either the Upper Elementary/Middle School OR High School level program

African Americans in WWII Virtual Field Trip

Double Victory: African Americans in WWII

Students learn about the triumphs and challenges experienced by African Americans on the battle fronts and on the Home Front. The program follows along with songs by Josh White to help the students further examine the treatment of African Americans leading up to WWII. They meet Pearl Harbor hero Dorie Miller, the Montford Point Marines, the Tuskegee Airmen, and an African American Medal of Honor recipient.

Native Americans in WWII Virtual Field Trip

The Warrior Tradition: American Indians in WWII

In addition to the most famous group of American Indians, the Navajo Code Talkers, uncover surprising and lesser-known stories of these American Indians in uniform. Hear segments from the Museum’s oral history collection, including Medal of Honor recipient Van Barfoot,and the last surviving Crow war chief Joe Medicine Crow. With a focus on language and symbols, learn more about American Indians leading up to WWII, explore how the Code Talkers used their once-suppressed languages to successfully transmit code on the battlefront, and discuss why native language and terminology are still relevant today.

WASPS in WWII Virtual Field Trip

It's OUR War, Too! American Women in WWII

When Americans were called to action, women “did their part” despite stereotyping and discrimination. The war spurred many women to enter the workforce for the first time, all while managing a household alone and upholding wartime duties. Women answered the call of Uncle Sam and enlisted in military auxiliary groups, fulfilling critical roles stateside and abroad. Hear accounts from real Rosie the Riveters and women near the battle fronts. Visit the Hollywood Stage Door Canteen and discover how starlets, singers and celebrities lifted the spirits of our troops. Learn about the lasting legacy of women’s contribution to the war effort.

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I AM an American: Japanese Incarceration in WWII

Students explore the story of Eva Hashiguchi, who spent her high-school days incarcerated in Jerome, Arkansas. Through her account, witness how wartime hysteria and racial prejudice led to one of the darkest chapters of American history. Examine the country’s actions to apologize for the injustices committed against Japanese Americans. Hear about the struggles and tremendous accomplishments of the Purple Heart Battalion.

Science and Technology in WWII Virtual Field Trip

The War That Changed Your World: Science & Technology in WWII

Today’s televisions, computers, and cell phones can all trace their origins to technological advancements realized during WWII. Students learn about radar, rockets, penicillin, blood plasma, computers, and the atomic bomb; and how these inventions continue to affect their lives today.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who can participate.

K-12 classrooms, library patrons, lifelong learning groups.

This is a guided interactive experience with a trained Museum educator in our state-of-the-art distance learning studio. Although the educator will show images of the Museum on the green screen, it does not mimic a traditional field trip experience.

Is this a tour of the Museum's galleries?

No. This is a guided interactive experience with a trained Museum educator in our state-of-the-art distance learning studio. Although the educator will show images of the Museum on the green screen, it does not mimic a traditional field trip experience.

What is the program length?

Approximately one hour but we can also accommodate class periods of less than one hour.

What is the cost?

$100 per Virtual Field Trip program. Volume discounts available.

How many students can be accomodated?

These programs are designed to be experienced by one class of students at a time, so each student has more opportunity to participate. Larger groups can be accommodated.

Can I book more than one Virtual Field Trip consecutively?

For participants needing to book multiple or consecutive Virtual Field Trips, please make note of this in the ‘Other Information’ field on the reservation form, or reach out directly to the distance learning team .

What platforms are used?

We connect with schools using Zoom Meeting Rooms and Zoom Webinars. If your school uses a different platform please specify that in the booking form.  

How do I book?

Complete the online request form by clicking any of the register buttons on the page. You will be able to select an available time directly on the calendar.

Additional Questions? Email the distance learning team .

Register for Your Virtual Field Trip Now

Virtual Field Trips

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Virtual School Group Experiences

The Anchorage Museum Education Department offers a range of  online resources and virtual experiences  to support classroom and at-home learning. All virtual field trips to the Anchorage Museum are free to educators, students, and chaperones, funded entirely by the generous support of the Atwood Foundation, GCI, and Chevron.

