The Best Fun Virtual Field Trips That Happen to Be Free

If you’re looking for fun virtual field trips, you’ll love this list. These online tours will definitely engage your tweens.

As you know, there are many benefits to virtual tours. They’re incredibly educational and interest tweens in a way that just reading about a subject can’t possibly do.

While it’s smart to add some educational trips to your lesson plans, sometimes kids just want to visit a place just for fun. Don’t get me wrong, the tweens will definitely learn plenty during these trips. But they’ll also have so much fun touring these sites, they won’t realize how much they’re picking up.

So keep reading to find field trips that your tweens will love, including famous theme parks, Harry Potter magic, fun with money, a cool train ride, places for sports and music fans, unique factory tours, and tons more.

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Fun Virtual Field Trips

Grab the computer, pull up some of these sites and visit some of these entertaining locations with your teens.

The Money Museum

If your tween is a numismatist, she’ll love these virtual tours of the Money Museum in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Many of their exhibits are now available online, including the History of Money, the Money of the Civil War, and their impressive coin collection.

If you can’t make it there in person, take an online tour of the museum. They’re not just for serious coin collectors. Everyone will enjoy learning more about money throughout the ages and no one does a better job of educating kids about coins than The American Numismatic Association (ANA).

Fun note – My daughter, Abby Zechman, was named the Young Numismatist of the Year in 2018 by ANA. She’s listed here among their service award winners.

As you can imagine, we are huge fans of ANA and the Money Museum, and I’m thrilled that they have so many of their exhibits online now for everyone to enjoy.

Pro Football Hall of Fame

There are so many virtual field trips available to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, that it could keep your football-loving tween busy for quite some time.

They have updated everything for the 20-21 school year, and it includes videos with supplemental activities. Students can learn more about their favorite team, players, and the history of the sport. The best part is that even STEM it includes application and career explorations. 

Harry Potter: A History of Magic

If your tween is a fan of Harry Potter, she’ll definitely enjoy this collection from the British Library. It brings the wizarding world to life for visitors.

Explore the journey of Harry Potter from idea to conception, take 4 lessons in Muggle Magic, see the early notes and sketches from J. K. Rowling, discover the history behind the magic classes at Hogwarts, and tons more.

They even have a downloadable lesson plan you can use alongside the online tours.

Your Potterhead will have a blast exploring these Harry Potter exhibits.

360 Cities

With 360 Cities, your tweens can explore the world from this unique collection of work from VR photographers.

All they have to do is click on a thumbnail of the location they want to visit and they’ll immediately see a multitude of amazing photos. Aside from breathtaking panorama photographs, there are also videos, and virtual tours available.

Tweens can visit places they’ve always wanted to see or find some alternative places they didn’t even know existed.  

Universal Orlando Resort

Teens will love the opportunity to ride some famous attractions found at Universal Orlando.

Along with the fun POV rides, older kids can learn about STEAM concepts through the science of Universal Orlando, look behind the scenes of their seasonal offerings, and check out upcoming rides and attractions.

This is a must-see for any thrill-seeking, science-loving teens.

Ag Explorer

Do you have a dog lover in your house? If so, she may be interested in this unique virtual tour on the Ag Explorer site. It’s called “Bark to Bite” and it traces the development of new dog food from the beginning of development to your dog’s first bite. There’s even a helpful educator guide included.

Tweens will also find virtual field trips to a John Deere factory and an exploration of STEM career possibilities available for animal lovers.  

Northern Lights

Most of us will never get the opportunity to see the northern lights in person, but thanks to technology, teens can easily visit Scandinavia to see them.

On this virtual tour, kids will travel from the famous Ice Hotel to a nearby lake, stop to see some reindeer, then ride on a sled through the arctic wilderness to see the northern lights. This is the ultimate adventure your tween will love.

Use this as an opportunity to see the beauty of Scandinavia while learning about this unique phenomenon. 

Ancient Egypt

This website has so many interesting things for your tween to discover about Ancient Egypt. There is even a fun hieroglyphic typewriter. They can explore the Pyramids in greater detail with this online journey targeted specifically for middle school students.

Between the mummies and pyramids, your tween will be so fascinated by the history of the Ancient Egyptians, they’ll forget they’re learning.

Seattle Opera

I know opera isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, especially tweens, but it’s an important cultural experience that everyone should experience at least once.

On this virtual field trip to the Seattle Opera, your tweens can read a first-timers guide explaining what an opera is, how to understand it, and proper etiquette for attending a concert. There is also a do-it-yourself aria workshop, coloring pages, and past shows available for viewing.

Maybe it will inspire your performance loving tweens to try some opera themselves. 

National Baseball Hall of Fame

Baseball is America’s favorite pastime, so many teens will be happy to take a virtual tour of the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

During their visit, they’ll learn how the game of baseball has impacted the history and culture of America through the years. It divides this virtual field trip up into subject-specific applications. They include free lesson plans for you to use with your kids.

Using the subject of baseball, your kids will be engaged in history, math, science, the arts, and even character development during their visit.    

LEGO

If your tween loves LEGOs, check out this video walking through a LEGO factory in Billund, Denmark. He’ll love seeing how they make his favorite bricks.

Is LEGOLAND, Florida on your child’s must-see list? Now he can visit, any time, from the comfort of home. Check out some popular attractions and take a virtual ride on their roller coaster.

Kids can even build a LEGO frog with a LEGO Master Model Builder.

Discovery Education

Discovery Education has been one of my go-to websites for years for cool, online programs and videos. They’re constantly updating it with new stuff, so you’ll definitely want to bookmark this site.

