Field Trip...

to Home Depot!

 If you have never done it, you need to. This was my second year doing it and it is so much fun. Home Depot nationwide offers the program, but I think they all do it a little differently. Last year when I planned our trip our local store hadn't done a large  group before (they had done very small groups and we brought close to 90!). So the manager and I worked out what things we would like to do. This year they had tweeked it just a little and it went great. They had 4 stations plus a snack, so each of our 4 classes were doing something, no one was just sitting waiting. My class started with the aprons. Every child gets to decorate an apron like the ones employees wear. I had one cutie draw tools all over his!

Then we moved on to the craft. Last year we built a planter. This year they didn't have enough wood projects leftover from their Saturday workshop so  they had materials for us to make crowns from paper plates. The kids thought it was great. We took our Webkinz class pet with us (he goes everywhere with us!) and they made him a crown also!

After we had our crowns and aprons the store manager took us on a tour of the store. We saw the greenhouse and talked about all different kinds of plants and things you need to make plants grown. Then we went through the lights and ceiling fans (which fascinated the kids) to the carpet. They got to see how the store stores and cuts those big rolls of carpet. We headed up to the front of the store where we saw the seasonal stuff and the kids talked about mowing. We visited customer service and talked about their job. They taught us about a cashier and the lights above the station and what it means for it to be on, flashing, or off. We watched them mix some paint to make a color, and we watched them cut some wood.

They are so kid friendly. They taught them a Home Depot cheer and encouraged them to scream! They even provided us with a snack and bottle of water before we left. They take a picture of all 69 of us from above and the kids loved that, but the especially loved when he wanted them to do a silly face for it! They loved it and had a great time. Home Depot makes it so easy for us as teachers and it is a very family friendly field trip, as they encourage as many parents as possible to come in order to help with the crafts. Did I mention the best part, this field trip was FREE! All we had to pay for was the school bus to get there!

This was so much fun. So what is your favorite field trip?!