Select your experience from the list below and begin the process of securing a date to visit virtually by filling out our  virtual field trip form . Virtual field trips must be scheduled at least two weeks in advance, and a minimum of 10 students must attend. We offer Virtual field trips on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays starting at 10 a.m.

Virtual Field Trip Offerings Book Now - Field Trip Request Form Teaching Resources Virtual Field Trip FAQ

ART OF THE NORTH

Through a museum-educator guided, virtual experience of the Art of the North galleries, examine how artists have represented Alaska and the North through time. Cultivate creative and critical thinking skills while discussing and sketching how art captures ideas of the North. Respond to age-appropriate writing prompts about the artwork.

Duration: 60 minutes

Art of the North gallery experience supports Alaska Content Standards: ARTS.A 1, ARTS.B 1, ARTS.B 2, ARTS.C 4; GEOG.B 7, HIST.A 5, HIST.A 8

CLIMATE CHANGE

Through a museum-educator guided, virtual experience of museum galleries, take a closer look at our changing climate, learn about its impacts on Alaska, and consider ways that humans and animals adapt to new challenges. Build problem-solving skills and develop approaches to scientific thinking through discussions and guided activities that connect to the virtual experience.

Students will examine artwork to discuss how salmon are intertwined with Alaska’s people and ecosystems, learn about salmon’s life cycles, and consider challenges salmon face.

Gallery Experience supports NGSS Standards: 2-4 NGSS: 2-LS4-1, 3-LS4-3, 3-LS4-4, 3-LS1-1, 3-LS4-2, 4-LS1-1, 4-LS1-2, 5-8 NGSS: 3-5-ETS1-1, 3-5-ETS1-2, 3-5-ETS1-3, 5-ESS2-1, 5-ESS3-1, MS-ETS1-1, MS-ETS1-2, MS-ETS1-3, MS-ETS1-4, MS-LS1-6, MS-LS2-5, MS-ESS3-3, MS-ESS3-4, 9-12 NGSS: HS-LS2-6, HS-LS2-7, HS-LS2-8, HS-LS4-6, HS-ESS2-2, HS-ESS2-5, HS-ESS2-4, HS-ESS3-5, HS-ESS3-1, HS-ESS3-6

Students will learn about the engineering challenges of building on permafrost by examining the construction of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline and sketch their own design for infrastructure in a changing northern landscape.

Students will observe museum artwork to learn about sea ice ecosystems and practice map reading skills to investigate the connections between walruses and sea ice.

Through a museum-educator guided, virtual experience, learn about impacts of cold on human innovation and animal adaptations. Examine primary sources showing some of the inventive, resourceful ways Alaska Native peoples survive and thrive in cold environments. Investigate how special adaptations allow animals to live in Alaska’s unpredictable and cold landscapes. Respond to age-appropriate writing and sketching prompts about the objects.

Students will examine how people and animals travel across the land in snowy environments.

Gallery Experience supports NGSS Standards: K-LS1-1, K-ESS2-2, K-ESS3-1, 2-LS4-1, 3-LS4-3, 3-LS3-2, 3-LS4-2, 4-LS1-1, MS-LS1-4, MS-LS1-5, HS-LS4-2, HS-LS4-4

Students will discover clothing and animal adaptations that keep people and animals warm in frigid environments.

Students will discover clothing and animal adaptations that keep people and animals dry in and around water environments.

NORTHERN WATERS

Through a museum-educator guided, virtual experience, learn about Alaska’s waters and the importance of water for animals and people. Investigate the museum’s marine tank and the tidepool creatures that call it home. Examine objects in the Alaska Exhibition demonstrating innovative technologies Alaska Native peoples create to navigate the waters of Alaska. Respond to age-appropriate writing prompts about the objects.

Northern Waters gallery experience supports Alaska Content Standards: AH.PPE 1, AH.PPE 2, GEOG.B1, HIST.A 8, Arts.A 1, Arts.C 5

Alaska Marine Life supports NGSS: K-ESS3-1, 2-LS4-1, 2-ESS2-3, 3-LS3-2, 4-LS1-1, 5-LS1-2, MS-LS2-1, MS-LS2, MS-LS1-4, MS-LS2-1, MS-LS2-4

SOUNDSCAPES

Listen up and discover the exciting field of soundscape ecology. Engage in an interactive virtual experience that explores how sounds can be used to learn about the environment. Students deepen their understanding of soundscapes and build creative and innovative thinking skills through guided questions and activities.

