field trip advertising

60 Marketing Ideas For A School Field Trip Business (2024)

School Field Trip Business Marketing Ideas

Wondering how to market your school field trip business?

Marketing your school field trip business is certainly not easy, but there are many ways to promote and advertise your school field trip business.

We put together a list of the best marketing ideas for your school field trip business, so you can get your small business out there.

Content marketing is a marketing approach where businesses create and distribute valuable and consistent content to attract and retain their target audience.

Relationships

Relationship marketing is a long-term strategy based on building and growing strong relationships with customers.

Sales refer to all activities and strategies that lead to the selling of products and services.

Email marketing is a strategy used to promote a product or service through email while developing relationships with customers. Email marketing can include newsletters, updates on the company, or promotions of sales and discounts for subscribers.

Social Media (Organic)

Organic social media marketing is any social media activity with no paid promotion. This type of marketing is very effective and can be done using free social media tools.

Word Of Mouth

Word of mouth marketing is a strategy used to generate organic discussions about a brand, company, or event. These discussions are typically a result of an extraordinary customer experience.

Affiliate marketing is a type of performance-based marketing where a company compensates a third party for each visitor or customer brought as a result of the affiliate's marketing efforts. Businesses typically pay per sale or per click/impression.

SEO, otherwise known as "search engine optimization" refers to the practice of increasing website traffic through organic search results.

Buzz Marketing focuses on creating excitement among consumers about a particular product, service, or brand. The goal is to leverage word-of-mouth marketing across a wide audience.

Social Media - (Paid)

Paid social media marketing refers to any social media effort that is influenced by advertising dollars.

Print + Traditional

Print marketing includes advertising through magazines, newspapers, and other media publications.

• 40 Pros & Cons Of Starting A School Field Trip Business (2024) 1 of 4
• 24 Trending School Field Trip Businesses [2024] 2 of 4
• How Much Does It Cost To Start A School Field Trip Business? (In 2024) 3 of 4
• 5 School Field Trip Business Success Stories [2024] 4 of 4

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Intelligent Marketing: Campaigns that elevate more than the bottom line

If a tree falls and no one's around to hear it...you know the rest. We create the right media mix for max results—folks will hear it and take notice.

At Fieldtrip, we utilize a holistic approach to marketing your brand—we consider the big picture and craft unique advertising strategies to meet your business goals. If you’re looking for cookie-cutter—we’re not the right choice for you.

We set well-defined goals that account for specific audiences, their behaviors, and motivations. Our marketing plans consider every touchpoint of the customer journey—from the first time they interact with your brand to their final engagement, and build brand advocates along the way. We create experiences that motivate, inspire and connect.

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Field Marketing

These days, we tend to think of marketing as an online practice.

Which makes sense, as many of our efforts focus on reaching people in their inboxes, on social media platforms, as they search for information, or browse their favorite websites.

While digital marketing & conversational marketing dominate the lion’s share of the sales cycle, interacting with the physical world cannot be replaced.

Field marketing is a strategy that applies many of the same principles used in digital sales and marketing strategies: personalization, relationship-building, and audience targeting and takes them out into the physical world.

Here, we’ll look at this unique strategy and how it supports the sales process.

What is Field Marketing?

In a lot of ways, the definition of field marketing aligns with what you might expect. It’s a broad term that refers to a long list of marketing activities carried out “in the field.”

These activities include anything that involves face-to-face contact with potential buyers such as street promotions, experiential marketing, pop-ups, billboard ads, flyers, and more. Field marketing strategies go beyond handing out samples to anyone who passes by.

Where Field Marketing Fits in with the Rest of the Organization

• Field marketers work with sales teams, demand generation marketing , and product teams to manage events, messaging, and field campaigns that align with the brand’s core objectives.
• This team develops marketing plans that aim to support the sales pipeline, attract new leads, and help digital marketing teams achieve revenue targets.
• Field marketers are also responsible for maintaining brand positioning and representation in-person, and communicating potential buyers and customers effectively.
• Additionally, field teams are responsible for maintaining transparency around all marketing activities, logging results in the CRM, and wherever else is necessary so that campaign ROI can be measured along with sales and marketing performance data.

Top Field Marketing Strategies

As you might have gathered from the introduction, field marketing strategies span a diverse range of activities—the common thread here is the focus on relationship-building and lead generation that often takes place in person.

Product Sampling & Demonstrations

Product demos and sampling campaigns typically take place in stores or at trade show-type events. Here, marketers aim to engage potential customers on-site, though campaign goals vary based on the product, target market, and other factors.

The most common example of product sampling is a food and beverage company handing out samples in a supermarket or at a community event. In this situation, the primary goal is likely going to be getting people to buy the product, as consumer goods typically fall into the “low consideration category.”

In a B2B context, food & beverage brands may focus more on using samples as an entry-point to starting a relationship with buyers. There, the goal shifts toward generating large orders or getting new leads into the system. You might also focus on setting up an appointment or call to go over product specs, pricing, etc.

In-Person Events

Given the in-person nature of most field marketing campaigns, events are one of the best-known examples of field marketing in-action.

Keep in mind, field marketing isn’t the same thing as virtual event marketing , despite the overlap, as the primary focus is slightly different for each role.

Event marketers focus exclusively on promoting and executing event-related campaigns–pre-, post-, and during.

Field marketers, again, focus on identifying relationship-building opportunities based on specific sales and marketing goals–sometimes that involves hosting events, in other cases, it might mean participating in a big event like Salesforce’s Dreamforce or niche-specific trade shows.

Additionally anything from online webinars to small, informal gatherings qualify as events. The key thing to note here is, it’s less about the event itself and more about the outcome.

Street Promotions

Street promotions typically involve sending teams of marketers into high-traffic areas to hand out free samples, flyers, coupons, or some sort of incentive that connects to the event experience (think QR codes that allow you to download exclusive Instagram filters or hand-outs that act as a voucher or game-piece).

This type of marketing often includes handing out samples—much like the product demonstration approach—but it’s focused more on enhancing the experience and improving brand perception.

Street promotion might also include something like what Bud Light has done in the example below to drive awareness for its new lime-flavored beverage:

In-Store Promotions

In-store promotions follow a different approach to driving in-person sales than product demos. In this case, field marketers aim to drive sales by engaging customers in making related purchases.

You see this strategy in home improvement stores like a Lowe’s or Home Depot—where you might find a sales rep offering services like window or roofing installations to customers based on the types of products they’re working on.

Typically, the goal here is generating leads for a high-consideration service—whereas, with product demos, the goal is to get consumers to try a new snack so that they might make it part of their grocery list.

Merchandising

Merchandising is a field marketing tactic that aims to attract customers by creating retail displays that entice them to enter the store or make a purchase.

From a field marketing perspective, merchandising strategies involve working closely with the individual retailers that buy your product, such as negotiating special displays and prime shelf space to get in-store customers to purchase those products.

Field marketers work closely with retail partners to promote the success of their product, ensuring both the brand and retailers succeed.

Guerilla Marketing

Guerilla marketing is a term coined by author Jay Conrad Levinson in his book , the aptly-named, Guerilla Marketing: Easy and Inexpensive Strategies for Making Big Profits from Your Small Business.

In it, he outlines the following principles that define the strategy:

• “Instead of investing money in the marketing process, you invest time, energy, and imagination.”
• “Instead of ignoring customers once they’ve purchased, you have a fervent devotion to customer follow-up.”
• “Instead of trying to make sales, guerrillas are dedicated to making relationships, because long-term relationships are paramount.”
• “Instead of believing that single marketing weapons such as advertising work, guerrillas know that only marketing combinations work.”

As you can see below, guerrilla marketing campaigns often use the existing environment as a foundation for building creative experiences.

While guerilla marketing is often low-cost, it does require more mental energy that your average street marketing campaign.

By some definitions, a campaign doesn’t qualify as “guerrilla marketing” if it uses an approach people have seen before—as the point is to get people to talk about your brand after experiencing something new.

Tips for Developing a Winning Field Marketing Strategy

While field marketing encompasses a wide range of strategies, the key takeaway here is making sure that campaigns align with the rest of your organization’s sales and marketing activities.

Set Goals for Your Program

Okay, establishing goals for your marketing program isn’t exactly ground-breaking advice. However, it’s important to take this step seriously. Many field marketing efforts are poorly-planned and often, aren’t connected with other marketing and sales strategies.

According to a 2017 article from Sales Benchmark Index , field marketing tactics should align 100% with what sellers are doing in that same market.

Field marketers build strategies aimed at attracting buyers’ attention. So, you’ll want to consider the following to inform your goals:

• Who is your target audience?
• Is this group already aware of your brand?
• What talking points do you need to address to drive deals forward?
• What is the conversion goal?

Know Your Audience

Another no-brainer tip that’s worth mentioning is, field marketing success relies on a deep understanding of your audience.

We tend to think of in-person marketing strategies as focused on casting the widest net possible, but that’s not really the case. As you develop experiences, content, and messaging, consider who you’re targeting. For example, if you’re hosting a cocktail hour, opening access to everyone won’t attract many members of the C-suite.

In that case, consider whether your audience is a seasoned industry veteran or someone just getting started in their career. If it’s the former, you may want to look toward a more exclusive “VIP” experience featuring hand-picked networking groups of high-level movers and shakers.

If it’s the latter, you might instead focus on hosting a career workshop that ends in a cocktail reception where participants can socialize and make connections.

Create Tailored Content

Like all things marketing and sales, relying on a size-fits-all field strategy isn’t going to cut it.

While individual-level personalization isn’t realistic (unless you’re using Drift Audiences ), you’ll want to craft content that aligns with each segment you’ll be targeting in your campaign strategy.

One of the best ways to do this is to collaborate with marketing teams to create a set of custom templates that you can adjust on-demand to match the needs of prospective buyers.

Final Thoughts on Field Marketing

Field marketing is a collaborative effort that works best when product marketing teams, marketing, and sales all work together to create region-specific campaigns that put the buyer at the center of the conversation.

Many companies make the mistake of assuming that just because field marketing campaigns take place in the “real world” that they don’t need to follow the same data-driven approach they’d use in their online campaigns.

The reality is, all marketing campaigns—whether they take place in the virtual or physical world—are part of the same omnichannel engine. And it’s data that makes it possible for brands to deliver a seamless experience that spans both worlds.

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Mastering Travel Advertising: Effective Strategies and Emerging Trends

You can’t rely solely on people’s wanderlust when advertising travel services because while it may keep your business afloat, it’s not enough to help you make waves in the industry.

Besides, people’s appetite for traveling is dependent on many factors and may decrease as a result of unforeseen events.

We’ve seen this happen when traveling took a hit in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which is reflected in the industry’s spending data on digital advertising from previous years. While things are improving, a lot is riding on travel ads performing well.

For your vacation advertising efforts to be truly successful, you need a combination of good strategy and creative ads .

Stick with me as I walk you through the steps of building an actionable travel advertising strategy, including identifying your target audience, knowing the customer journey, setting your campaign goals, and measuring ads’ effectiveness.

Table of Contents

• Understand Your Audience
• Know the traveler’s customer journey
• Set your travel campaign goals
• Craft compelling ads
• Choose the Right Channels
• Measure your ads’ effectiveness

Travel Advertising trends

1. understand your audience.

A well-defined target audience is the foundation of any good travel advertising strategy. 

Just think what a waste of resources it would be to target users with no potential to become customers. Narrowing down the group allows you to focus your efforts on reaching those who would benefit most from your travel services.

Plus, with a clear target audience in mind, you can create travel ads that double as personalized customer experiences, proven to be more successful in converting to sales.

To define your audience, make a list of different attributes you’d like your ideal customer to have, a.k.a. build a buyer persona. These attributes can be geographic, demographic, psychographic, or behavioral. 

• Geographic : anything related to location, including customers’ country, region, city, or even postal code;
• Demographic : population-based attributes, such as gender, age, education, income, marital status, and so on;
• Psychographic : personality traits, values, interests, hobbies, and lifestyle aspects;
• Behavioral : online behaviors according to browsing patterns, spending and purchasing habits, and many others.

