Out of the Box Teaching

Includes a comprehensive list of out-of-the-box teaching information about virtual field trips, including grade-level and subject-specific recommendations that teachers across content areas have found effective in their classrooms. Editor’s Note (April 2025)

Virtual Field Trips: Expanding Classroom Horizons Without Leaving School

The Power of Digital Exploration

In today’s educational landscape, virtual field trips have become an invaluable resource for teachers. These digital journeys help enrich curriculum without the logistical challenges of physical excursions. Students can explore ancient ruins of Rome, dive into ocean trenches, or visit space exploration facilities – all with just a few clicks.

Benefits Beyond the Classroom

Virtual field trips offer more than just budget and time-saving advantages. Moreover, they democratize access to educational experiences for all students. Consequently, children in rural or underfunded districts can explore the same world-class institutions as their peers elsewhere. Additionally, with ready-made lesson plans and interactive elements, these digital adventures capture students’ imagination while deepening their understanding across subjects.

Innovation Through Unintended Uses

Did you know that text messaging was first invented by cell phone carriers? They created it merely to notify customers about network problems. Yet, people soon discovered that text messages worked well as a social tool. Interestingly, that’s how our modern texting culture began.

I enjoy finding how products become popular through “unintended uses.” For instance, consider Scotch tape art. As a teacher, you likely use this clear sticky tape often in your classroom. However, someone creatively repurposed it to make sculpture art!

Reimagining Classroom Activities

When I asked myself, “How can I create more out of the box teaching?,” I realized how innovation requires us to embrace fresh ideas. Therefore, I’ve collected some approaches that have worked well in my classroom:

• Have students perform a play about what they’re learning. Everyone will be laughing and having fun acting out grammar rules, human anatomy, or geometry!
• Go on a virtual field trip to explore the world.
• Get creative and assign a hands-on project that students can do from anywhere!

Recommended Virtual Field Trips for Out of the Box Teaching by Grade Level

Elementary School

Engaging Young Minds Virtually

For younger students, engaging visuals and interactive elements work especially well. First of all, these formats match their learning preferences. Additionally, many teachers report that virtual experiences build vocabulary and background knowledge effectively. As a result, students grasp concepts in ways traditional lessons cannot achieve.

Science & Nature Exploration

• Amazon Career Tours offers free virtual field trips with teacher toolkits. Each tour includes guides and worksheets about healthcare innovations.
• The Great Salt Lake virtual tour provides downloadable teacher guides. These include vocabulary lists and focused activities.
• Children’s Museum Houston creates 3D virtual field trips featuring hands-on activities. These cover topics like nutrition, math, and states of matter.

History & Social Studies

• The “Museum of We the People” at the Constitution Center serves as a comprehensive resource for civic education with an interactive Constitution section.
• Plimoth Patuxet> enables students to travel back to the 17th century with on-demand digital resources or live virtual programs led by museum educators.

Art & Culture

• Amsterdam’s Van Gogh Museum offers glimpses of their extensive collection with free printable educational bundles.

Middle School

Middle school educators frequently mention how virtual field trips help connect abstract concepts to real-world applications, making learning more relevant for their students.

Science & Technology

• The Hidden Worlds of National Parks tour takes students through Kenai Fjords, Hawaii Volcanoes, Carlsbad Caverns, and other natural wonders.
• NASA’s Johnson Space Center provides behind-the-scenes tours with educator guides that align with curriculum standards.

Social Studies

• Georgia Department of Transportation hosts interactive field trips across Georgia while incorporating road safety lessons.
• Ellis Island Virtual Field Trip by Scholastic offers an immersive historical experience with text, audio, video, and photos, plus teacher activities.

Arts & Music

• World-class Performing Arts Venues allow students to virtually visit Carnegie Hall, The Colosseum in Rome, and The Sydney Opera House.

High School

High school teachers report that career-focused virtual experiences are particularly valuable out of the box teaching strategies for helping students envision possible futures and understand real-world applications.

Career Education

• Amazon Prime Video Sports shows how computer science and media professionals work together to broadcast sports to millions of fans.
• Amazon Music: Careers Behind the Beats demonstrates how technology and creative professionals collaborate in the music industry.
• Chick-fil-A Backstage Virtual Tour offers insights into business models, corporate culture, and entrepreneurship.

Science & Technology

• Discovery Education’s Virtual Field Trips take students behind the scenes of automotive technology, conservation research, and other cutting-edge fields.

Resources for All Grade Levels

Customizable Platforms for Every Classroom

Many experienced teachers recommend starting with versatile platforms. These allow you to customize experiences based on your curriculum needs.

Search-Friendly Out of the Box Teaching with Virtual Trip Collections

• Nearpod VR Field Trips Library lets you search by subject, grade, or standard. Therefore, finding relevant content becomes much easier.
• VirtualFieldTrips.org enables browsing by grade, topic, or location. Furthermore, it includes ready-to-use worksheets.
• Google Arts & Culture connects you to 500+ museums worldwide. Consequently, you can find curriculum connections across subjects.

Interactive 3D Exploration Tools

• Google Earth lets students “fly” anywhere globally. Moreover, they can explore cities in 3D or create guided tours.
• AirPano and 360Cities offer immersive 360-degree views. These can be enhanced with your own prompts.

Creating Out-of-the-Box Learning Experiences

Repurposing Educational Activities

Can you develop “unintended” ways to use activities, projects, or crafts in teaching? Rather than following standard approaches, try something new. Besides, our students typically enjoy anything that doesn’t resemble traditional schoolwork!

Real Teacher Success Story

Ashley Mckenzie, a former first-grade teacher, encourages making virtual experiences more engaging: “If your students are taking a virtual field trip to the pyramids of Egypt, you can create mock airline tickets and have your students pretend to board a plane.” She even suggests giving students paper passports at the start of the year to record all the places they visit virtually.

Some food for thought regarding out of the box teaching:

• What are some creative ideas that you have implemented or come across in your teaching career?
• Do your students love out of the box lessons? Why or why not?

Virtual field trips are one of my favorite out-of-the-box teaching activities! Learn more about Virtual Field Trips and define what the experience is for you and your students with this online continuing education class.

About the Author
Ellen Paxton is a respected expert in education and best known as the Chief Learning Officer of Professional Learning Board. As a two-time National Board Certified Teacher, Ellen has successfully published and customized online professional development courses and Learning Management Systems for 20 years to help teachers meet their state continuing education renewal credit requirements. Through ProfessionalLearningBoard.com, RenewaTeachingLicense.com, and ConnectedPD.com. Ellen has established solutions and maintained partnerships with several accredited universities, higher education institutions, teachers’ unions and state Departments of Education while setting strategic direction that makes a difference and overseeing implementation of popular online PD.