Soundscapes supports NGSS: K-ESS3-1, 1-PS4-1, 2-LS4-1, 3-LS4-4, 4-PS4-1, MS-PS4-1, MS-LS2-2, HS-PS4-1, HS-LS2-6

SPACE AND PLACE

Through a museum-educator guided, virtual experience, learn about our place in the universe. Study the interactions between the earth, moon and sun and fly around other planets and moons in our solar system to discover our celestial neighborhood.

Look out further to explore deep sky objects that help explain the lifecycle of stars and uncover the hidden paths of exoplanets.

Space and Place experience supports NGSS: 1-PS4-2, 1-ESS1-1, 1-ESS1-2, 2-ESS2-3, 5-PS2-1, 5-ESS1-1, MS-PS2-4, MS-ESS1-1, MS-ESS1-2, MS-ESS1-3, HS-ESS1-1, HS-ESS1-4, HS-ESS2

Request Virtual Field Trip Here

Frequently Asked Questions

For the 2022-23 school year, all virtual field trips are generously support by the Atwood Foundation, GCI, and Chevron. To schedule a field trip, please submit a field trip request.

A minimum of 10 students is required for virtual programming. If requesting more than 30 students, please contact the Education Department Assistant at (907) 929-9280

Please complete the  Field Trip Request form  to begin the registration process.

To cancel or alter a field trip, please contact the museum at least five business days prior to a scheduled field trip.

Our Teaching Resources offer lesson plans, booklets, videos, and more to support your Virtual Field Trip. Please see our Facilitated Programming Resources for more information.

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS

The Anchorage Museum is grateful to our generous sponsors for supporting our mission and making virtual field trips in the 2022-23 school year possible for students and educators across Alaska.

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Field Trips

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Virtual Field Trips

Experience the Museum of the City of New York virtually with your students through visual and interactive remote-learning sessions led by museum educators. Groups or individuals are welcome to participate.

For over a decade, the Frederick A.O Schwarz Education Center has facilitated programs for hundreds of thousands of children and adults. Each of the virtual programs below is a unique interactive experience driven by student inquiry.

We are excited to offer both virtual and in-person field trips for the 2022-2023 school year!  

We will begin taking field trip booking requests soon. Sign up below to be the first to know when we release our fall field trip schedule and booking request form! 

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Tellus Museum in Cartersville, Georgia

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WHAT TO EXPECT

Here’s what you’ll need:

  • A reliable internet connection and a computer or tablet with webcam and microphone .

Please test your connection and devices prior to your program. We are not responsible for technical issues outside of our control.

We offer Zoom* (secured room), Google Meet, or Microsoft Teams. *preferred

SOLD OUT THROUGH MARCH 2024!

Virtual field trip Programs

It's Alive Field Trip at Tellus Science Museum

Kindergarten

Magnet Mania Field Trip at Tellus Science Museum

MAGNET MANIA

Stars and Constellations field trip at Tellus Science Museum

STARS AND CONSTELLATIONS

Fossiliferous Field Trip at Tellus Science Museum

FOSSILIFEROUS

Fossil PI Field Trip at Tellus Science Museum

FOSSIL P.I.

5th Grade, 7th Grade, High School

Exploring the Solar System Field Trip at Tellus Science Museum

EXPLORING THE SOLAR SYSTEM

4th Grade, 6th Grade

SELF-TOURING

For additional classrooms from your school for the same program/same time: 1 – 30 students – $60

*Please note: Add-ons are not available to 100% remote at-home learning classes or hybrid classrooms.

  • Registration is required two weeks before the program event date.
  • Cancellations must be made at least two weeks prior to your scheduled program event date for a refund.

Our scheduling department will call to confirm your date and time within 2 business days. Payment will be due  in full  at that time. We accept all major credit cards.

For content or scheduling questions, please email [email protected] .