2. Know the traveler’s customer journey

The customer journey sums up all interactions a prospect has with a brand during the purchase process, from the first encounter, up until a transaction is completed. 

Commonly, it’s divided into three main stages: awareness, consideration, and conversion.

However, a traveler’s customer journey differs from the typical model because booking a trip isn’t an easy-to-make purchase decision; quite the opposite—a lot of thought and planning is put into it. 

I mean, would you buy plane tickets as quickly as you would a chocolate bar? Me neither.

So, the customer’s travel journey can be split into the following four to five stages: 

• Dreaming: whether it’s picturing themselves in a gondola on the canals of Venice or sunbathing in Greece, all soon-to-be travelers begin here.
• Planning: even the most spontaneous people make some sort of arrangement for their trip, even if it only implies picking a hotel to stay at.
• Booking: prospects are ready to buy plane tickets and book accommodation. 
• Experiencing: travelers are enjoying their vacation and making lasting memories.
• Remembering: this is an optional stage that comes after the traveler’s journey is completed, where you can consolidate the relationship with your brand .

Understanding this customer journey allows you to time your travel advertising to the most favorable moments, specifically when prospects are in the planning and booking stages.

3. Set your travel campaign goals

Goals or objectives give your travel campaigns a clear direction and help you measure progress along the way, so you don’t lose sight of the value of your work.

To yield the best results, you should set your campaign goals according to the S.M.A.R.T. criteria. The acronym stands for specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound, all qualities your goals should have.

A few of the most common goals that can aid your campaign’s success are the following:

• Increase brand awareness by getting your travel services on the radar of potential customers;
• Grow website traffic or attract new visitors to your company’s website;
• Drive consideration through campaigns that promote different travel services;
• Generate leads , whether that means new subscribers to a newsletter or prospects filling out a form to find out more about an offer;
• Boost conversions , a.k.a. make sales.

4. Craft compelling ads

Use high-quality visuals.

Travel advertising relies heavily on visuals. Use high-resolution images and videos that showcase the destinations, experiences, and accommodations you offer. Invest in professional photography or use user-generated content with permission.

Tell a Story

People are more likely to engage with ads that tell a story. Highlight the unique aspects of the destinations and experiences you offer. Use customer testimonials and success stories to build trust and credibility.

Include Strong Calls to Action

Encourage potential customers to take action by including clear and compelling calls to action (CTAs) in your ads. Whether it’s “Book Now,” “Learn More,” or “Get a Free Quote,” make sure your CTA stands out.

Leverage Seasonality

Tourism is highly dependent on weather conditions, which creates three seasons in the travel industry: peak season, shoulder season, and off-season.

• Peak Season (High Season): Summertime (mid-June through August), when demand is at its highest.
• Shoulder Season: From April to mid-June and from September to October, when people still travel, but not as much as during peak season.
• Off-Season: From November to March, when travel businesses experience a decline in sales.

Seasonality isn’t necessarily negative for travel marketing as it provides a clear perspective over the coming months. Stay mindful of seasonal patterns and trends to understand when prospects are most likely to purchase plane tickets, accommodation, or all-inclusive offers. Timing your creative ads and tailoring your messaging according to these seasons can significantly influence purchase decisions.

5. Choose the Right Channels

There are numerous advertising platforms available, and the easiest way to identify the most suitable ones for your brand is to look at where your customers are spending time.

Generally, the following three platforms are obvious choices for most businesses: Google Ads: Running search or display campaigns on the Google ad network allows you to leverage Google’s massive reach and advanced targeting options to get in front of potential customers exactly when they are looking for travel services.

Social media ads: Whether it’s Instagram, Facebook, or TikTok, advertising on social media helps you increase brand recognition and reach a wider audience at the same time. Plus, it gives you the chance to experiment with a wide range of ad formats, including image and video ads.

Email marketing: Email offers a direct communication channel with customers that you can use to send personalized messaging, as well as discounts and special offers. Besides, it’s a cost-effective marketing method that provides easily measurable results.

6. Measure your ads’ effectiveness

Even with a killer strategy up your sleeve, things might not go as expected. And even if they do, measuring the success of your travel campaign is vital to understanding how your vacation ads are performing. 

If everything is going well, you’ll know what to repeat with future campaigns, and in the opposite scenario, you’ll figure out how to optimize ads for success.

Luckily each advertising platform, including Google and Facebook , offers relevant metrics known as KPIs (key performance indicators) to track for the most popular campaign objectives. Hence, you know exactly what to look at.

Things work differently for email marketing campaigns, as you need third-party tools that also enable email automation to measure campaign performance.

Staying up-to-date with travel advertising trends is essential to keep your strategy fresh and compelling. Here are some current trends to consider:

Sustainability

Sustainable travel is gaining traction. Highlight eco-friendly practices and sustainable travel options in your ads to appeal to environmentally conscious travelers. Emphasize efforts such as carbon offset programs, eco-friendly accommodations, and sustainable travel itineraries.

Remote Work Travel

The rise of remote work has led to a new trend: the digital nomad lifestyle. Many professionals now have the flexibility to work from anywhere, making destinations that offer reliable internet, coworking spaces, and long-term stays particularly attractive. Advertise destinations as ideal remote work locations, emphasizing amenities and lifestyle benefits.

Solo Travel

Solo travel continues to grow in popularity, with more people seeking independent and personalized travel experiences. Create ads that cater to solo travelers by highlighting safe, welcoming destinations, solo travel packages, and opportunities for social activities and community engagement.

Wellness Travel

Wellness travel is on the rise as more people seek vacations that offer relaxation, health, and rejuvenation. Advertise spa retreats, yoga retreats, wellness resorts, and health-oriented travel packages to attract this growing segment.

What is the future of Travel Advertising?

• The future of travel advertising is expected to be highly personalized, leveraging advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning to deliver tailored content and offers to travelers. The focus will also be on creating immersive experiences through virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR), allowing potential travelers to explore destinations virtually before booking. Sustainability will play a crucial role, with more travelers seeking eco-friendly options and companies highlighting their sustainable practices in their advertising.

How important is social media for travel advertising?

• Social media is incredibly important for travel advertising as it allows brands to reach a broad audience, engage with potential travelers, and showcase destinations and experiences through compelling visuals and stories.

How can I measure the success of my travel advertising campaign?

• Success can be measured through Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) such as website traffic, click-through rates, conversion rates, return on ad spend (ROAS), and engagement rates on social media.

What are some effective strategies for off-season travel advertising?

• During the off-season, focus on highlighting unique experiences and deals that travelers can take advantage of. Use personalized marketing to target specific demographics and interests, and consider promoting destinations that offer activities suitable for the off-season.

How can influencers help my travel advertising strategy?

• Influencers can help by reaching a wider audience and building trust through authentic content. They can showcase your destinations and services in a relatable way, which can lead to increased engagement and conversions.

As seen from the strategy tips and information in this article, understanding and connecting with the customer is key in the travel industry. Hopefully, you’ve learned something new that you can implement when planning your future travel campaign or designing ads for it.

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The Ultimate Guide to Promoting a School Trip to Parents and Students.

So, you’ve spent the last few months researching destinations, travel providers and debating travel itineraries. The School board has given you the go-ahead to run the trip and you have found a suitable travel date. Now you need to get the students signed up and the parents on board - Simple! Well, almost. That’s where our ultimate guide to promoting a school trip to parents and students comes in handy.

Getting your educational school trip off the ground isn’t always as straightforward as this. Trips often fail to take off due to low sign up numbers. This can be frustrating especially after the amount of work that goes into getting a trip to this stage.

The most effective way to promote a school trip is by ticking all the boxes for students and parents alike. These audiences are very different, but it’s essential that you speak to both of them. An enthusiastic student can persuade a parent to let them go on a trip just as easily as a keen parent can encourage a student onto one! A successful advertising campaign for your trip is essential to get parents and students on board. Unfortunately, you don't have the luxury of unlimited time to craft the perfect marketing strategy.

That's why we’ve created this ultimate guide to promoting a school trip to make advertising your trip as easy as possible and have the biggest impact. Less time spent on advertising means more time to do the things you care about most, like teaching.

‍ Inside this guide, you will find: 

• How to promote school trips to students
• How to promote school trips to parents
• Useful tips for promoting school trips

Promoting Your School Trip to Students

Students primary interest in a school trip will always be to have fun. While it's important students know what will be learnt, they will be especially interested in the exciting activities on offer. Spending time away from home, and having a holiday with your friends are good points to focus on too.

We’ve broken the process of communicating with students down into 3 stages:

Firstly, you have to make students aware that a trip is happening and there are various ways to do this. Make an announcement to students during class. Ask your colleagues to tell their classrooms about the trip. Hand out flyers with inspiring photos, key information and the top activities included. The best opportunity to reach the biggest audience will be during assembly. This is a great chance to convey all the required information in a short space of time!

• Showing video footage or pictures of the key activities is also a great way to create excitement.
• Put your trip on the School’s Intranet, include a sample itinerary and information on the top activities.
• Write a short article or advert in the school newspaper/bulletin or get on the school’s radio for a quick chat. Showcase trip posters in popular areas of the school, and hand out flyers to relevant classes. We have ready-made poster and flyer templates that teachers can use to advertise with. 

Educate & Empower

Arrange a meeting during break time for students, this is a great chance to get the first students on board and answer any questions they might have. If you can get a small group of ‘early adopters’ on board they can act as advocates and get others involved too.

Make it Fun

The language used between advertising to parents and students should be different. With the students, the aim is to excite them and create a buzz around the trip. Keep your content light on logistic details and heavy on the fun!

What can you do to ‘keep it fun’

Outline the top activities 

Talk up the experience of being away from parents - It’s a holiday with their friends after all!

Show trip videos such as:

• Digital Media Academy  
• Huntsville Space Camp
• Camp KSC Orlando  

If the school has run similar trips in the past you could show pictures/videos of those trips. Or, ask a student who attended the trip to give a talk on their experience.

Promoting Your School Trip to Parents

You could have every single student in school interested, but if you can’t convince the parents of the trip’s value, you’ll struggle to get the sign-ups. Parents will need informative resources, detailed itineraries including logistical, financial and educational details. Your communication with parents must be professional and focused on educational benefits. The benefits of school travel extend far beyond the walls of the classroom. Key benefits include reinforcing classroom learning, providing real-world learning opportunities while developing social skills. Students will also build independence while creating life-long memories with friends. Your role as trip organiser is to put forward these benefits and communicate the value of the trip. Parents and students alike will be desperate to join the trip if you do this.

We’ve broken down communicating with parents into 3 steps:

Announce & Inform

Give Students letters to take home outlining all the most important details, and informing them of an information evening.

If possible add the trip to your school’s website and social media pages.

Contact through a school emailing list. 

Contact the parent-teacher associations and get the wider school community involved.

The aim of this evening is to inform parents of the travel arrangements, itinerary and outline the key educational activities of the trip. You will have the opportunity to address any concerns parents may have, explain who you will be travelling with and communicate interesting trip facts! It can be beneficial to have a representative from your school travel provider there to answer any more detailed questions. A parents evening is also your opportunity as trip leader to show the parents that you are responsible and passionate about their children's education. Using a powerpoint presentation is a great way to convey all the required information while keeping your presentation on track. Hosting a Q&A at the end of the evening is crucial in developing a relationship. Enthusiastic parents can become incredible advocates for your trip. If you have a few very keen parents it can make a world of difference in getting it off the ground!

Continue the conversation 

Create a social media page on facebook or twitter. This is a great way to show parents that their kids are safe and having a great time! Taking videos during and after activities is a great way to reinforce educational learning. Sending your child abroad can seem like a daunting idea. A social media page helps reassure parents that they will be able to keep up to date with what’s happening on the trip!

Confirm Booking/Funding 

Ensure there is a clear process and deadline for accepting deposits, and payments. If you plan to fundraise part of the trip, create a calendar (or download our sample calendar) include key payment dates and fundraising activities.Communicate exactly what the fundraising target is and what the remaining payable balance will be. We send payment reminders to our clients ahead of time with useful resources to make collecting payments as easy as possible. 

