Old Tavern Farm Field Trips

Here at Old Tavern Farm, we’re excited to give students the opportunity to see where food comes from and witness the knowledge, hard work, and dedication required to make it grow!

Too often, kids are disconnected from nature and real food and have yet to find the wonder in being outside witnessing and experiencing science, health, history, and math in the magical way they come together on a farm!

We are delighted to offer field trips that reinforce Virginia Standards of Learning (SOLs) and ignite joy and excitement in students, teachers, and caregivers.

We schedule field trips from mid-April through November on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Field trips are $12 per student and $6 per chaperone. Teachers, bus drivers, and support staff are free. A non-refundable $75 deposit is required upon confirmation of the field trip. Groups must be 20-40 students. We have a mandatory chaperone ratio of at least 1 adult for every 7 children.

Our field trips last approximately 90 minutes not including lunch and playscape time. Groups can expect to spend 2-2 ½ hours at the farm. Morning field trips arrive at 9:30 a.m. and depart by noon Afternoon field trips arrive at 12:30 p.m. and depart by 3:00 p.m.

All trips include a walking tour of the farm, lunch space in our shady pavilion or picnic tables on the lawn, and access to our Imagination Farm Playscape.

We have several field trip options to choose from that can be adapted for different grade levels or curricula.

1.  A Day on the veggie farm

- hands-on plant parts or life-cycle activity

- scavenger hunt during the tour

- plant seeds

- take home the planting

2.  Wellness on the farm

- lesson on the benefits and dangers of sun on the farm

- identify different produce and learn the nutritional benefits of each during the tour

- taste a variety of seasonal produce

-farm souvenir

3.  Math on the farm

- discuss how math is used on the farm during the tour

- comparing, sorting, weighing produce activity

- non-standard units measuring activity

-farm souvenir

4.  Flowers and bugs on the farm

- Insect identification & pollination activity

- explore flowers and flowering crops during the tour

- take home a flower

5.  History on the farm

- lesson on the Chickahominy Tribe, the early farmers of New Kent

- discussion about the history of and changes in agriculture during the tour

- a tour of antique farm equipment

-farm souvenir

6.  Animals on the farm

-lesson and activity about domestic vs. wild animals

-Discussion about animal habitats, what they need to survive, and their role on the farm

-visit and feed goats, pigs, and chickens during the tour

-farm souvenir

7.  Conservation on the farm

-lesson and activity about water and soil conservation

-discussion about conservation methods used during the farm during the tour

-Composting activity

-farm souvenir

The following SOLs are reinforced through our field trips.

Science: K.1, K.2, K.4, K.6, K.7, K.9, K.10, K.11, 1.1, 1.4, 1.5, 1.7, 1.8, 2.1, 2.4, 2.5, 2.7, 2.8, 3.1, 3.4, 3.5, 3.6, 3.8, 4.1, 4.3, 4.4, 4.5, 4.8, 5.1, 5.8, 6.1, 6.8, LS.4, LS.5, LS.6, LS.7, LS.8, BIO.8, ES.6, ES.8

History/Social Science: K.2, K.6, 1.5, 2.3, 2.9

Health: K.1, K.2, K.3, 1.2, 1.3, 2.1, 3.1, 4.2, 4.3, 5.1, 6.1, 7.1, 7.2, 7.3, 8.1, 8.2, 8.3, 9.1, 9.2, 9.3, 10.1, 10.2

Math: K.2, K.12, 1.10, 1.13, 2.8, 3.8, 4.8, 5.8