MUSEUM INFO

I-75 Exit 293 at Hwy 411

Physical Address: 100 Tellus Drive, Cartersville, GA  30120

Mailing Address: PO Box 3663, Cartersville, GA  30120

Central Scheduling: (770) 606-5699

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Online Education Resources

Live and Pre-Recorded Virtual Educational Offerings

Whether you and your students are in the comfort of your classroom or learning remotely, our virtual field trips and online education resources bring hours of learning to you. We understand the continual need for online programs, so for the 2023-24 school year, we’re offering 2 different virtual field trip options: Mind of a Writer Live and Ask a Writer as well as our online education resources.

Fill out the form on the request a field trip page to reserve your spot today!

Mind of a Writer Live

A virtual American Writers Museum field trip. A computer screen in the foreground reads "From Books to the Screen," and a TV screen in the background shows a classroom meeting on Zoom.

For 3rd-8th grade levels:  Students will be led through interactive gameplay on written works of the past and present. Students will explore how written works have been adapted to on-screen tv shows and films, while also testing their deciphering skills by translating emojis into literary titles. The interaction will end with a creative writing exercise.

For 9th-12th grade levels: A trivia game exploring the history of American songwriting and how the writers have influenced our culture. Discussing the genre of songwriting and understanding its impact on our daily lives.

Ask A Writer

The “Ask A Writer” program offers students the chance to interact live with a writer in their own classroom. A 20-minute pre-recorded lesson introduces students to the writer. Then, students participate in a 30- to 40-minute live Q&A classroom visit with the published author about the craft of writing.

Please indicate interest in participation in classroom visits with the writers using the booking form. Pre-recorded lessons are available for each writer indicated.

Price: $125 per visit

Available writers.

  • Jacoby Cochran , podcast host and award-winning writer, most recently of “Time Traveler” and “Rich City Skater.” View recorded lesson here .
  • Adrianna Cuevas , first-generation Cuban-American writer and middle-grade author of  The Total Eclipse of Nestor Lopez .  View recorded lesson here .
  • Jacob Grant , children’s book author and illustrator, most recently of Bear Out There . View recorded lesson here .
  • Misa Sugiura , author of the award-winning book It’s Not Like It’s A Secret and This Time Will Be Different and second-generation Japanese-American. View recorded lesson here .

Asynchronous Opportunities

Many of the Museum’s educational resources can be used by teachers without a formal virtual or in-person field trip element!

Visit this page to find exhibit materials that will enhance your online experience.

Exploration of the American Writers Museum

Classes can be guided through our online exhibits, My America: Immigrant and Refugee Writers Today or Frederick Douglass: Agitator , through pre-recorded videos led by museum staff.

A pre-recorded exploration of the entire Museum space led by President Carey Cranston can also be found here .

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Virtual Field Trips

Bring your curriculum to life with Virtual Field Trips.

Take your K-8 students on a learning experience they’ll never forget, without even leaving the classroom.

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Every teacher wants to be the one their students remember forever.

But things like budget cuts and bigger classrooms stand between teachers and the education they want to give their students.

Virtual Field Trips bridges the gap between your curriculum requirements and your resources so every teacher can give every student the memorable education they deserve.

Students' favorite teachers are using Virtual Field Trips.

Here’s why:.

“I teach socioeconomically disadvantaged 9th graders who are 2 to 3 years behind in their reading and writing. Virtual Field Trips are the best way to give my students something to write about.

We do one each Monday and they love them! They always ask me, “Where are we going today?””

“My 6th grade students are always excited to learn through Virtual Field Trips. The videos are so engaging and informative.

I don’t have time to learn new technology, so I love how easy it is to use Virtual Field Trips!!!”

“Virtual Field Trips has been such a blessing to my students and me. The theme in my classroom is ‘travel.’ Thanks to VFT, the pandemic couldn’t stop us from having weekly field trips.

Our virtual field trips are the highlight of each student’s week. This was by far one of the best purchases I made this year.”

Teach your students something they'll never forget

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Support each and every student.

Some students need a little extra help to learn well. Our interactive videos and activities help you overcome physical, cultural, and economic challenges, so no student is left behind.