One thing I love about it is that while much of the site focuses on educational subjects, there are a ton of topics that are just plain fun for kids.

Each virtual field trip comes with a companion learning guide. Right now, you can learn about self-esteem, body image, and bullying. Also featured are tours about polar bears, the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, International Dot Day, and the Internet of Things.

Your tweens will love these unique virtual tours. 

The Incredible Egg

Your tweens can connect with their food by going on this virtual egg farm field trip. On this site, they can tour several egg farms in a variety of regions in the United States.

They’ll learn about environmental stewardship and sustainability from farms that have been family-owned through the generations. This tour will show tweens how eggs go from the farm to the table and how technology has advanced the process over the years.

Pikes Peak Region

If your family is a fan of trains, check out this 360° virtual tour on North America’s highest train, Pikes Peak Cog Railway in Colorado.

This video will give you a direct ride to the top of Pike’s Peak, which is 14,115 ft above sea level. You’ll tour through varying terrain as you make your way to the summit.

The Pikes Peak region has put together some amazing virtual offerings of this beautiful area to help you explore from the comfort of home. There are three full “itineraries” available that are full of interesting virtual trips.

Farmfood 360 

Do you live in a city far removed from the production of your food? Do your tweens really know where the items from the grocery store come from?

Being an informed consumer is important for your health and our environment. Teaching kids about this subject will help them make better choices about what to eat.

These Farmfood 360 virtual field trips will educate your tween on a wide variety of food sources. For example, one tour will show life on a dairy farm, how to care for calves, and a voluntary milking system. They are based in Canada and are very enlightening.   

M & M Factory

What tween wouldn’t want to tour the M & M Factory? It’s been America’s favorite candy since 1941. Did you know that in the New Jersey factory, they produce over 2 billion M & M’s every eight hours?

If your kids have ever wondered how they make those beautiful colors, they’ll love this fun virtual tour from the Food Network.

Tweens will embark on an interesting journey through the history of the different colors of this colorful candy. They’ll discover why they are chosen and the reasons why they’re changed.  

Recycling Center Virtual Tour

As consumers, we produce a lot of trash. We should educate teens on what happens to it and its impact on our environment.

These recycling center virtual field trips are geared toward different age groups and show a recycling center and a modern landfill. Kids will see the sophisticated systems in place to dispose of waste that are safer for the environment.

You never know, your tween may discover a career opportunity or a new area of interest.

SeaWorld Orlando

SeaWorld Orlando is one of the nation’s family favorite aquatic parks. If you can’t visit in person, the next best thing is a virtual field trip.

Tweens will start their tour high above the park and then zoom in closer to get a better view of the attractions. They can move around the park to see the waterfront, then travel to the Mako roller coaster. Once there, they can take a virtual ride.

Everyone will experience a thrill on this ride with virtual reality.  

Tootsie Roll Virtual Tours

Take a yummy field trip to learn the history of Tootsie Rolls and see how they manufacture this favorite brand of candy. They produce millions of pieces of candy a day from their plants in North America, and now kids can see the impressive operation themselves.

Through these virtual tours, tweens get the chance to learn all about Tootsie Rolls, Tootsie Pops, Dots, and more.

Ken Smith Bass Guitars

If your tween plays the bass guitar, then this virtual tour should definitely be on his must-see list. See how they make the basses, all the way from wood selection, to handcrafting, to finishing.

Your tween will definitely gain a new appreciation for his favorite musical instrument after this quick virtual visit.

Canada’s Wonderland

Take a virtual ride on over 30 attractions at Canada’s Wonderland, the famous amusement park in Ontario. From the couch, tweens can take a virtual ride on their biggest roller coasters, including the Yukon Striker, which is the world’s fastest and longest dive coaster.

These POV virtual rides are perfect for your adventure-seeking tweens.

Walt Disney World

If your family has always wanted to visit Walt Disney World, now you can experience these parks from the comfort of home. There are virtual tours for all the Disney theme parks in Orlando.

For adventurous tweens, here are a bunch of POV ride videos that will make them feel like they’re actually on the ride.

While it’s not the same as being there in person, when you can’t visit, these videos will give your family a good idea of what it’s like at these famous parks.

Virtual Factory Tours

Here are some of the best factory tours you can take from home. These quick videos will give your tweens the inside scoop of some of their favorite brands while showing them how everything works behind the scenes.

• Travel with a stuffed bear as it moves through an Amazon fulfillment center.
• Take a delicious 360° tour of the Jelly Belly factory in California.
• If you have car lovers in your family, they’ll appreciate this virtual tour of the Toyota material handling factory in Ancenis, France.
• Tweens can see the manufacturing assembly line for their favorite soft drink, Coca-Cola.

Hopefully, you’ve been able to find some entertaining virtual field trips for your tweens to take when they’re looking for something different to do. They’ll definitely learn a ton while taking these tours, but they’ll also have a bunch of fun.

Resources for These Cool Virtual Tours

Here are some things you can use to help your older kids dive deeper into a few of the subjects they’ll learn about on their visits.

• One of the best ways to get kids interested in coins is to collect the state quarters together.
• Kids can read the stories of the greatest players in baseball.
• Build this impressive NASA Apollo 11 Lunar Lander out of LEGOs.
• Learn about Walt Disney and his passion for storytelling.
• Make your own candy together and learn some science too.

 

More Virtual Field Trips for Tweens

Looking for more online trips? Here are some that will make great additions to your lesson plans.

• Tour the nation’s capital with your kids to learn more about our country’s history.
• Take a trip around the USA to visit some of our most beloved national parks.
• Add some of these educational field trips to your lesson plans.

What’s your favorite fun virtual field trip for middle school kids?