Homeschool field trips with a game built in
One of the best things about homeschooling is that the lesson can happen anywhere: a creek, a nature center, an old main street. Let's Tingo turns a field trip into a game of bingo. You build a board of things to find, everyone gets their own board from the same list, and the first to fill five in a row calls a Tingo.
It gives homeschool field trips a list of real things to look for, so there's always something waiting at the next stop.
A field trip built from your own lesson
Pick a game type, tell Let's Tingo you're studying pond life this month and heading to a nature center, and it builds a list of finds from that: a tadpole, a dragonfly, a cattail. Keep the good ones, reword the rest to match the words you've been using in your lessons, and add your own.
The finds can follow whatever you're teaching. If you've been reading about birds, you can put a woodpecker and a heron on the board. If it's local history, a historical marker and an old train depot will send everyone looking at the buildings.
Homeschool nature study, one find at a time
Pick a camera game and every find needs a photo. The photo stays with the find for the whole group to see, so after a morning at the creek, the board holds a picture of everything the kids found. It's a good place to start the next day's nature study.
Make it a timed game, set it to end on the last day of the term, and the same board can carry a whole unit. Every outing fills in a few more squares, and whoever has the most Tingos when it ends wins.
Name a prize when you set it up, like choosing the next field trip, and everyone sees what they're playing for.
Outdoor learning activities for a family of every age
Homeschooling families often teach more than one age at once, and looking for things works at every age. The youngest can spot the tadpoles while the oldest tracks down the fossil, and the whole family works through the same list together.
In most games, finds are shared, so when anyone spots something, it shows up on every board that has it.
Homeschool field trip ideas to get your board started
These are the kind of finds that make good homeschool field trips. Use them, change them, or let Let's Tingo suggest its own from what you tell it. For other occasions, browse more scavenger hunt ideas.
At the creek and pond
- Tadpole
- Dragonfly
- Cattail
- Lily pad
- Water strider
- Heron
- Turtle on a log
- Minnows
- Smooth stone
- Frog eggs
- Duckweed
- Beaver dam
In the woods and fields
- Oak leaf
- Maple seed
- Animal track
- Woodpecker
- Lichen
- Moss on a rock
- Mushroom
- Milkweed
- Monarch caterpillar
- Bird's nest
- Fossil
- Wild turkey
Around town
- Historical marker
- Old courthouse
- Fire station
- Post office
- Public library
- Farm stand
- Barn quilt
- Covered bridge
- Grist mill
- Train depot
- Cornerstone date
- Statue
Get your field trip ready
Build the board the night before, and share it over breakfast. The same game works for a nature scavenger hunt on a weekend hike, a neighborhood scavenger hunt on the walk around the block, and an indoor scavenger hunt when the weather keeps you home.
Joining a game is always free, in the app or in a browser. Plenty of games are free to make, too.