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Cover your social studies curriculum in less time.

We design each video and activity to help you meet social studies, geography, life science, and ancient civilization curriculum requirements in each U.S. state.

virtual field trips museums

Grow your students into global citizens.

Take your students on unlimited educational field trips throughout North America, South America, Europe, Asia, and Africa.

“There are so many topics included in their library that we study in the Primary School that it is well worth buying into and the children were mesmerized from the moment they began watching. The images were bright and colourful while the commentaries very informative and clear, leading to a lot of discussion afterwards. I definitely recommend it.”

Catherine S, 4th Grade Teacher, Spain.

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Created by educators, for educators.

Hey, I’m Dale! I’m a traveler, educator, and parent of a special needs child. These three passions are why I founded Virtual Field Trips and created these videos for you to use in your classroom.

Visiting 40+ countries on six continents taught me the educational value of exposure to other places, cultures, people, wildlife, and landscapes. As an M.Ed. in Instructional Technology , I’m also passionate about serving other educators. And as a proud mom to a son with special needs , I understand the power of visual learning.

Virtual Field Trips and all its videos, quizzes, and activities are my way of helping you introduce your students to the marvels of the world around them, in a visual form that will engage and educate all your young learners.

It’s easy, it’s affordable, and, most importantly – it’ll help you teach your curriculum in the most fun & memorable way.

Become a member today! Your students will love you for it.

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Virtual Field Trips videos are...

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Easy on your budget.

Just $45/yr for unlimited access to our entire video and resource library! We promise it’ll be the best $45 you invest in your students.

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Built for your curriculum.

We pack each video and worksheet with teaching that helps you meet your specific curriculum goals.

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Overflowing with activities.

Each video includes printable worksheets and quizzes to help your students remember what they learned.

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In English & Spanish.

We’ve translated our entire video and exercise library into Spanish. No student left behind!

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Closed captioned.

Help your students follow along and understand every word with closed captions.

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Easy to access.

No annoying log-ins! Just send your students the link and they can watch on any device (even their phone).

How much does it cost?

We know being a teacher doesn’t exactly put wads of cash in your wallet. That’s why we’ll always be affordable and accessible.

Video Membership

When you just need one video.

Unlimited viewing of 1 video

Post-trip quiz + resources for 1 video, access to closed captioned version of 1 video, cheapest option, teacher + classroom.

A whole year of unlimited field trips.

Unlimited access to the entire Virtual Field Trips library

All quizzes + learning resources, access for 1 teacher and all students, access to all spanish videos, access to all closed captioned videos, best value option for one teacher, school membership.

For the whole school.

Access for all teachers and all students

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“My students love these virtual field trips and honestly can’t get enough of them. They ignite awesome writing.”

Mari, 1st Grade Teacher and Librarian in Toronto

Here's how it works:

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Choose your membership.

Whether you need one video, a year’s worth of teaching, or a membership for your whole school, you can choose the membership that’s right for you.

virtual field trips museums

Select your video.

Browse by grade, topic, or location and select the trip that fits your curriculum-specific needs.

virtual field trips museums

Take your trip.

Show the video to your classroom, or send them a link to watch on their own time. Then, follow up with the video’s accompanying worksheets and quiz.

Here are more reasons why:

“ Thank you so much for providing such high-quality, informative, kid-level videos!  I am currently teaching government to my third graders and your video on how our government helps our communities is PERFECT! “

“ I just wanted to thank you for your beautifully filmed field trips and now the worksheets too! I take my students on a “remote” virtual field trip every Thursday and they absolutely love it. Its finally my chance to be Miss Frizzle from the Magic School Bus! The information is presented so clearly, and everything is so bright and eye catching. It has been a challenge finding appropriate field trips, without commercials, that will keep my students interested. You have provided exactly what I was looking for! !!!”

“ Yours is the FIRST website I have found since I started teaching 6th grade that is pitched perfectly to my kiddos! I GOTTA HAVE IT. “

You may be wondering…

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Can't I just use free YouTube videos?

What if i'm not good with technology, do your videos work with my curriculum.

