
Field Trips
Education is at the heart of The Magic House’s mission! The Museum offers a variety of private hands-on field trip experiences that spark curiosity and encourage students of all ages to become 21st-century lifelong learners. Each program is adapted to the students’ grade level and aligns with the national and state standards identified in the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS); the Grade Level Expectations outlined by the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (GLEs); or the Missouri Early Learning Standard (MELs).
Our content-rich guided field trip programs are 90 minutes and include private exploration of a designated area of the Museum with the option to stay and enjoy free play throughout The Magic House until noon. Additional public-hour field trips are available after 12:00 pm.
Field Trip Admission Rate
Schools visiting on a reserved field trip will be admitted for a special admission rate, plus teachers are free. A minimum of one adult chaperone is required for every five children.
The Magic House: $6.00 per student and chaperone
MADE for Kids: $6.00 per student and chaperone
Scholarships
The Magic House wants to ensure every child has a Field Trip memory! Through our Access for All initiative funded by generous donors and the Sugar Creek Donor Advised Fund, The Magic House provides free learning experiences to Title 1 schools, as well as schools with 50 percent or more students that qualify for free and reduced lunch. If your school qualifies, please select ‘Scholarship Funded’ when making your online reservations.
Our scholarships cover admission for all participating students as well as the recommended number of chaperones (1 adult for every 5 students). Additional chaperones will need to pay the $6 field trip admission fee.
For additional information contact the Education Department at [email protected].
Spring Monday Field Trips
Spring Monday Field Trips are full for this semester.
Dates: April 24, May 1, May 8
Grade: Kindergarten – Grade 5
Cost: $6.00 per student and chaperone. Teachers are free.
Capacity: Max 75 students. A minimum of one adult chaperone is required for every five children.
Description: Celebrate the end of the school year with a culminating field trip experience at The Magic House! Special Spring Mondays are reserved exclusively for school field trips from 9:00 am to 1:00 pm. Groups take a self-directed field trip through the entire 60,000-square-foot Museum exploring hundreds of hands-on exhibits including the Children’s Village, the World Traveler Gallery, the new STEAM Center, Bubble Room, the Star-Spangled Center and more. Schools decide on arrival and departure times that fit their schedules.
Access for All funding is not available for Spring Monday Field Trips.
Dates: April 17th 9:00-1:00
Grade: PreK
Cost: $6.00 per student and chaperone. Teachers are free.
Capacity: Max 75 students. A minimum of one adult chaperone is required for every five children.
Description: Celebrate the end of the school year with a culminating field trip experience at The Magic House! Special Spring Mondays are reserved exclusively for school field trips from 9:00 am to 1:00 pm. Groups take a self-directed field trip through the entire 60,000-square-foot Museum exploring hundreds of hands-on exhibits including the Children’s Village, the World Traveler Gallery, the new STEAM Center, Bubble Room, the Star-Spangled Center and more. Schools decide on arrival and departure times that fit their schedules. Our Museum Shop will also be open.
Access for All funding is not available for Spring Monday Field Trips.
STEAM Center Design Challenge
STEAM Center Field Trips are full for this semester.
Grade: Kindergarten – Grade 5
Cost: $6.00 per student and chaperone. Teachers are free.
Capacity: Max 75 students. A minimum of one adult chaperone is required for every five children.
Description: Students experiment, create, invent and make important discoveries as they explore the Science Lab, technology-infused Future Play, Make-It Workshop, Art Studio and Math Path. Following exploration of the STEAM Center, budding inventors will hone their problem-solving skills as they participate in, and learn about, the design thinking process. By tapping into student’s natural curiosity, the STEAM Center field trip allows students to get hands-on as they solve grade-level specific challenges that align with Missouri GLEs.
Kindergarten Straw Rockets: Create and launch a rocket that can shoot over a wall.
Grade 1 Turn Up the Volume: Design and build a device that makes sound in two different ways.
Grade 2 Roll With It: Design and build a device that can move a car 6 inches without touching it.
Grade 3 Tower of Strength: Build a skyscraper using a variety of non-traditional building supplies strong enough to withstand the wind.
Grade 4 No Wire Circuit: Create a circuit using a variety of household objects, anything but wire, to light an LED bulb.
Grade 5 Hole in One: Build a machine that can hit a ball into a stationary cup.
Thanks to a generous grant from Emerson, qualifying school groups will participate in STEAM Center field trip programs free of charge.
World Traveler Gallery – Children’s China
World Traveler Gallery Field Trips are full for this semester.
Grade: Kindergarten – Grade 5
Cost: $6.00 per student and chaperone. Teachers are free.
Capacity: Max 50 students. A minimum of one adult chaperone is required for every five children.
