Bring the Class to Us
Field Trips
Welcome to the Food + Farm Exploration Center! Our mission is to educate current and future generations about agricultural innovation and sustainability through experiential learning. We strive to create a community rich in agricultural literacy and innovation through programming that will excite, engage and promote agriculture.
School Groups
Our field trip experiences will give your students an incredible opportunity to connect with agriculture in an entirely new way. There have been several changes to our field trip policies, please read the Field Trip Guide carefully before requesting a field trip.
Homeschool Groups
We have several different policies for homeschool groups. If you are interested in booking a field trip as a homeschool group, please read the Homeschool Guide and submit a request for a homeschool trip.
Youth Groups
If you are part of a youth group such as Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, 4-H, etc. please contact us directly to make arrangements for your visit. Please email education@fftf.us or call 715-972-2592.
Girl Scout Badge and Patch Programs
The Food + Farm Exploration Center is proud to offer Girl Scouts the opportunity to earn badges while exploring our center. We offer programs for girls to earn badges in STEM and Life Skills. These robotics badge programs have a minimum requirement of 5 girls and a maximum of 10. The cooking badges have a minimum of 5 girls. The cost of each program is listed on a per girl basis. If you are interested in scheduling a badge or patch experience please contact Jenn Scott at jscott@fftf.us or 715-972-2597.
We are currently offering these programs:
Badges
Brownies Badges:
Robotics Badge 1: Programming Robots ($7)
Robotics Badge 2: Designing Robots ($7)
Cooking: Snacks Badge ($10)
Junior Badges:
Robotics Badge 1: Programming Robots ($7)
Cooking: Simple Meals Badge ($10)
Cadette Badges:
Robotics Badge 1: Programming Robots ($7)
Cooking: New Cuisine Badge ($10)
Senior Badge:
Cooking Badge: Locavore ($10)
Patch Program
To earn your patch at the Food + Farm Exploration Center, you will start off with a guided tour of the exhibits, participate in a workshop, and have time for open exploration and play. 5 girl minimum, $10 per girl. (Programs begin mid-October.)
Patch Workshop Options:
Daisy-Brownie:
How Does It Grow? (Learn about plants, their lifecycles, and the crops we grow in Wisconsin)
Brownie-Ambassador:
Cooking With Commodities (Learn about the crops we grow in Wisconsin with this kitchen based cooking class.)
Cranberry Quick Bread
Pea Cookies
Potato Gnocchi
Junior-Ambassador:
Precision Agriculture- Corn Cultivator Challenge
Field Trip Information
Open Exploration Field Trips
Groups can explore the Food + Farm Exploration Center at their own pace, enjoying the Seedlings Gallery, AgStem Gallery, the Farm Tech Shed and programming that may be available in the AgLab MakerSpace.
We request that field trips for grades preK-5 have an adult chaperone ratio of one adult for every five students (1:5). For groups grades 6-12 we request an adult chaperone ration of one adult for every ten students (1:10).
Dig In Experiences for groups of 56 or fewer:
Want additional programming while you’re at the center? Try adding a Dig In experience! Dig In experiences are facilitated workshops that encourage learning through materials and tools, props, demonstrations and group interaction. Dig In experiences are 45- 60 minutes in length. They will incur an additional fee beyond the $5 admission. To learn more about our Dig In’s, check out the Field Trip Guide.
Dig-In Experiences for groups of more than 56:
Similar to our other dig in experiences, these are designed for large groups. These are self-guided experiences in which a facilitator leads a short lesson/overview of the content and then allows students to complete a self-paced activity. These programs are 25-30 minutes in length. To learn more about our Dig Ins for large groups, check out the Field Trip Guide.
Before and After Your Field Trip
To help you prepare your students for field trips we have designed several learning experiences.
Invite a member of the exploration center education staff to visit your classroom with a school visit and do an interactive program that introduces students to the wonderful world of agriculture or select from one of our other school visit programs.
Use our lesson plans to teach your students about how agriculture impacts their lives.
In addition to these lessons and school visits, check out our STEM and literacy kits, Ag Readers and other resources that are designed to help foster an interest and love for agriculture in your students. Click on the links under the education tab to explore our offerings.
Farming For The Future Foundation Field Trip Grant
The Farming For The Future Foundation is generously sponsoring grants that will allow students to discover and explore the new Food + Farm Exploration Center. The Foundation understands that one of the limiting factors of taking students on field trips is the cost of transportation. To help schools overcome this barrier, the Farming For the Future Foundation Field Trip grant will cover up to $1,000 of cost related to transporting students to the Food + Farm Exploration Center. Priority will be given to those schools who can prove a financial need (Title 1 or high percentage of free and reduced lunch). Applications for the grant will be accepted on a rolling basis and will remain open as long as funding is available. Interested teachers or administrators should complete the online application. Schools will be notified within two weeks if their grant application is accepted.