Useful Tips 

• Ask students or teachers who have travelled before to talk about the trip.
• Show a slideshow of pictures and videos from previous school trips.
• Get your colleagues on board early to help advocate your trip. The more staff members you have talking about the trip, the larger your potential audience will be.
• Ask your travel provider to lead a presentation at an assembly, in class or to co-host your information evening. From experience, we have found that having a representative from your school travel provider is beneficial. Your representative will know all the trip details inside out.  This is something we do and we highly recommend it to all our clients.
• Trip cost can sometimes be a barrier to entry. To mitigate this, pre-plan fundraising activities and make an estimate of fundraising targets.

What’s your experience promoting a school trip?

Thanks for reading our ‘Ultimate Guide to Promoting a School Trip to Parents and Students’.  We hope you found it useful and are able to use the above tactics to help get your educational school trip off your dream board and into reality! If you have used any successful promotional activities we would love to hear them!

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• Hall of Fame Induction
• Selection Process and Committee
• Yearly Finalists
• The Hall of Fame gallery presented by Putnam
• About the Hall of Fame
• Field Trips
• Field Trip Application
• Read Between The Lines Reading Challenge
• Hall STEM Teacher of the Year Program
• Education Program Supervisor

Thank you for your interest in a field trip with the Patriots Hall of Fame presented by RTX! Each field trip program allows students to explore the Patriots Hall of Fame museum and guides them as they explore the science, technology, engineering, and/or math in the world of football. Field trip programs are offered both in-person and virtually.

Please review our Education Guide for more information on in-person field trips. Please click here  for a copy of our Education Guide.

Booking an In-Person Field Trip

We are currently full for the  2023-24 School Year.  If you would like to be placed on the waiting list, please email  [email protected] . We will do our best to accommodate as many schools as possible. We will also continue to offer virtual field trips in 2023-2024 for schools outside an 80-mile radius from The Hall. Please inquire for more information or to book a virtual field trip experience.

Booking a Virtual Field Trip

Our remote/online “field trip” experiences include many of our education modules tailored for remote learning aimed at reaching students learning in their classroom or at home. These virtual trips are available to schools outside an 60-mile radius of The Hall. Each interactive program is facilitated specifically for your students by Hall of Fame staff and includes a STEM Module, a video tour of The Patriots Hall of Fame presented by RTX and a demonstration featuring items from our archival collection.   For module information, please click here . For more information or to book a virtual field trip, please email [email protected] .

Please call The Hall with any questions at 508-549-0555 or email at [email protected]

Please click here for a copy of our Education Guide.

STEM Education Modules

In-Person Field Trip Education Modules

• Towers & Bridges | Grade level: 2-4
• Hands Down | Grade level: 3-5
• How Does the Equipment Ship? | Grade level: 3-5
• Build a Team | Grade level: 5-8
• Helmet Design Challenge | Grade level: 5-8
• Let’s Have a Ball | Grade level: 5-8
• Nutrition and Performance | Grade level: 6-8

Virtual Field Trip Education Modules

• Hands Down | Grade level: 3-5
• Marketing and The Hall | Grade level: 9-12

Virtual Field Trip Education Modules are adapted for remote learning from our established In-Person modules

Towers & Bridges (2nd-4th grade) – In this engineering activity inspired by Gillette Stadium’s iconic lighthouse and bridge, students are challenged to build strong bridges and tall towers using simple materials.  Following the engineering design process, students work in teams to explore a variety of materials and techniques and choose those which are best suited to their goal.

Hands Down (3rd or 4th grade)  – In this engineering activity, students are asked to evaluate the pros and cons of integrating hand recognition biometric technology into the security system for Gillette Stadium. They assess hand geometry codes to determine whether those codes would be the right choice for a new security system. As engineers they make their recommendations about the new system.

How Does the Equipment Ship? (3rd-5th grade) – In this math focused program, students work on teams to ship authentic player equipment to various locations. Students are asked to gather items from a checklist and select a box for their items. They are then responsible for estimating their shipping weight and determining the best shipping method for their box.

Build a Team (5th-8th grade) -In this math-focused program, students work together and serve on the management team of a new NFL franchise. Using budgets, salary information and statistics from the National Football League, students analyze players’ strengths, weaknesses, and salaries to assemble the best offensive unit. They also are asked to select a team name, design a logo, decide elements to include in a new stadium and present their selections in a press conference.

Helmet Design Challenge (5th – 8th grade)  – In this engineering design challenge, students explore, select, and arrange materials they feel provide the necessary structure or cushioning for a model helmet. After learning about helmet technology, the students use their materials to design their own helmet prototypes. The students then test their designs and report on their results using the engineering design process. For remote learning, the materials will need to be provided by the school or the student. Please inquire for the list of recommended materials.

Let’s Have a Ball (5th – 8th grade) – In this engineering design challenge, students are presented with a sport related technological problem. A game manufacturer needs help in choosing the correct sports ball for its new game. Students are given specific criteria regarding the ball’s performance requirements. They are asked to test several different sports balls for specific measurements and use the data they gather to make a recommendation to the manufacturer.

Nutrition and Performance (6th – 8th grade) – Students step into the role of a sports nutritionist as they learn how nutrition affects performance in this STEM-focused module. After they explore the critical roles food plays in athletic (and other types of) performance, learn to think about the human body as a system, and consider how some of this system’s inputs impact the output (performance) of the athlete, students will work in small groups to “meet” a client with a unique set of physical traits and create a meal plan that aligns with the latest in nutrition science-based recommendations.

Marketing and the Hall (9th – 12th grade)  – This program offers high school students an opportunity to utilize the Four P’s of marketing. Students are given different scenarios before they arrive and are asked to present their marketing strategy approach to one of the given scenarios. They receive professional feedback from our marketing team following their presentations.

For more information regarding our STEM Education modules, please contact our Education Program Supervisor, Steven Hill at  [email protected] .

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70+ of denver’s best field trips.

While the kids might be at home learning online, it doesn’t mean you can’t get out for a stimulating field trip. Denver takes education to a higher level with endless outdoor adventures, interactive games and world-class cultural attractions. Where else can you track dinosaurs, check out Egyptian mummies, see vivid street art, hike around sandstone monoliths and take a treetop zip-line tour? The city also has plenty of  sensory-friendly experiences. Visit Denver has compiled this amazing resource!

NATURE AND SCIENCE

Denver is surrounded by natural wonders and diverse ecosystems, providing the perfect classroom for budding scientists.  

Run wild at the  Denver Museum of Nature & Science    and find everything from dinosaurs to Egyptian mummies, now featuring two new exhibitions:  The Art of the Brick,    famous artworks made out of LEGO® bricks, and  Dogs! A Science Tail,     an interactive look into what dogs are thinking; go on a safari at  Denver Zoo,    featuring the latest exhibition,  Nature Connects®, Art with LEGO® Bricks    with giant plant and animal sculptures ;   swim with sharks and pet stingrays at the  Downtown Aquarium;    learn about Colorado’s ecosystems at  Denver Botanic Gardens;    go on an inspiring  aviation tour,   including the   Wings Over Rockies Air & Space Museum;   see rescued lions, tigers, bears and wolves roaming freely at the  Wild Animal Sanctuary;    look for rare  black-footed ferrets  at  Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge;    track dinosaurs at  Dinosaur Ridge;    see if you can spot bison at   Buffalo Herd Overlook;   explore the vast world of invertebrates in a rain forest setting at  Butterfly Pavilion;    and don’t forget the dog thanks to these  pet-friendly  hotels and parks. 

OUTDOOR ADVENTURE 

Denver’s year-round outdoor playground needs no introduction. But here’s a cheat sheet on how to get some fresh air and pick up valuable skills. 

Go for an easy bike ride along the beautiful  South Platte River  that runs through downtown by renting a bike through  Confluence Kayaks    or take a tour with  Mile High Bike Tours    (ages 11 and up and accompanied by an adult); check out the  mile-high markers   in the city that are exactly 5,280 feet above sea level; hang out in the  green spaces  like  Washington Park  with its two lakes, gardens and mountain views; go for a hike among the stunning sandstone monoliths at  Red Rocks Park & Amphitheatre;   learn to climb (all ages) on real Rocky Mountain cliffs only minutes from town with  Denver Climbing Co.;    and   take an inspiring  day trip  to check out  fall colors   and historical sites. If adrenaline-fueled activities are your thing,  Castle Rock Zip Line Tours    lets you soar on 1.5 miles of zip line at speeds of up to 50 mph, take a treetop zip-line tour 65 feet above Clear Creek with  Colorado Adventure Center,    or do it all at  Lawson Adventure Park & Resort    where you can zip line, traverse granite cliffs (thanks to Colorado’s only private via ferrata), roll down the mountain inside a giant ball and finish your adventures by rafting on Clear Creek. You can also spend a night in either cabins or yurts and do it again the following day.  Note: The adventure parks have minimum age and weight requirements.

HANDS-ON HISTORY

The city has a colorful past. These museums and cultural attractions provide exciting ways to get your hands on history. 

See what it’s like to be a firefighter at the  Denver Firefighters Museum;    go back in time at Denver’s oldest house at  Four Mile Historic Park;    learn about the  life and times  of  Titanic  survivor Margaret Tobin Brown at the  Molly Brown House Museum;    take an inspiring  African American heritage tour;  watch history come alive at  History Colorado Center    with cutting-edge activities like a virtual ski jump; hear the stories behind some of the state’s most prominent women at the  Center for Colorado Women’s History at Byers-Evans House Museum;    see classic and unique cars, airplanes and trains at the  Forney Museum of Transportation;    take an unforgettable  ghost tour  or check out the  haunted Cheesman Park;   go on a self-guided history adventure via the  Denver Story Trek;  and take a train ride at the  Colorado Railroad Museum.  

FINE ART & STREET ART

Seeing famous artwork up close and creating your own through workshops is essential for developing the right side of the brain. Here’s how to bring out your best. 

Get free admission to  Denver Art Museum,    known for its Indigenous art collection, every day for those under 18 and enjoy various activities and programs for kids; check out the  Museo de las Americas ,   the premier Latin American art museum in the Rocky Mountain region; see large-scale works of one of the most important American artists of the 20th century at the  Clyfford Still Museum    (free admission for children under 17; the museum is temporarily closed until Sept. 18); see inspiring and challenging contemporary art at  MCA Denver — Museum of Contemporary Art Denver    (free admission for children under 18) with special programs for teens; take on all kinds of DIY projects from leatherworking to jewelry making at  Upstairs Circus    (recommended for ages 9 and up; minors must be accompanied by an adult); express yourself through various arts-based classes and workshops for all ages at  The Art Garage;    and see why Denver is becoming a mecca for  street art  with mind-blowing murals all over town. For more about the “Love This City” mural above, read the  blog post  about local artist Pat Milbery of So-Gnar Creative Division.

MUSIC, FILM & LITERATURE

Take a break from textbooks by diving into literature from locally owned shops or seeing a movie on the big screen. Here’s how to expand your world.  

Enjoy a  drive-in movie  in the great outdoors; buy books at  Tattered Cover Book Store    or  BookBar;    take stunning images at these popular   photo ops;  take a comedy class for kids and teens at  Rise Comedy;    and get a glimpse of many of the big stars who’ve performed at  Red Rocks Amphitheatre  via the Colorado Music Hall of Fame (temporarily closed) located not far from the stage. 

FUN & GAMES

Now it’s time for recess. You deserve some playtime! 

Choose from five themed escape rooms for an unforgettable experience at  EscapeWorks Denver;    go bowling and play arcade games at  Lucky Strike Denver;    play various golf games and try the delicious food at  Topgolf    or play a round of mini-golf at  Urban Putt;    release some energy (and rage) by breaking various things at  SMASH*IT Breakroom    (must be at least 13); play board games at the  Game Lounge;    go on a scavenger hunt with  Let’s Roam;    spot  hidden elves  at the  Denver Museum of Nature & Science;    shoot at each other with foam-tipped arrows at  Archery Games Denver    (recommended for ages 10 and up; youth hours on weekend for those 7-12); throw axes, yes axes, at  DAGAR    (recommended for ages 10 and up); assemble a team and choose a mission in live-action escape rooms at  Puzzah!;    and create, discover and explore with unique exhibits and activities on nine acres at the  Children’s Museum of Denver at Marsico Campus    (newborns through age 8). 

