Summer Learning Series: Field Trips

If far off travel costs a little more dinero than you have this summer, try field trips to local attractions instead. Many museums, zoos, and other “edu”tainment facilities are offering summer discounts or summer classes. This is a great time to sign little María up to learn about the life cycle of butterflies at your local zoo, or maybe Juan José is obsessed with dinosaurs and would enjoy learning about fossils at your local natural history museum. Do some digging and find out what’s available in your barrio.

Maybe some of these opportunities are located near you?

The Children’s Heritage Center in Oklahoma City offers a wide range of bilingual classes (and not just in Spanish!) including a wonderful selection of art and culture classes. Especially check out their Art Smart! class. The next session starts in July. (I’m so jealous! Wish I lived in OK City!!!)


Now through December 31, with each full-paid, SeaWorld Orlando, San Diego or San Antonio single-day, adult admission purchased online, any child age 12 and under gets a $5.00 admission (a savings of $65-$75!!), all of which goes to fund non-profit organizations that are working right now on wildlife conservation projects. Families can even choose which wildlife conservation effort receives their donation. Check out SeaWorldCares.com for more information. (Okay, there's not much cultural learning here, but this is a GREAT deal that offers some fantastic science education.)


The Smithsonian Latino Center promotes the inclusion of Latino contributions in Smithsonian programs, exhibitions, collections and public outreach. They have some fabulous exhibits dedicated to Latino achievements in US history. For more information, visit their website.


Miami Children’s Museum allows you to explore fourteen exciting galleries full of interactive and bilingual exhibits for the whole family to play, learn, imagine, create! Their fun, hands-on exhibits promote positive child development and social interaction, while meeting school learning objectives and encouraging creativity and self-expression.


Fort Worth Museum of Science and History has a special exhibit currently on display. Mexico: Festival of Toys is an interactive exhibition of hand-made toys for both celebration and play. More than 600 toys revealing the spirit of play and the beauty and craftsmanship behind an ancient and universal tradition of folk art in toy making will be on view in the Museum’s Innovation Gallery through Tuesday, Aug. 10, 2010. The exhibit is created by the Papalote Museo del Niño in Mexico and showcases toys dating from the 1920s to the present day.

Con mucho cariño…