#Field Trip Fails

By now, you might think (thanks to the bias of the internet) that every single one of my homeschool field trips is a smashing success. A magical memory. An internet illusion.

So, to dispel the fallacy of my field-trip infallibility, I thought I would share with you three of our family’s recent “field trip failures.” Hopefully these Mis-Adventures in Pennsylvania will encourage you that you don’t need to have a perfect field trip—we all have “those kinds of days”—so just get out there and see what our state has to offer!

Fort Pitt Museum

The Fort Pitt Museum in downtown Pittsburgh is a fabulous and incredibly educational museum focusing on the Pittsburgh region prior to the American Revolution. My husband and I loved the museum and learned so much; it really helped us to create connections between the earliest pioneers, the French and Indian War (or Seven Years’ War), and the taxes that ultimately sparked the American Revolution.

But there is so much reading that our young kids lost interest quickly. No amount of us exclaiming, “Wow! Listen to this!” or “Let me read this to you” could sway this field trip to an educational success for our children. In fact, in their attempts to entertain themselves while we read, they were scolded by the docent for being too loud.

There was, however, one part of the museum which my children loved so much that we did take them back to the Fort Pitt Museum (although a year older, there was still too much reading): a downstairs play area where your younger ones could reenact history with a tent, cannon, wooden rifles, and a little imagination. Not only can you touch the cannon in the downstairs area of the Fort Pitt Museum, but you can actually read instructions on how to (pretend to) accurately load, fire, and clean it. So, the Fort Pitt Museum is a fabulous venue…but it may be a better trip when the children are a little older.

Andy Warhol Museum

I will start this field trip failure with a confession: I don’t get Warhol. I felt guilty about my ignorance when a friend told me that Warhol’s art conveyed “some message about consumerism that would appeal to [me]” (an aspiring minimalist). So, when the Andy Warhol Museum was free for one month in 2023, I took my children with the intent to finally understand and be enlightened.

I didn’t do any reading or research before visiting; I thought it would be best to ask the docents to explain what Warhol’s message was so that we could appreciate his work as we explored. Well, I did just that…and the docent looked at me for a few moments and finally said, “You’ll have to decide for yourself.”

Left to fend for ourselves, we learned that Andy Warhol refined the blotted line technique and did a lot of screen-printing…but felt sorely disappointed to learn that those screens were made by a company. Some rooms were dedicated to film and photography, but I found myself looking ahead and turning my children away.[1] And in the infamous room with floating silver pillows, my kids were so excited that they didn’t quite get the “one finger touch” rule…so I was anxiously rushing them out before the docent scolded them.

For us, this trip proved a failure because at the end of the Andy Warhol Museum, no one could find something they had enjoyed or an artwork they liked and we still didn’t understand why Andy Warhol was considered a famous artist. Maybe this museum will be a success for you if you are more knowledgeable about modern art or if your family has the collective patience to take a tour of the galleries…and maybe then you could bring us and help us to see!

The Renaissance Festival

Coming in as my Number 1 All-Time Field Trip Failure: the Renaissance Festival in West Newton. The Renaissance Festival is an annual event in southwestern Pennsylvania that I assumed was a tribute to the Middle Ages and Renaissance periods of history. We got our kids all pumped up for a really long car ride across some beautiful farm scenery to immerse ourselves in what we assumed would be living history…

If you are feeling inspired right now to attend the Renaissance Festival, there are some things I think you should know: first, my assessment is that this event is more like a fantasy festival than historical reenactment. Would you like to buy a special crystal to give your magic wand powers? Found that vendor. Many festival patrons dress up, too, again mostly focused on fanciful elements like elves, fairies, Viking rock bands, and belly dancers. Having the right understanding of what it is and what it isn’t is probably critical to whether you will classify this as a success or a failure of a field trip. But you should also know that I have a homeschooling friend who takes her kids because she knows exactly what to do and see and what to avoid.

It also behooves me to give you a warning about the entertainment you’ll find at the event. Despite attending during Children’s Weekend, we didn’t find many child-appropriate shows.[2] There were the jousting demos and a wildlife agency’s educational bird show that we enjoyed a lot. However, in filling the time between those shows, we found ourselves profoundly grateful that most of the adult humor, political commentary, and innuendo went over our children’s heads. We learned quickly to take a seat in the back of the audience where we could sneak back out if we realized the show was not something we wanted our children to see. It’s not a field trip we expect to repeat…in fact, we would suggest the drive to Baltimore to visit Medieval Times if you want to see jousting–but if you go, here’s to hoping your Renaissance Festival experience is a success![3]

Have you ever had a field trip failure and wondered how God could make it all turn out for good (Romans 8:28)? Well, these field trips may have not gone the way we wanted, but He still works through them. If our children had been older and had noticed the things that displeased us, it would have given us the opportunity to talk to them about how God created a beautiful world, how sin marred it, and how Jesus came to redeem us so that we can be a new creation. It could have given us the chance to say that every person everywhere is made in God’s image and loved deeply by God, regardless of how they see themselves or how they see others, regardless of how they act or what they say. If we had given voice to our disappointments in these field trips by complaining, it would have given us the opportunity to explore our own heart attitudes and seek forgiveness and reconciliation. Some of these trips provide us with opportunities for second chances (like the Fort Pitt Museum), opportunities for better preparation (like the Andy Warhol Museum), and opportunities for redirection (like the Renaissance Festival).

But maybe, most of all, field trip failures provide us the opportunity to live in grace. There is so much pressure on us as parents and as homeschoolers, as people who are taking the road less traveled. How often do we hold ourselves (or our field trips…or any other aspect of our schooling) to unattainable standards and then beat ourselves up when we (or our field trips…or any other aspect of our schooling) don’t measure up? As we move through another school year, let’s take a moment to remember that there is grace for us to accept when things didn’t go well (for any reason) and to continue living and growing and thriving through the One who makes all things possible.

[1] I don’t mind nudity in classical art e.g., David, The Birth of Venus…but I didn’t feel that the revealing pictures in the Warhol Museum were artistic. This is something you have to decide for your family and stay ahead of your children if you go. 

[2] Of course, any of the Renaissance Festival shows could change and become more or less child appropriate in future performances. And of course, maybe we just had the worst luck filling the time between the jousts.

[3] We have not attended an evening public performance at Medieval Times, but we did benefit from the homeschool discount available for their Friday schooltime performances. The student-focused performance we attended provided the medieval jousting that my kids desired and a storyline about chivalry and bullying.