Download this PDF for your kids to record where they went and what they learned. Send a picture of your completed form to [email protected] so they can see where you went and tag your social posts with #fieldtripDenver.

Please check with local businesses and attractions individually before you venture out for the latest COVID-19-related policy updates and hours of operation.

Author: Mile High Mamas

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Virtual Field Trips: Ideas & Examples With Links

By: Angela Robinson | Updated: August 01, 2022

You found our list of the best virtual field trips .

Virtual field trips are class outings that take place online, via platforms like Zoom, Google Street View or websites. While some of these activities consist of pre-recorded tours and videos, the best options tend to involve live video feed and student interaction with guides. Examples activities include digital walks along The Great Wall of China and a scrollable deep sea dive. These activities are also known as “online field trips” and “digital field trips”.

These adventures are an example of online classroom activities and often include virtual tours .

This articles includes:

• interactive virtual field trips
• virtual field trips for students
• the best virtual field trip ideas
• free virtual field trips for kids
• live virtual field trips

Here is the list!

List of virtual field trip ideas

From virtual cockpit tours to online historical sites to do-it-yourself options, here is a list of ideas for virtual field trips to captivate and educate students.

1. Online Zoo (Behind the Scenes)

A digital zoo tour is one of the best virtual field trips for kids. While virtual trips may not let students see otters float, elephants play, and lions strut up close, a digital tour allows for more intimate behind-the-scenes access.

Your class can get close with the animals and walk paths usually reserved for zookeepers. While you may not be able to fit 30 squirming first graders into a baby animal nursery or an operating room, the guide can easily broadcast from these venues. Also, since the visit takes place entirely online, you can visit a zoo that is otherwise far from you.

Here is a starter list:

• San Antonio Zoo
• San Diego Zoo
• Cincinnati Zoo (self-guided tours, livestream safari and feeding times)

Many other zoos stream live animal webcams that you and your class can watch. You can also contact your local zoo directly to inquire about facilitated virtual tours and school group discounts.

During the online visit, your students can ask questions using the hand raising or chat features in the video conferencing platform. Once your tour concludes, your students can enjoy thematic snacks such as zebra cakes, goldfish, and of course, animal crackers.

Check our more virtual zoo tours .

2. Virtual Safari

When you do a virtual safari, your students can observe lions, elephants and other animals in their natural habitat. Wild Earth offers twice daily live safaris. Since the broadcast occurs on African time, your best bet is to tune in for the sunset safari, which live streams from 9:00am to 12:30pm Eastern Standard Time. The safari broadcasts from several nature reserves and features animals such as lions, leopards, cheetahs, and hyenas. During the tour, viewers can ask park rangers questions. The unscripted nature of the broadcast lends an element of excitement, since animal sightings are always a surprise.

Learn more at Wild Earth .

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3. Under the Sea Visit

Unless you are secretly Miss Frizzle from The Magic Schoolbus, you cannot whisk your class to the bottom of the ocean in a submarine. However, you can lead your students on an online field trip of the ocean.

The Deep Sea by Neal Agarwal shows all sorts of marine life in the ocean. Viewers can scroll deeper into the ocean, discovering the animals that dwell at each depth. For a fun pre-tour exercise, distribute a handout with the names of various species and challenge students to guess at which depth the creature lives. Then, check answers as you plunge further down into the ocean.

Journey to The Deep Sea .

4. Aquarium Webcam Livestream

The Monterey Bay Aquarium hosts live cams for animals, including sea otters, penguins, jellyfish, and sharks. Aquarium employees narrate during feeding time, so for maximum engagement consider tuning in during mealtimes. The aquarium website also offers free online classes for ages ranging from kindergarten to high school, resources for teachers, and crafts and printables.

Dive into the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s live webcams .

5. Virtual Tour of the Great Wall of China

Your students can trek the Great Wall of China from the comfort of home. For $15, The China Guide offers a guided tour through high resolution images of the Great Wall of China via Zoom. Your students can also take part in question and answer sessions with an expert and have an interactive experience.

Stroll the Great Wall of China .

6. NASA Commercial Crew Program

Until recently, space wasn’t on the list of field trip destinations. NASA decided to teleport students directly to space camp by curating a virtual field trip that highlights its commercial crew program. Teachers can transmit a series of educational videos onto virtual reality sets to create an immersive experience. The tour guide leads virtual visitors through spaceship crew pits and launching pads while explaining the process of becoming an astronaut. The tour puts a heavy emphasis on STEM education and directs teachers to resources useful for supplementary science and math lessons.

Learn more about NASA’s at-home STEM activities .

7. Disney Parks Digital Tour

Most children dream of the day the teacher announces a field trip to Disney World. While students may not be able to ride teacups or roller coasters during a digital tour of Disney, they can still experience the excitement of the happiest place on earth by touring a high resolution Google Street view of the parks.

Students who have not yet visited Disney can see what the park is like, and those that have visited can point out sites and share stories. You can also include Disney history and lessons on the inspirations behind the attractions to make the tour more educational. Consider serving Disney themed snacks during breaks, and perhaps initiating a singalong during a music lesson. With the money you save on transportation and admission, you could even hire a beloved Disney character to pay the class a visit.

Learn more about Disney Parks Digital Tour .

8. Streaming Broadway Shows

Instead of escorting your students to a Broadway show, summon a Broadway stage to your classroom. Broadway HD has a library of hundreds of productions, including rare and obscure shows. While not in real time, most filmed productions on the site are of live shows. Your students can uncover hard to find productions and learn about American theatre history too. Broadway HD offers a one week free trial, as well as monthly and yearly subscription options.

Watch a Broadway show .

9. Virtual Reality Rainforest Tour

Even if you had the budget to fly your class to the Amazon, a real-life tour would be too risky for a field trip. A virtual tour lets students experience panoramic views of lush rain forests while learning about indigenous communities and conservation efforts. The tour is viewable as an immersive experience via virtual reality devices, or as a 360 degree video on regular devices. By participating in the Under the Canopy tour, students come to understand the importance of the rain forest and its connection to human life as a whole.

Embark on a virtual reality rain forest tour .

10. Computerized Cockpit Tours

Livestream cockpit tours make thrilling virtual field trips for high school students. While airline regulations call for restricted cockpit access, you may be able to find a private pilot willing to give your students a Skype tour of the craft. The pilot might even broadcast a quick flight.

If you cannot find a live guide, then the following organizations provide self-guided tours with pilot-perspective views of various aircraft:

• The Naval Aviation Museum
• Experimental Aircraft Association
• National Museum of the USAF
• Museum of Flight

Or, you could download and run a flight simulator that gives students the chance to navigate and land a virtual plane.

11. Living Rooms Around the World

A living room might seem like an odd choice for a virtual field trip, but a living room located across the globe is as fascinating as any other destination. You can plan a tour of foreign homes so that your students can learn how everyday life differs around the world.

If you know individuals in other countries willing to Zoom with your students, then you can reach out to these acquaintances and coordinate your experience directly. If not, then you can contact a foreign exchange program or local university for help. You can also watch the Life Where I’m From channel on YouTube, though live tours with question and answer sessions are more personal and immersive.

You and your students can also check out Dollar Street for a strong visual map of how people live around the world.

12. Virtual Tour of the Louvre

The Louvre is one of the most famous museums in the world, but many people will never visit in person. By taking your class on a virtual tour of the Louvre, you save airfare and time spent waiting in line.

The Louvre offers high resolution, 360 degree tours of various exhibitions on its website. Your class can explore Egyptian antiquities, classic Italian paintings, and the remains of an underground moat, all without leaving the classroom.

The Louvre site also directs visitors towards a downloadable “VR Mona Lisa” app that provides an up close peek at the famous painting, and other video and at-home experiences.

Visit the Louvre .

13. Online Tour of the British Museum

The British Museum’s online Museum of the World exhibit lets visitors view and sort artifacts based on time period, area of origin, and themes such as religion or trade. Each point on the timeline contains pictures, descriptions, an audio file, and links to related objects.

This format lends itself well to a virtual scavenger hunt . Solving an activity helps students focus and remain more engaged, which results in students learning more from the experience.

Explore the British Museum .

14. Digital Tour of the Van Gogh Museum

While the digital tour of the Van Gogh Museum fails to capture the paintings’ texture, it does offer contextual information on the artist’s most famous images such as Almond Blossom and Self-portrait With Grey Felt Hat . This tour also provides background information about Van Gogh’s life, with several narrative timelines.

Check out the Van Gogh Museum .

15. Google Meets Visit to the Guggenheim

The Guggenheim offers an interactive virtual museum experience. Booking a tour gives your class access to a guide for one hour, and your class will view three to five famous works and participate in an ongoing Q&A session. The museum educator facilitates activities that encourage students to engage with the art. All tours take place via Zoom or Google Meet.

Though the museum gears most tours towards grade school, they also hold separate online tours for university students and adults as well.

Book a Virtual Group Visit to the Guggenheim .

16. Computerized Career Days

Career day is a staple of the school experience. Typically, parents and community professionals visit classrooms to talk to students about various jobs. Online, these professionals can actually take students along on the job. Students can go to work with firefighters, underwater welders, cake decorators, farmers, or any other interesting vocations that do not mind taking the kids along.

Career days can be an ongoing series, with a five to 15-minute tour of a different workplace every session. This approach spreads the fun across a larger span of time by hosting a mini field trip every day, instead of condensing all the excitement into a single afternoon.

You can do online career tests too, or plan a virtual take your child to work day .

17. Remote City Tours

Tour guides in many cities offer a verbal history and visual slideshow via software like Zoom and WebEx. Remote city tours are one of the easiest-to-execute virtual field trip ideas. The guides already mapped the path and prepared the presentation; you only need to book the tour and show up with your class.

The crew here at TeamBuilding recently embarked on a virtual tour of Black Broadway in Washington DC and an online Harry Potter tour of Edinburgh, Scotland. Our team thoroughly enjoyed both tours and learned a lot.

18. Online Historical Sites

Many online field trips focus on learning about history. You and your class can visit significant sites all around the world and learn how these locations shaped modern history.

Here is a short list of historical sites with online experiences:

• The Sistine Chapel
• The Taj Mahal
• Ellis Island
• Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
• Gettysburg Battlefield

There are many other historically significant locations you can visit online.

19. DIY Virtual Field Trips

Some schools give students options to vote on the yearly field trip. Since online field trips use minimal time and resources, every student can design a dream trip. Instead of organizing a virtual trip yourself, you can assign the planning to your students. Every participant can design an itinerary by using Google Tour Creator .

Students may choose to explore areas such as the tombs of pharaohs, or the birth cities of American jazz. Your students will become the tour guides and teach peers about the chosen topic.

Most of these virtual field trips are available to anyone, and are free to access, meaning your students can visit or revisit the sites anytime. To make your activity extra special, seek out guide-led, live, interactive experiences so that your students can hold conversations with an expert. You can also supplement the trip with assignments and fun games.

Next, check out our list of games to play on Zoom, this list of Google Meet games , and this one with online art classes .

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FAQ: Virtual field trips

Here are some of the most common questions and answers about virtual field trips.

What are virtual field trips?

Virtual field trips are learning excursions that happen online through video conferencing software, livestream video, or digital map and photograph platforms. For example, a virtual zoo tour or an online visit to the Great Wall of China.

What are good online field trip ideas?

The best online field trips often revolve around experiences that are off-limits or logistically impossible for in-person visits. To keep students interested, these activities should involve interactive elements such as question and answer sessions, games, and special requests.

How do you do a virtual field trip?

The first step in planning virtual field trips is to decide on your venue and activity. You can choose between self-guided tours or live-guided experiences. Typically, live video and interaction makes for a more compelling visit. Once you choose your trip, pick a day and time for your visit and inform the students. You can plan additional activities like research assignments and presentations to enhance your student’s learning. You can also make the day special by providing themed snacks.