We provide K-9 teachers with student-centered videos for social studies, geography, life science, and ancient civilization curricula. Click here to see how which videos align with the curriculum for your state and grade.

How do my students get the videos?

When you become a member, you’ll get a unique video link to send your students. All they have to do is click that link and watch – no logins!

Can I download the videos?

Do i need any special software or tech, what do i get with my subscription, are subscriptions for a school year or a calendar year, where are the quizzes.

Scroll down to the bottom of the page to the Learning Resources section and you’ll see the quiz file(s).

Will my students need to log in?

How long are the videos, can i cancel my subscription, join 6,500+ other educators in the free facebook group..

At Virtual Field Trips, we care a lot about teachers. That’s why we made a free-to-join Facebook group just for you! Join now to get:

Fun weekly activities for your students

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Supportive community of other educators

Whether you’re teaching virtually, face-to-face, or both, we’re here to support you!

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“You have a great site with videos that are outstanding. I like how easy your site is to use.”

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  1. 50 Free Virtual Museum Tours For Homeschooling

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  3. Virtual Field Trip: British Museum

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  4. 50 Virtual Field Trips For Homeschooling

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  5. VIRTUAL FIELD TRIPS

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  6. 25+ Museums In Los Angeles for Virtual Field Trips

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  1. History and Culture with Minecraft

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COMMENTS

  1. Virtual Field Trips: Remote Visits to the Museum

    Virtual Field Trips allow students of all ages to observe Museum exhibits up-close and complete an activity in order to gain scientific understandings. Virtual Field Trips are: Customizable: You can do a virtual hall tour with a student worksheet that is designed to span about one class period, or you can assign additional activities to extend ...

  2. 20 amazing virtual field trips to aquariums, museums and Mars

    Across the world, museums and educational institutions are rising to the challenge to offer children incredible virtual field trips. They can learn about snow leopards, explore Mars, and even ...

  3. Virtual Tour

    Narrated Tours. The Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History virtual tours allow visitors to take self-guided, room-by-room tours of select exhibits and areas within the museum from their desktop or mobile device. Visitors can also access select collections and research areas at our satellite support and research stations as well as past ...

  4. How to take a virtual field trip

    Near or far. You can take the class to a wide variety of places. From a visit to the local museum, to a quick trip to Mars. You can project the tour on a screen or share it on Google Classroom. These tours are a mixture of 360° and 2D imagery. There are no pop ups within the panoramas.

  5. Best Art Museum Virtual Field Trips for Kids & Families

    5. The Louvre. One of our favorite art museum virtual field trips—and the world's large museum—is the Louvre with options for some of their best exhibition rooms and galleries. Explore rare Egyptian artifacts, iconic paintings, the beautiful structure of the building, and much more through their 360-degree viewing feature.

  6. The Ultimate Guide to Virtual Art Museum Field Trips

    The Museo Nacional del Prado located in Madrid Spain, is considered to have one of the greatest collections of European art in the world and offers guests the single largest collection of Spanish art. The collection currently comprises around 8,200 drawings, 7,600 paintings, 4,800 prints, and 1,000 sculptures.

  7. Virtual Field Trips

    Virtual Field Trips. Take a Museum field trip without leaving your classroom. When you can't come to MSI, take a virtual field trip with us instead. Participate in a facilitated Learning Lab livestream, or take a live virtual tour of some of our most popular exhibits. And check out our free online STEM learning tools for new ways to engage.

  8. The Best Virtual Field Trips for the Classroom

    Take a visit to the National WWII Museum for "a cross-country virtual expedition to discover the science, sites, and stories of the creation of the atomic bomb." Don't forget to download the classroom guide! 22. 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 ...

  9. Virtual Field Trips

    Write. Bring the Columbia Museum of Art to your students. Our CMA virtual field trip options include: live experiences with trained educators, in-gallery video tours, and asynchronous interactive discussions. CMA school programs align with classroom goals and ensure a well-rounded, engaging learning experience.

  10. 12 Virtual Field Trips for Kids: Try These Virtual Tours

    This museum has found a way to make viewing art interactive. With its children's video tours, it brings 50 different historic pieces of art to life in just a few minutes, including audio effects, narration, and close-up shots of the details featured in each work. There are also conversation starters about art, a guided video tour of Stuart ...

