Your 6-Year-Old: Taking field trips

Taking field trips

A great way to spend time with your child after school or on weekends is to make a little learning excursion together. Field trips to local businesses or institutions show your child the world in action. You can build on a child's existing interest or expose her to something brand-new. You might just learn something yourself.

Your 6-year-old now

Field trips are invaluable learning experiences. Concrete visits to places read about in books help expand a child's understanding of the world around her. Kids also learn best when they use all their senses – feeling the bark of a tree or smelling bread on a bakery tour. Another benefit: Taking your child out in public lets her practice manners and conversational skills.

All kinds of businesses and civic organizations offer informal tours, from pet shops and groceries to your local fire station. Whether taken with you or a class, field trips are most memorable when they're supported both before and after the adventure. Do some prep work. If you're taking your child fishing, get a book that shows the kind of fish you might catch. If you're headed to a city, research it together online.

On your adventure, collect souvenirs like pinecones or ticket stubs, bring along a journal for your child to draw in or record impressions, and take lots of pictures. Kids love to look back and "reminisce." Encourage your child to relate details about the trip to grandparents or friends. This not only cements the memory, it reinforces the learning.

Your life now

A good night's sleep does more than make you feel refreshed in the morning. It can help protect you against depression, weight gain, and even cancer, researchers believe. Resist the temptation to stay up till the wee hours fitting in all the things you didn't get to all day. In fact, your need for sleep is a good incentive for sticking to an early bedtime for your child. Tucking her in around 8 p.m. will help ensure she gets a good night's sleep, too, and gives you time to yourself to get things done.