Author: Angela Robinson

Marketing Coordinator at teambuilding.com. Angela has a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing and worked as a community manager with Yelp to plan events for businesses.

That was so cool!! I am a child and I am making these things for my JK sister. This was really helpful. Thank you!!

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Marketing Coordinator at teambuilding.com.

Angela has a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing and worked as a community manager with Yelp to plan events for businesses.

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FieldTripDirectory.com (formerly ClassTrips.com and CampDirectorsResources.com) offers field trip ideas for class trips, scout group trips, camp group field trips, and homeschool group field trips—early childhood through college. Search for class trips by geographic area, distance, and venue name or keyword. Day class trips are divided by curriculum and subject area:

• ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT Find art museums, theater, dance, and music concert field trips.
• EARLY CHILDHOOD Find class trips to children’s museums, petting zoos, and kids’ shows.
• HISTORY/SOCIAL STUDIES View history museums, government & civics, historic sites, living history museums, and multicultural field trip ideas.
• LIFE SKILLS Find team building field trips, health & safety exhibits, and character education experiences.
• SCIENCE & NATURE Find aquariums, botanical gardens, environmental studies & nature centers, farms & mazes, planetariums, science museums, STEAM & STEM field trips, dinosaur exhibits, and zoos.
• RECREATION Find field trip ideas for adventure parks, ropes courses, ziplines, boat excursions, amusement parks, waterparks, kayaking, rafting, tubing, laser tag paintball, roller skating rinks, ice-skating rinks, mini-golf attractions, indoor amusement & recreation centers, and outdoor amusement & recreation centers.

Overnight field trips include trips to NYC, trips to Boston, trips to Philadelphia, trips to Washington, DC, trips to Chicago, trips to Atlanta, trips to Austin, and other historic cities throughout the US. Retreats are available for environmental education, team building, and recreation. We created field trip lesson plans to help teachers, scout leaders, camp counselors, and homeschool parents provide an enriching experience for their groups. We know funds for class trips are limited, so we’ve included grants for field trips that cover admission, transportation, and more. It’s important that students and youth explore new environments, learn about other cultures, and develop an understanding of inclusivity as part of the educational process. People learn in different ways—through hearing, seeing, touching, talking, or doing. Class trips can provide a multi-dimensional learning experience. FieldTripDirectory.com can help you find the right trip for your group. A world of experiences is just a click away at FieldTripDirectory.com.

Field Trips for Your Music Class

Field trips offer a unique opportunity to enrich the learning experience. From being immersed in sensory activities to being able to see firsthand the places where music happens, a field trip is unforgettable for most kids.

Traditionally, field trips involve traveling to a destination, but this isn’t a requirement. Technological advances have made it possible to tour far-off places that a lack of time and money might otherwise make it impossible to visit.

Whether your music field trips are virtual or take place in the real world, your homeschoolers will find these experiences to be deeply enriching. They bring to life all of the things about which they have been learning in music education. This may mean unlocking even greater knowledge and imagination.

Here are just a few ideas for music field trips for your homeschoolers:

1. Attend a Symphony or Orchestra Performance

If you live close to a city where there is a symphony, orchestra, chamber music performance troupe or other groups, check into getting tickets for you and your kids. Finding matinee concerts on weekends is usually easy or you could choose to take in an evening performance to make the field trip even more momentous for your children.

Many cities also have youth philharmonics or orchestras. It can be especially fun and inspiring for kids to see others who are close to their own age excelling at playing an instrument. Don’t shy away from choral performances as well. Some kids are even more inspired by a beautiful voice and the way that it blends with musical accompaniment.

If you’re fortunate enough to live relatively close to an orchestra, then pay attention to their website. Many of these performance groups periodically present weekday performances for local school groups. They may be welcoming to your homeschooled students joining the group. What a fun opportunity to hear a live music performance with an audience that’s filled with kids!

Many of these programs also have fun and informative question and answer periods to make the field trip even more interesting.

2. Take a Virtual Tour

Is there a music-related destination that you and your students have always wanted to visit? Maybe it’s just too far away to be a realistic field trip, but the good news is that many famous sites now offer virtual tours. This can be a convenient and inexpensive way to get a backstage look at some of the most famous music venues in the world.

Here’s a sample of available virtual tours:

• The Beede Gallery: A one-of-a-kind collection of musical instruments from the Pacific Islands, Africa, Asia and beyond makes this collection informative and unforgettable. It’s a wonderful way to introduce youngsters to how music is made in various countries and cultures;
• New York’s Metropolitan Opera : This world-renowned opera company streams past performances for people around the world to enjoy. Watching even part of one of these performances is a wonderful opportunity to see powerful vocal and instrumental artists in one of the most famous venues on the planet;
• The Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow: Plenty of famous artists have enjoyed stellar careers playing in this venue. From the gilded balconies and seats from which the audience enjoys performances, the virtual tour takes viewers on a journey through the costume department and other backstage areas;
• Carnegie Hall, New York City: Located in Manhattan, this prestigious venue has hosted everything from classical music to rock ‘n roll. Go on the virtual tour to explore the Hall’s three auditoriums, learn about its history and watch a fascinating 360-degree view of a performance by the renowned Philadelphia Orchestra;
• Theatro Municipal, Sao Paulo: This opulent venue was built in 1903 in Brazil using materials that were imported from Europe. Get a 360-degree view of the audience, a tour of the backstage areas and see a performance of a Wagner opera by visiting the theater’s website; and
• Burgtheater in Vienna: Europe’s second-oldest theater was originally built in 1741. Bombs and a subsequent fire all-but destroyed the venue during World War II, but it has since been restored to its former glory. As you take the virtual tour, pay particular attention to the intricately painted ceiling, which features some work by a young Gustav Klimt.

These and dozens of other virtual tours are free and easy to access online. If there’s a famous theater, venue or performance troupe to which you think it would be beneficial to introduce your students, visit their website to see what kind of resources they offer.

3. Visit a Factory that Makes Musical Instruments

This won’t be available to everyone, but if you can find a factory or musical instrument maker within a reasonable distance of your home, then it might be a good idea to ask about scheduling a tour.

Here’s just a small sampling of possible tours:

• William S. Haynes Company, Inc. in Acton, Massachusetts, makers of flutes since 1888;
• Tsunami Guitars in Cleveland, Tennessee, makers of solid-body electric guitars;
• Wooden Cross Hardware in Decatur, Indiana, makers of snare drums and drum sets;
• Cunningham Piano Company in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, a piano restoration factory;
• Fender Musical Instruments Corporation in Corona, California, featuring 8,000 square feet of exhibits and much more; and
• Gibson Guitar Factory in Memphis, Tennessee, makers of world-famous guitars.

4. Tour a Local Theater or Other Music Venue

Did you know that many theaters and performance venues provide daytime tours of their auditoriums and backstage facilities? Each tour is a fascinating opportunity for kids and parents to discover how theaters work.

Many of these tours are offered for free or at an impressively reduced rate, especially if the tour is given in the name of education. Going on a tour provides a chance to see the venues in which musicals, concerts, stage plays and dance performances are given on a regular basis.

Frequently, the tour guide is extremely knowledgeable about the inner workings of the theater and the troupes that perform there. Feel free to ask lots of questions. To make the tour even more meaningful, try to attend a performance after the tour.

5. Go to a Musical Theater Performance

If you live relatively close to a metropolitan area, then you may have more opportunities than you realize to attend a musical theater show. Sometimes, these shows are a national touring company for a Broadway show. Other times, these performances are presented by local and regional troupes on a professional, semi-professional or amateur basis.

Any of these shows may be worthwhile. If you’re not sure if this is your kids’ cup of tea, then try a community theater performance where the tickets will be less expensive and the atmosphere may be more casual.

If this goes well, then it may be time to step up to a national touring company that offers plenty of big set changes, special effects and more. It’s an unforgettable experience for any kid!

6. Attend a Ballet or Modern Dance Program

Opportunities to see dance troupes abound in most metropolitan areas. From local to national professional companies, you may discover a wide range of dance styles to explore.

Don’t overlook the recitals of local children’s dance schools as well. Kids love to see performers who are in their age group. Moreover, these offerings tend to be less expensive and shorter in duration, which can be a major plus for children with shorter attention spans.

7. Go to a Recording Studio

You don’t necessarily have to live in Nashville, Los Angeles or New York to tour a recording studio. These facilities can be found in most good-sized cities, and kids may be fascinated to see all of the high-tech equipment that goes into making professional recordings. A highlight on some of these tours is being able to make your own music into the microphone so that you can hear it being played back.

8. Attend a Rehearsal for a Band or Choir

Children can learn a great deal by watching musicians and singers practice their art. Seeing the polished performance is one thing, but it is quite another to watch as artists struggle to get that performance to that point. It’s a wonderful lesson in discipline and the rewards of hard work. Try to attend the performance of the piece that was being rehearsed so that your kids can spot the differences.

9. Tour the Music Program at the Local College or University

If you live fairly close to a college or university that has a music program, then you may want to call someone at the department to see about scheduling a tour for your homeschoolers. Such a tour provides an excellent opportunity to see practice and performance venues, recording studios, libraries and other facilities that all may contribute to music education. For kids who are thinking about studying music in college, this can be a rewarding experience.

10. Take in a Music Festival

From classical music to bluegrass, music festivals are popular events across the country. Some are mega-festivals spread over more than a week with thousands of attendees, but others are quite intimate and feel almost exclusive. While some of these events focus on a single musical instrument or genre, others are quite diverse. A festival can be a relaxed way to introduce your children to new genres and live performances.

Instructors miss a golden opportunity when they neglect to follow up after a music field trip. For one thing, the kids’ minds are primed to learn more about the topic they’ve just spend an entire day seeing close up. Quality post-planning for every trip is the real key to extending and multiplying the learning experience. Here’s a roster of activities you can include in your trip follow up lessons:

Spend time asking each student what they enjoyed about the trip and ask the class to come up with suggestions for the next excursion.

Assign different class members to prepare reports about specific portions of the trip and assemble the final product into a class book to be distributed to students, parents and even trip hosts. Orchestra directors, for example, love receiving such reports from teachers. The document not only makes a nice thank-you gift but lets the hosts know how much a particular visit meant to the entire class. Try to have students work in small groups on the different sections of the report so that everyone has a chance to contribute.

Review any assignments that students completed while on the trip.

Have everyone compose thank-you notes to those who hosted field trip events, like symphony members, museum directors, sound studio managers, and more. This is more than just an exercise in social niceties. You’ll likely discover that many of the hosts reply with open invitations for future events, free concert tickets and other generous offers. Even more, the thank-you note writing teaches children a valuable lesson about networking, a skill they’ll need in their later careers.

If you’ve introduced music education into your homeschool and your kids love it, then maybe it’s time to encourage them to make their own music. At Music Prodigies, we develop accessible music curricula that are suitable for kids. It’s a fun, inventive and interactive way to learn about music, and even parents will find it enjoyable.

After the Trip: Following Up

Allow for at least an hour of classroom time on a day after the trip for pupils to share their experiences and mention anything they discovered that was surprising or unexpected. For example, someone might mention how long the symphony practice sessions are just prior to a big public performance. Kids are always amazed at how much time and dedication it takes to be a symphony orchestra member. In any case, make sure to give students time to bring up anything they want about their perspective of the outing.

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Field Trips

Book a field trip at blackberry farm.

Blackberry Farm is a living history museum where pioneer life is re-created through educational demonstrations and hands-on fun. Our educational experiences complement classroom curriculum for grades Pre-K and up. Topics and hands-on activities align with Illinois State Standards. Below are the different field trips to review when deciding which field trip would best for your group.

• Self-Guided Field Trips (May - Sept.)
• Guided Field Trips (Sept. - Oct.)
• How to Book Your Field Trip

Self-Guided Field Trips (May – September)

Self-Guided field trips are offered May-September. Self Guided field trips allow students to explore educational exhibits and demonstrations in addition to all of Blackberry Farm’s rides and activities. For more information about Blackberry Farm’s historical sites and attractions please visit our Plan Your Visit page.