  11. Virtual Travel for Kids: Virtual Field Trips, Zoos, Museum Tours

    Take virtual tours of more than 30 U.S. National Parks, including Bryce Canyon, Death Valley, Dry Tortugas, Sequoia and more. Become a Junior Park Ranger! Get ready for your next vacation by learning how kids can take part in the National Parks Junior Ranger Program. Death Valley National Park in California.

  12. Virtual Field Trips

    Virtual Field Trips. Welcome to the Natural History Museum of Utah! The Museum is an active research institution and one of our state's top visitor attractions. Each year the Museum hosts approximately 300,000 guests from around the world, including 40,000 students visiting on free field trips. We are proud to share our Virtual Field Trips ...

  13. The 19 Best Free Virtual Field Trips of 2024

    No supplemental online activities. Son Doong is the world's largest natural cave. Located in Vietnam, it features a subterranean river and the largest cross-section of any cave worldwide. National Geographic's virtual tour lets you explore the cave with full 360-degree views and immersive sounds.

  14. Virtual Field Trips

    On virtual field trips at the Tenement Museum, students dive into the past through 360° images, videos, primary sources, and immersive photogrammetric tours. On their virtual visit, students explore history through the stories of real people and see how their own stories are part of history. A Virtual Field Trip To The Tenement Museum. Watch on.

  15. Virtual Field Trips

    Explore the World with Virtual Field Trips. Designed for ages 9-15 but customizable for all ages, virtual field trips allow students to travel the world and explore natural environments without leaving the classroom. Each virtual field trip contains a video, teacher guide and student activities.

  16. Experience Virtual Field Trips at National Children's Museum

    Come explore National Children's Museum and dive into STEAM topics and activities with our FREE virtual field trip videos. Our two 20-minute, virtual field trip videos and accompanying resources align with learning standards and are available to everyone at no cost. Simply select which virtual field trip video you'd like to experience and ...

  17. Virtual Field Trips

    Virtual Field Trips are $100 per session. Virtual Field Trips are typically held between 7:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. CT. If you need to book outside of those hours or would like to book multiple / consecutive Virtual Field Trips please email the distance learning team. Explore all of our program offerings below. Register Now.

  18. Virtual Field Trips

    The Anchorage Museum is grateful to our generous sponsors for supporting our mission and making virtual field trips in the 2022-23 school year possible for students and educators across Alaska. Participate in one of our four virtual field trips. Join a museum educator over Zoom for an hour of learning and fun.

  19. Virtual Field Trips

    Virtual Field Trips | Museum of the City of New York. 1220 Fifth Ave at 103rd St., Open Sat & Sun 10-6, Mon, Thur, & Fri 10-5. Purchase Tickets Donate Now. Education.

  20. Virtual Field Trips

    Length: 30 - 40 minutes. Unlimited use of pre-recorded visit for a 30-day window. FREE Programming for Title 1 Schools: Thanks to our generous grant funders we are able to offer virtual field trips to Title 1 schools at no cost. Funding is limited and will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis. Special thanks to LG&E/KU Community ...

  21. Virtual Field Trips

    VIRTUAL FIELD TRIPs Ideal for public and private school students, as well as home school co-hort groups. Enjoy a field trip to Tellus Science Museum from the convenience of your classroom or home school! Our Virtual Field Trips dynamic instruction comes with an engaging package that includes: Up to 60 minutes with a Tellus educator […]

  22. Virtual Field Trips

    Many of the Museum's educational resources can be used by teachers without a formal virtual or in-person field trip element! Visit this page to find exhibit materials that will enhance your online experience. The American Writers Museum offers virtual field trips for students in grades 3-12, with museum or self-guided options available.

  23. Home_Page_2023

    These three passions are why I founded Virtual Field Trips and created these videos for you to use in your classroom. Visiting 40+ countries on six continents taught me the educational value of exposure to other places, cultures, people, wildlife, and landscapes. As an M.Ed. in Instructional Technology, I'm also passionate about serving other ...