May : Monday-Friday, 9:30am-2pm June-August : Monday-Friday, 9:30am-3:30pm September : Friday, 9:30am-3:30pm

Illinois State Standard: 15.C.1a, 15.C.1b, 18.B.1a, 16.A.1c, 16.A.1b, 16.A.2c, 16.B.2d, 16.C.2c, 16.E.2a

Field Trip reservations cannot be scheduled on Free Museum Days (2024 Dates: June 5, 19; July 3, 17, 31, August 14)

Guided Field Trips (September & October)

Guided field trips are offered September & October. Field trips are 2 hours in length and have a minimum of 25 students and a maximum of 100 students. Please Note: Blackberry Farm is closed to the public during guided field trips. Only the sites involved with the field trip will be open during the visit.

September : Monday – Thursday, 9:30 or 10 a.m. October : Monday-Friday, 9:30 or 10 a.m.

Apple Hayride (Pre-K to Grade 2):

Take a tractor-driven hayride to the farm’s own apple orchard, learn about the legend of Johnny Appleseed, see and use an antique apple press and sample some tasty apple treats.

Illinois State Standards: 15.C.1a, 15.C.1b, 18.A.1, 17.C.1a, 17.C.1b, 16.A.1A, 16.A.1b, 16.A.1c, 16.B.1

Pioneer Exploration (Grades 1 to 2):

Step into the life of a child from the 1800s. Students will receive a lesson in our One-room Schoolhouse, try their hand at daily chores at the Pioneer Cabin, visit with the weaver for a hands-on experience working with wool and learn about animals at the Discovery Barn.

Illinois State Standards: 15.C.1a, 15.C.1b, 18.A.1, 18.B.1a,18.C.1, 17.C.1a, 17.C.1b, 17.D.2b, 16A.1a, 16.A.1b, 16.A.1c, 16.B.2d, 16.C.2c, 16.D.2B, 16.E.2a

Destination 1800s (Grades 3 to 5):

Through hands-on and interactive activities, students will step back in time to learn why pioneers chose to move to Illinois and how they survived. Explore the Pioneer Cabin, Blacksmith Shop, Print Shop and Weaver’s Cabin.

Illinois State Standards: 15.C.1a, 15.C.1b, 18.A.2, 18.B.1a, 18.C.1, 18.C.2, 15.C.1a, 17.C.1b, 17.C.2c, 17.D.2b, 16.A.1a, 16.A.1b, 16.A.1c, 16.A.2c, 16.B.2d, 16.C.2c, 16.D.2b, 16.E.2a

One-Room Schoolhouse (Grades 2 to 5):

The One-room Schoolhouse program offers an immersive experience in the life of children of the 1800s. Activities will be led in the most authentic way possible and simulate actual lessons and activities form the days of the One-room Schoolhouse. Maximum number: 30 Students.

Illinois State Standards: 16A.1a, 16.A.1b, 16.A.1c, 16.B.2d

Please follow the link below for the required request form you will need to fill out in order to book your field trip.

Self-Guided Field Trip Form

Guided Field Trip Form

• Download the appropriate form for your field trip type, fill out all fields, and email it to [email protected] .
• A Blackberry Farm staff member will respond to your request within 48 hours. Blackberry Farm takes all inquiries on a first-come, first-served basis, and your submission will be responded to in the order in which it was received.
• Once your field trip has been officially booked a confirmation email will be sent including all of your field trip details.

Still unsure which field trip would best fit your group needs? Have additional questions for our staff? We’re here to help. Fill out the form below and we’ll get back to you as soon as possible.

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Exclusive: Biden tells Muir US weapons will not be used to strike Moscow, Kremlin

President Joe Biden was adamant that U.S. weapons would not be used to strike Moscow or the Kremlin after he authorized Ukraine to use them in Russia during an exclusive interview with ABC News anchor David Muir at the Normandy American Cemetery on the 80th anniversary of D-Day.

Muir asked Biden if U.S.-made weapons have already been used in Russia since he signed off on their use, limiting use to areas near the Russian-occupied Kharkiv region. The president did not directly answer, but made clear they would not be authorized to be used to target Russia's capital city or seat of government.

"They're authorized to be used in proximity to the border when they're being used on the other side of the border to attack specific targets in Ukraine," Biden told Muir of U.S. weapons. "We're not authorizing strikes 200 miles into Russia and we're not authorizing strikes on Moscow, on the Kremlin."

MORE: Biden to tout American global leadership during trip to France

Muir asked the president about Vladimir Putin's comments overnight, that "the supply of high-precision weapons to Ukraine for strikes on Russian territory is direct participation in this war."

"Does that concern you?" Muir asked Biden.

"I've known him for over 40 years. He's concerned me for 40 years. He's not a decent man," Biden said. "He's a dictator, and he's struggling to make sure he holds his country together while still keeping this assault going. We're not talking about giving them weapons to strike Moscow, to strike the Kremlin, to strike against -- just across the border, where they're receiving significant fire from conventional weapons used by the Russians to go into Ukraine to kill Ukrainians."

For more from Muir's interview with President Biden, watch ABC's "World News Tonight with David Muir" at 6:30 p.m. ET.

Biden is in France to commemorate the day Allied forces stormed the beaches of Normandy in 1944, setting off a chain of events that led to the fall of Nazi Germany and the end of World War II. Later Thursday, Biden plans to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to discuss the war effort.

Exclusive: Biden tells Muir US weapons will not be used to strike Moscow, Kremlin originally appeared on abcnews.go.com

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2024 Field Trips at IBG

Offered April - May and October

Last approx. 90 minutes

*Facilitated Field Trips are fully booked, but there are still openings for the Self-Guided Experience!

Self-Guided Experience

New this year, if your group has 25 students or less, please reserve a Self-Guided Experience where an IBG Education Team Member will greet your group and then you explore the Garden on your own. 

Here are some ideas for your Self-Guided visit:

Experience a story in motion as your group moves through and reads pages (geared towards young learners)

Visit our Koi Pond

Use our monthly What’s Blooming as a group scavenger hunt

Fairy House Exhibit – May

Scarecrows – October

Explore our 12 curated Garden spaces

Ready, Set, Grow 

Grade 1 (full).

Students will learn about different plant characteristics, the function of plant parts, and apply their knowledge by labeling parts of plants in our Vegetable Garden.

Idaho Content Standard: 1-LS-1.1

Habitat Investigations 

Grade 2 (full).

Students will learn how to use a tool and apply their observation skills to identify different plants and animals in the Garden based on their similarities and differences.

Idaho Content Standard: 2-LS-2.1

Flower Power

Grade 3 (full).

Students will learn about the parts of a flower involved in reproduction, utilize a microscope, learn about pollinator preferences, and grow the Garden’s collection by planting a flower.

Idaho Content Standard: 3-LS-2.1

Experiential learning outdoors!  

The Idaho Botanical Garden is a nonprofit living museum dedicated to furthering science education and environmental stewardship in the Treasure Valley and beyond. Our goal is to nurture a fascination with the natural world through a variety of hands-on outdoor programs including on-site field trips that meet Idaho Content Standards for K-3rd grade learners.

We are currently offering Facilitated Field Trips for K, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grade learners. * NOTE: Facilitated Field Trips are fully booked, but there are still openings for the Self-Guided Experience!

We can accommodate up to 60 learners per time.

Our 90-minute outdoor programs include three hands-on learning stations, revamped grade-specific STEAM curriculum, and experiential learning in a living museum lead by an IBG facilitator.

New this year, if your group has 25 students or less, please reserve a Self-Guided Experience where an IBG Education Team Member will greet your group and then you explore the Garden on your own. To reserve, view the information below.

Learn more about each option below. 

Getting Here

Bike walk, skate, or carpool. We love our planet and we love it when our guests use alternative forms of transportation. But if driving is a must, here are some directions! 

2355 Old Penitentiary Road Boise, Idaho 83712

Plan your Visit 

To schedule a visit:

View updates to the programming options above.

Complete the online booking form for the option that is best for your group (i.e. Self-Guided or Facilitated Field Trip) to reserve a time for your learners.

Scholarship Opportunities & Funding Assistance

Limited scholarships (including busing reimbursement funds) are available for groups needing financial assistance. Please complete the scholarship form if you or your learners need financial assistance. We will reach out to you with more information. Funding requests will be awarded by the Idaho Botanical Garden based on our commitment to prioritizing providing opportunities to under-served populations and learners.

The Idaho EcosySTEM also has funding options to assist with transportation costs; please see here for information.

Please email [email protected]

Sprouts: All About

Growing - grade k (full).

Students will learn about what plants need to live and grow, investigate compost to see that it is alive, and visit a unique part of the Garden.

Idaho Content Standards: K-LS-1.1 and K-ESS-2.1

National News | FDA reverses marketing ban on JUUL vape products

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National News | FDA reverses marketing ban on JUUL vaping products

The reversal comes nearly two years after the federal health agency ordered JUUL to stop selling products — including its vaping devices as well as its tobacco and menthol-flavored pods.

In June 2022 , the FDA raised concerns over “potentially harmful chemicals” in JUUL’s e-cigarettes and “insufficient and conflicting data” in the company’s applications to sell its products in the United States.

JUUL at the time said it disagreed with the FDA and has long argued its products can help users stop smoking cigarettes.

The ban was paused just a few weeks later, and JUUL products were allowed to remain on store shelves pending the vaping company’s appeal.

Since then , the FDA has “conducted additional substantive review of the applications in a number of disciplines, including toxicology, engineering, social science, and clinical pharmacology,” the agency said in a statement on Thursday.

It has also “gained more experience with various scientific issues regarding e-cigarette products, and there have been new litigation outcomes in cases about [Marketing Denial Orders] for e-cigarette products from other manufacturers,” the FDA added.

The reversal was also in part triggered by a “review of information provided by the applicant.”

The FDA on Thursday also emphasized the recission “is not an authorization or a denial and does not indicate whether the applications are likely to be authorized or denied.” Instead it returns JUUL’s “applications to pending status, under substantive review by the FDA.”

JUUL in a statement to ABC News said they “appreciate the FDA’s decision and now look forward to re-engaging with the agency on a science- and evidence-based process to pursue a marketing authorization for JUUL products.”

It continued: “We remain confident in the quality and substance of our applications and believe that a full review of the science and evidence will demonstrate that our products meet the statutory standard of being appropriate for the protection of public health.”

The vaping company also confirmed its products will remain available during the FDA’s renewed review of its application.

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Biden said American weapons would not be used to strike Moscow and the Kremlin

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden said in an interview Thursday that U.S. weapons would not be used to strike Moscow and the Kremlin as he commemorated the 80th anniversary of D-Day in Normandy.

During an interview with ABC News anchor David Muir, Biden was asked whether American weapons were being used inside Russia. Biden recently authorized Ukraine to use U.S.-supplied weapons to return fire against Russian forces attacking them near the Kharkiv region.

"They're authorized to be used in proximity to the border when they're being used on the other side of the border to attack specific targets in Ukraine," Biden told Muir. "We're not authorizing strikes 200 miles into Russia and we're not authorizing strikes on Moscow, on the Kremlin."

Muir then asked Biden about a statement that Russian President Vladimir Putin made that "the supply of high-precision weapons to Ukraine for strikes on Russian territory is direct participation in this war."

“Does that concern you?” Muir asked.

“I've known him for over 40 years. He's concerned me for 40 years. He's not a decent man," Biden said. "He's a dictator, and he's struggling to make sure he holds his country together while still keeping this assault going.”

“We're not talking about giving them weapons to strike Moscow, to strike the Kremlin, to strike against - just across the border, where they're receiving significant fire from conventional weapons used by the Russians to go into Ukraine to kill…Ukrainians,” he added.

Contributing: Tom Vanden Brook, USA TODAY

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Biden said U.S. weapons would not be used to strike Moscow, Kremlin

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Election latest: Rishi Sunak heckled by GP at the end of 'torrid day'; Nigel Farage accused of 'bigotry' during debate

The latest updates from the general election campaign, as Rishi Sunak is heckled by a GP and Nigel Farage gets stuck in during a televised debate.

Saturday 8 June 2024 01:40, UK

• General Election 2024

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Election news

• New poll reveals what public think about PM leaving D-Day events early
• 'The country is not stupid': Sunak laughs as GP heckles him
• Farage accused of 'bigotry' in TV debate
• Sunak apologises for D-Day decision and admits it was a 'mistake'
• PM says 'it's important we don't politicise this'
• Starmer says PM will 'have to answer for his own actions'
• Unite did not endorse Labour's election manifesto
• Electoral Dysfunction: What could be in the party manifestos?
• Live reporting by Brad Young

Expert analysis

• Rob Powell: It beggars belief someone didn't sound the alarm about PM leaving D-Day events early
• Tamara Cohen: Labour can't believe their luck

Election essentials

• Battle For No 10: PM and Starmer taking part in Sky News special
• Have your say: Be in the audience for our election leaders event
• Campaign Heritage: Memorable moments from elections gone by
• Trackers: Who's leading polls? | Is PM keeping promises?
• Follow Sky's politics podcasts: Electoral Dysfunction | Politics At Jack And Sam's
• Read more: Who is standing down? | Key seats to watch | How to register to vote | What counts as voter ID? | Check if your constituency is changing | Your essential guide to election lingo | Sky's election night plans

Snap findings from a More in Common poll of more than 1,000 viewers of last night's BBC debate suggest Nigel Farage came out on top.

According to the poll results , the audience is most likely to think Reform UK's leader won, with 25% picking him.

Labour's deputy leader Angela Rayner comes in second with 19%.

Just 7% thought Tory Penny Mordaunt won, but 32% believe she'd be a better prime minister than Rishi Sunak - with 12% picking him.

Full Results

• Nigel Farage - 25%
• Angela Rayner - 19%
• None of the above - 14%
• Carla Denyer - 11%
• Stephen Flynn - 10%
• Penny Mordaunt - 7%
• Daisy Cooper - 5%
• Rhun ap Iowerth - 2%
• Don’t know - 8%

Almost half (47%) of 2019 Tory voters watching the debate thought that Mr Farage won the debate, while Ms Rayner leads among 2019 Labour and Lib Dem voters who tuned in.

The poll also shows viewers are most likely to think the SNP's Stephen Flynn (net +31), the Green Party's Carla Denyer (net +31) and the Lib Dem's Daisy Cooper (+30) did well in the debate.

Reform's original candidate for Clacton will stand as an independent against Nigel Farage in the upcoming general election.

Anthony Mack quit Reform after he was replaced by Mr Farage earlier this week to vie for the seat in Essex.

But that hasn't stopped him from trying to win there.

Mr Mack is expected to hold a press conference later today.

Olympic athletes, top musicians and an ex-soap actor are among those standing to become members of parliament at the general election.

The deadline for candidates to submit their nominations passed earlier today.

Notable names on the list include:

• Blur drummer Dave Rowntree, Labour, Mid Sussex
• Double Olympic gold medal rower James Cracknell, Conservative, Colchester
• Rock star Tom Gray from the band Gomez, Labour, Brighton Pavilion
• Former Coronation Street actor Marc Anwar, independent, Bury North
• Gogglebox's Josh Tapper, Labour, Hertfordshire
• Olympian Marc Jenkins, Conservative, Gower

Count Binface has announced he will stand against Rishi Sunak in his Richmond and Northallerton constituency.

Speaking on his podcast, Trash Talk, Binface said it would be like "Fury vs Usyk times a billion" in the July 4 election.

"That's right, I am here right now in Richmond and Northallerton and I can announce that I will be taking on Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in electoral combat on July 4.

"You shirked D-Day Rishi, you can't miss the B-Day.

"That's right. Binface vs Sunak is going to be Fury vs Usyk times a billion. Bring it on."

Binface recently came 11th in the London Mayoral Elections, where he earned 24,260 votes.

It was reported last weekend that allies of Penny Mordaunt claimed Downing Street was keeping her "in a box" during the election campaign because Rishi Sunak's team see her as a threat.

Well, after her barnstorming performance in a TV debate against politicians from six opposition parties, the Leader of the Commons is well and truly out of her box now. And she mustn't be put back in it.

Her opening words in this 90-minute showdown were explosive. The prime minister, she declared, had been "completely wrong" to leave the D-day ceremonies in Normandy early. No pulling of punches there.

She said the PM was wrong, not once, not twice, but three times. No wonder Number 10 see her as a threat. If this was an audition for a leadership bid after the election, her friends will claim she passed with flying colours.

But once she'd dug her black stilettos out of the PM's back with her opening remarks, after that she was relentlessly on message in hammering Labour on its policies on tax, immigration and crime.

She was at her most combative on the Tories' controversial allegation – first made by Rishi Sunak in his TV debate with Sir Keir Starmer on Tuesday – that Labour is planning a £2,000 tax grab if it wins the election.

This attack triggered the most heated clash of the whole debate, when Mordaunt traded blows with Labour's Angela Rayner on tax. It was a shouting match that went on long after presenter Mishal Husain attempted – but failed - to stop them.

It was all the more heated because the pair were standing next to each other at the end of the row of seven leading politicians, including Nigel Farage, the Lib Dems' Daisy Cooper and the SNP's Westminster leader Stephen Flynn.

For the rest of the debate, Rayner was slightly subdued, rather like Sir Keir had been against the PM on Tuesday. Rayner didn't even attack Sunak about D-day at the start. Nor did Daisy Cooper. Like Sir Keir, his deputy needs to raise her game.

Besides Mordaunt, on D-day Farage claimed Sunak had been unpatriotic and Flynn accused the PM of putting his own political career before public service and Normandy war veterans. Strong stuff.

Mordaunt also tore into Rayner over her previous voting record against renewing Trident. And the brightness of Rayner's red dress wasn't matched by a bright performance in the debate, although she improved as the debate went on. Mordaunt, incidentally, wore Thatcher blue. Remind you of anyone?

Throughout the debate, Farage was typically impish. His quips included claiming Starmer was "very dull" and "Blair without the flair". The PM, he joked, was "slippery Sunak". Yes, he's used those jibes before, but the audience enjoyed them.

Stephen Flynn had his good moments, most notably when he condemned Brexit, an attack on the Conservatives and Labour that the audience enjoyed.

But this debate was about Penny Mordaunt. It was her show, despite the large cast list. If she has been kept in a box by Number 10 up to now, the PM's allies will have been delighted on her attacks on Angela Rayner and Labour's policies.

But they won't have appreciated her blunt – and completely unprompted criticism – of the prime minister over the big story of the day, his D-day snub.

It was a story about a blunder of the PM's own making. It wasn't a gaffe, or an accident. It was sheer bad planning, terrible political judgment, embarrassing and highly damaging to Sunak and the Tory election campaign.

That, apparently was, Penny Mordaunt's view. And she said so. Number 10 won't be happy. A threat? You bet.

Foreign Secretary Lord David Cameron has been the victim of a hoax video call and messages from someone claiming to be the former president of Ukraine.

The government said it was making the incident public to stave off any attempts to manipulate footage of Lord Cameron.

The Foreign Office said a "number of text messages were exchanged followed by a brief video call between the foreign secretary and someone purporting to be Petro Poroshenko, former president of Ukraine".

Mr Poroshenko served as Ukrainian president between 2014 and 2019, and has remained a prominent figure in the country since leaving office.

"Whilst the video call clearly appeared to be with Mr Poroshenko, following the conversation the foreign secretary became suspicious," the Foreign Office said, adding contact details for other people were requested by the caller.

"Whilst regretting his mistake, the foreign secretary thinks it important to call out this behaviour and increase efforts to counter the use of misinformation."

Politicians have received repeated warnings in recent months about the growing threat of misinformation and disinformation, especially as artificial intelligence technology improves.

The prime minister is not the only one whose feet are being held to the fire over D-Day 80th anniversary commemorations.

Northern Ireland's first minister has been criticised for not attending, with only the deputy going instead.

DUP leader Gavin Robinson said it had been an opportunity for Michelle O'Neill to act as a first minister for all.

"With men from across the island being remembered, I am disappointed that the deputy first minister was alone in Normandy and the other half of the joint office was absent.

"When we consider how so many from this island have only been able to openly remember their grandparents' war efforts in recent years, this was a missed opportunity for leadership and reconciliation."

He continued: "The first minister should recognise it was a mistake."

Mr Robinson also accused Rishi Sunak of undermining "the authenticity of the speech" he made at the British Normandy Memorial by departing early.

A spokesperson for the Executive Office said: "The Executive Office [TEO] receives many invitations and endeavours to attend as many events as possible.

"TEO is represented by the first minister, deputy first minister and junior ministers.

"This week, TEO was represented at events including the D-Day commemorations; business awards and the Your Time to Shine female leaders celebration event."

Crime is the last theme of the BBC's debate, with one audience member raising the issue of knife crime.

The Green Party's Carla Denyer says not all crime can be tackled by being "tough", explaining a generation of young people have grown up with services like youth centres closing.

Nigel Farage says "stop and search" must be done "in a very tough way".

"We are seeing a societal decline of law and order in this country," he says.

The Liberal Democrats' Daisy Cooper says the model of policing must be changed, with more community policing engaging with families and faith groups.

She says stop and search can be useful, but "suspicion-less" deployment of it has been used to target people.

Penny Mordaunt, the Conservatives Commons leader, says knife crime in London is "top of the list", but the host points out the West Midlands has a higher rate.

"We need more police and we need police who are embedded in communities," she says.

Labour's Angela Rayner says education and reversing cuts to neighbourhood policing is needed.

Rhun ap Iorwerth, of Plaid Cymru, says decision-making should be made closer to communities, calling for more devolution.

Stephen Flynn, of the Scottish National Party, says tackling poverty as a driver of crime is required, and those in poverty have been failed by the government.

The final 30 second concluding statements are under way. Angela Rayner goes first. "If you want change, vote Labour," she says, though it's as though she's memorising a script rather than talking with passion.

Carla Denyer, of the Greens, says Labour are offering more of the same and Labour has changed into the Tories. She got better as the debate went on. Iorwerth is lively and will have done his party some good here.

Penny Mordaunt is polished. "For a more secure future, vote Conservative," she says. She's been class here and shows why for the Tories, she's an underused asset. Daisy Cooper mentions sewage in rivers for the first time this evening. Why so late?

The last word goes to Nigel Farage, who says that unlike the others he doesn't need an autocue. He's right about that. He's been impish throughout, clearly enjoying himself. We'll see a lot more of him in this campaign. That's why he became party leader, of course!

We're staying with the BBC's seven-way political debate between senior figures in the UK's political parties.

"What matters to you more: Economic growth or successful climate policy?" asks an audience member.

Mr Farage says climate policies like net zero are unrealistic and unaffordable. 

"Nigel is going to keep your fact-checkers busy for a little while. Farage has been misleading you... so much of what he said there is simply untrue," says the Greens' Carla Denyer.

She criticises Labour for dropping a £28bn green investment  pledge earlier this year.

Labour's Angela Rayner says there will be investment including insulating homes and creating green jobs, but oil and gas will be part of the future.

The SNP's Stephen Flynn says Westminster is betraying future generations and his party maintains its commitment to net zero.

"We are facing an ecological emergency", and economic growth can come with tackling it, says the Liberal Democrats, calling for a national insulation scheme.

"Nothing is more important than protecting the environment that you will be living in in future," says Plaid Cymru's Rhun ap Iorwerth.

The Conservatives' Penny Mordaunt says moving to green policies too quickly will "destroy supply chains".

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After Trump’s Conviction, a National Enquirer Editor Sends His Regrets

For Barry Levine, a former top journalist at the supermarket tabloid, the former president’s trial was its own kind of tear-jerker.

• Share full article

By Jacob Bernstein

Even before former President Donald J. Trump was convicted on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records to conceal a sex scandal, a verdict was being delivered on The National Enquirer .

The no-holds-barred supermarket tabloid was once famous for publishing salacious stories about celebrities and politicians. Now it may be better known for suppressing them.

“It’s just a tragedy for the paper,” said Barry Levine, the publication’s former executive editor, sitting in the living room of his one-bedroom apartment in Manhattan on a recent morning.

Was he being overly dramatic? Perhaps.

Even among those who consider it a guilty pleasure, The Enquirer can hardly be described as a national treasure. But try telling that to Mr. Levine, a swashbuckling journalist who worked there from 1999 until 2016 and whose professional and personal identity was shaped by it.

“I grew up with the romantic vision of ‘The Front Page,’ the press cards and hats, the larger than life personalities of Fleet Street reporters who did whatever they had to do to get the story,” Mr. Levine said. “I was in love with that type of journalism — and I found it at The National Enquirer.”

Long before it became known as a protector of Mr. Trump, the tabloid reported aggressively on politicians on both sides of the aisle, including Jesse Jackson and Sarah Palin.

Mr. Levine helped secure The Enquirer some mainstream respectability, thanks to a series of scoops on John Edwards , a Democrat who was at one point a serious contender in the 2008 presidential race.

On Mr. Levine’s watch, The Enquirer plowed hundreds of thousands of dollars into an aggressive investigation of Mr. Edwards, with some of that money going to anonymous tipsters and sources who said that the candidate’s squeaky-clean image was misleading.

In October 2007, the tabloid broke the news that Mr. Edwards had been involved in an affair with Rielle Hunter, a videographer on the campaign staff, while his wife suffered from an incurable form of cancer. Mr. Edwards at first dismissed the story as “completely untrue” and “ridiculous.”

After Ms. Hunter gave birth to a daughter, the tabloid delivered more scoops beneath gleeful headlines : “John Edwards Love Child Scandal!”; “John Edwards With Love Child! The Photos Everyone’s Been Waiting For”; “John Edwards Mistress Demands He Pay Love Child $10 Million”; “John Edwards’ Wife Tells Mistress, ‘I Hope You Die!’ Their Secret Showdown.”

The Enquirer’s coverage helped knock Mr. Edwards out of the race . It also paved the way for a criminal prosecution in which he was charged with federal campaign finance violations for payments to Ms. Hunter, a case that ended without a conviction.

The tabloid’s reporting on Mr. Edwards won new respect for a publication that had been derided as a bottom feeder in news media circles. All that collapsed, Mr. Levine said, during four days of testimony in a Manhattan courtroom in April. That was when David Pecker , the former publisher of The Enquirer, described under oath his efforts to help Mr. Trump suppress stories seen as damaging to his 2016 campaign.

Mr. Pecker told prosecutors that he had bought two stories and never published them, deploying the strategy known among tabloid hands as “catch and kill.” One of those stories came from a Trump building doorman who had heard a false rumor that Mr. Trump had fathered a child out of wedlock; the other was from a former Playboy model who said she had had an affair with Mr. Trump.

When Mr. Trump was slow to kick in for the cost of those cover-ups, Mr. Pecker declined to “catch and kill” a third Trump story — Stormy Daniels’s account of her sexual encounter with him in 2006. (Mr. Trump denies the encounter.)

“‘I am not a bank,’” Mr. Pecker recalled saying to Michael Cohen, Mr. Trump’s former fixer.

The testimony made Mr. Levine cringe, partly because it coincided with the financial downturn of the publication he loved — a change in fortune that is less debatable than the supposed loss of its moral compass.

The publication became a nationwide hit under a previous owner, Generoso Pope Jr. , who took the New York Enquirer, a New York City tabloid, and transformed it into The National Enquirer, a sensationalist supermarket staple. And in addition to running tales of extraterrestrials’ abducting human beings, it published a front-page photo of Elvis Presley lying in his coffin .

Mr. Levine noted that when he joined The Enquirer in 1999, its average weekly sales were slightly north of two million. Last year, the number was around 56,000. The Enquirer’s parent company has been trying to unload the tabloid since 2019; two deals have fallen through.

“There’s still a small population of people who are willing to plunk down the money to buy The Enquirer at the supermarket,” Mr. Levine said. “But the history I was part of is destroyed.”

The tabloid’s involvement in the political sphere came fully to light in 2018, when its owner, American Media Inc., admitted to federal prosecutors , as part of a non-prosecution agreement, that it had aided the Trump campaign by publishing articles favorable to the candidate and burying stories that might make him look bad.

But for Mr. Levine, the testimony of Mr. Pecker was the thing that guaranteed the tabloid could never regain the reputation it had built in its finest hours. “I don’t know how you can ever get that back,” Mr. Levine said, “particularly now, in light of the statements David Pecker made on the stand.”

On a nearby side table was a framed photograph of Mr. Levine with Elaine Kaufman , who died in 2010. Ms. Kaufman’s restaurant, Elaine’s , lay just a few blocks from Mr. Levine’s apartment on the Upper East Side, and he was a regular there, along with media luminaries such as David Halberstam, Pete Hamill, Gay Talese and Tom Wolfe.

In Mr. Levine’s bedroom, the walls were lined with framed articles about him and The Enquirer — many of them glowing — from mainstream news outlets including New York, Talk and The New York Times.

“Two in one year,” he said.

Several times during our 90-minute conversation, he mentioned that The Enquirer’s articles on Mr. Edwards had earned a Pulitzer Prize nomination. And just in case I had missed it, there was a framed drawing on yellow construction paper by his daughter that said in big black letters: “Pulitzer Prize Finalist.”

Never mind that Mr. Levine was stretching the truth, which was that the Pulitzer board had determined in 2010 that The Enquirer was merely eligible to submit its articles for consideration. The publication received no nominations in the end.

Ah, well. Who can blame a tabloid journalist for a little embellishment?

Mr. Levine, who grew up in Levittown, Penn., became besotted with journalism as a child when he would gaze at the famous faces — Elvis Presley, Elizabeth Taylor, John Lennon — on the covers of the magazines scattered across his parents’ coffee table.

At Temple University, he edited the student paper, The Temple News, and mimicked guys like the street-tough columnist Jimmy Breslin by puffing on cigars and sneaking into bars while still under the legal drinking age. He figured that if he was brave enough to enter, bartenders would serve him.

And did they?

“Of course.”

In 1976, during his freshman year, the first “King Kong” remake came out to much hype, and Mr. Levine hatched an idea for his first episode in stunt journalism: “Me and my buddies called the local papers to say l was going to climb city hall in a gorilla suit.”

After an evening spent in a tavern, Mr. Levine stepped into the costume, only to find he was in no shape to scale a building. Nevertheless, he got his picture in The Philadelphia Daily News the next day.

As a college senior, he worked nights as an office assistant at The Associated Press. From there he put in stints as a reporter at The Syracuse Post-Standard and The Baltimore News-American. It was a time of clanking typewriters, cigar chomping and whiskey, he recalled.

After the News-American folded, Mr. Levine ended up at The Star, a supermarket tabloid whose owner at the time, Rupert Murdoch had positioned it as grittier than People magazine and less antagonistic than The Enquirer.

Mr. Levine recalled accompanying the boxer Mike Tyson to Moscow shortly after his marriage to the actress Robin Givens. At the time she was shooting the ABC sitcom “Head of the Class,” and a plotline involved the students heading to Russia for a debate.

“Their marriage was on the rocks, and Mike was having all kinds of issues,” Mr. Levine said.

Ten days into the trip, the inquisitive reporter found himself at odds with the heavyweight champ.

“Mike dragged me to a stairwell and had me by the arms, and he said, ‘I could throw you over and because you’re American the Russians won’t care,’” Mr. Levine said. “All I could think was, ‘If he doesn’t throw me over, I have a great story.’ The lede was ‘To Russia without love,’ and then I wrote a sidebar, ‘My One-Round Fight With Mike Tyson.’”

In 1991, Mr. Levine headed a team of 15 reporters and photographers who sneaked onto Michael Jackson’s Neverland Ranch to cover Ms. Taylor’s wedding to the construction worker Larry Fortensky.

The centerpiece of Mr. Levine’s battle plan was the launching of a hot-air balloon, with a reporter and a photographer in the basket. It would float closer to the action than any plane or helicopter and thus would come up with the world’s best aerial shot of Mr. Jackson walking Ms. Taylor down the aisle.

“I hired this fly-by-night team who set up the balloon in this wooded area,” Mr. Levine said. “The winds were terrible, and the reporter Kate Caldwell and the photographer, whose name I forget, got in the basket. It got caught on some trees, which punctured a hole in the balloon and sent it down to earth in slow motion.”

The entrepreneurial zeal shown by Mr. Levine helped land him a job in 1992 as the managing editor of “A Current Affair,” a pioneering tabloid TV show that featured exhaustive coverage of O.J. Simpson’s murder trial and the Long Island shooting of Mary Jo Buttafuoco by Amy Fisher, the mistress of her husband, Joey Buttafuoco .

In 1999, when Mr. Levine landed at The Enquirer as its New York bureau chief, he stated that he would not rest until every limo driver and personal assistant in the city were funneling celebrity dirt to him and his reporters.

Politicians became a regular part of his beat. In 2001, he worked on the story of Jesse Jackson fathering a love child with Karin Stanford, an employee at his nonprofit, the Rainbow Coalition. What’s more, Mr. Levine and his team uncovered evidence that Mr. Jackson had used the organization’s funds to provide her with child support.

If the story seemed sleazy, the financial component gave Mr. Levine the sense he was doing valuable work. So did the fact that The Enquirer was pursuing scoops about Republicans and Democrats alike.

In 2008, Senator John McCain secured the Republication nomination for president and announced that Sarah Palin, then the governor of Alaska, would be his running mate. Days after the announcement, The Enquirer was about to report that the vice-presidential candidate’s teenage daughter was five months pregnant — but Ms. Palin headed off the tabloid’s scoop by announcing the news herself.

At the same time, an Enquirer team was still working the John Edwards “love child” story. When Mr. Edwards visited the baby at the Beverly Hilton in Los Angeles, the tabloid’s reporters and photographers confronted him in the lobby . And when he bounded into the men’s room and bolted the door, they hollered questions from the hall.

In the years after that high point, the supermarket tabloid business deteriorated as the news cycle sped up. Instead of going to war with a new rival, TMZ, or giving Mr. Levine the money to open a Washington bureau (which he was hoping for), Mr. Pecker followed a course of slowing revenue declines by increasing the issue price.

In 2016, Mr. Levine made his exit. “I wanted to write books,” he said. With Monique El-Faizy, he wrote “All the President’s Women,” a 2019 book centered on Mr. Trump’s alleged affairs. One topic not touched on in its pages was Mr. Trump’s dealings with Mr. Pecker and The Enquirer.

Mr. Levine said he wanted to focus on a straightforward account of Mr. Trump’s interactions and relationships with women. Moreover, he said, Ronan Farrow had already revealed details about the arrangement between Mr. Pecker and Mr. Trump in The New Yorker.

But he acknowledged another reason for the omission — the little matter of his own catch-and-kill with his former employer.

“I did sign an N.D.A.,” he said.

Jacob Bernstein is a reporter for the Styles desk. In addition to writing profiles of fashion designers, artists and celebrities, he has focused much of his attention on L.G.B.T. issues, philanthropy and the world of furniture design. More about Jacob Bernstein

Our Coverage of the Trump Hush-Money Trial

Guilty Verdict : Donald Trump was convicted on all 34 counts  of falsifying records to cover up a sex scandal that threatened his bid for the White House in 2016, making him the first American president to be declared a felon .

What Happens Next: Trump’s sentencing hearing on July 11 will trigger a long and winding appeals process , though he has few ways to overturn the decision .

Reactions: Trump’s conviction reverberated quickly across the country  and around the world . Here’s what voters , New Yorkers , Republicans , Trump supporters  and President Biden  had to say.

The Presidential Race : The political fallout of Trump’s conviction is far from certain , but the verdict will test America’s traditions, legal institutions and ability to hold an election under historic partisan tension .

Making the Case: Over six weeks and the testimony of 20 witnesses, the Manhattan district attorney’s office wove a sprawling story  of election interference and falsified business records.

Legal Luck Runs Out: The four criminal cases that threatened Trump’s freedom had been stumbling along, pleasing his advisers. Then his good fortune expired .