Description: Children’s China transports students halfway across the globe to experience what life is like for children in China today – a country where timeless traditions endure amidst a modern lifestyle. From caring for pandas in the panda reserve, to participating in a Chinese New Year celebration complete with a Dragon Parade, to exploring a contemporary classroom, six engaging and immersive settings bring the Chinese culture to life.
This field trip is available beginning January 2023.
The Children’s Village
Children Village Field Trips are full for this semester.
Grade: Kindergarten – Grade 5
Cost: $6.00 per student and chaperone. Teachers are free.
Capacity: Max 75 students. A minimum of one adult chaperone is required for every five children.
Description: In the Children’s Village, an immersive learning environment sparks the imagination of students as they explore a child-sized community that provides a world of 21st-century learning opportunities in math, science, social studies and more. Each one hour and 30-minute program includes an exclusive exploration of the exhibit space and concludes with a classroom-based educational program.
Community Workers (Kindergarten – Grade 2)
Students explore the concept of community as they take on the roles of engineers, mechanics, doctors, veterinarians and other community members. The Community Workers program features private exploration of the Children’s Village followed by a classroom-based program designed to guide students in creating a model community of their own; determining what roles and institutions are necessary for it to function. Students will also sharpen their map skills as they become city planners and create a map of their brand new community.
Money Doesn’t Grow on Trees Field (Grades 3 – 5)
Students earn paychecks, make consumer choices, use teamwork and learn how members of a community depend upon each other during this hands-on financial literacy educational program. Following private exploration of the Children’s Village, students will participate in a guided classroom-based program where they form a “family” and work together to make appropriate personal budget decisions about their wants and needs.
In advance of your Money Doesn’t Grow on Trees field trip, teachers will receive supporting materials necessary to prepare for the fun-filled experience.
Star-Spangled Center
Star-Spangled Center Field Trips are full for this semester.
Grade: Grades 1 – 5
Cost: $6.00 per student and chaperone. Teachers are free.
Capacity: Max 75 students. A minimum of one adult chaperone is required for every five children.
Description: Spangled Center featuring the Oval Office, a mock trial experience in the Courtroom and a guided field-trip program in the Legislative Chamber. This one hour and 30-minute interactive program offers students the opportunity to explore the three branches of government, turning students into educated young citizens!
Your Vote Counts (Grades 1 – 3)
The Your Vote Counts civic education program offers students the opportunity to explore the voting process, demonstrating voting as one of our most important rights and responsibilities. Students will cast their ballots and evaluate election results on real issues that matter to them.
How a Bill Becomes a Law (Grades 3 – 5)
This program offers students the opportunity to explore the legislative branch as they take on the roles of senators and representatives to learn how our laws are made. Students will work in small groups (committees) to decide what bills they want to champion and bring to the floor for debate and a vote. They will gain understanding of how both legislative chambers work together through collaboration and compromise to create new laws.
Classic Magic House – Forces In Motion
Classic Field Trips are full for this semester.
Grade: Grades 1 – 5
Cost: $6.00 per student and chaperone. Teachers are free.
Capacity: Max 75 students. A minimum of one adult chaperone is required for every five children.
Description: Featuring dozens of exciting hands-on exhibits designed to cultivate students’ creativity, critical thinking and problem-solving skills, this program offers private exploration of the Museum’s original three floors of interactive exhibits including the Electrostatic Generator, Shadow Walls, Pulleys, Magnet Room, Balls in Motion and three-story Super Slide. Each field trip concludes with a classroom-based educational program, connecting to the exhibits, that focuses on the investigation of magnetism, static electricity, forces and more.
Wonder Works
Wonder Works Field Trips are full for this semester.
Preschool groups will enjoy a 90-minute Wonder Works field trip program. Young children will engage in a developmentally appropriate and discovery-based approach to learning within the STEAM-focused exhibit space designed to support and nurture children’s natural curiosity in their world.
Grade: Preschool – Kindergarten
Cost: $6.00 per student and chaperone. Teachers are free.
Capacity: Max 40 students. A minimum of one adult chaperone is required for every five children.
Wonder Works Exhibit
Students will have the opportunity to explore our immersive STEM exhibit designed to engage ages 2 through 7. While in Wonder Works they can get hands-on with simple machines, explore the science of sand, and interact with the power of air. Children can climb more than just stairs with multiple gross motor opportunities featuring a one-of-a-kind climbing structure, spiral slide and an elevated balance beam.
Hands-On Literacy Program
Following exploration of the Wonder Works exhibit space, groups will move to a classroom where a children’s literature program is presented with accompanying hands-on learning activities.
Satellite Location: MADE for Kids
MADE for Kids Field Trips are full for this semester.
Grade: Kindergarten – Grade 8
Cost: $6.00 per student and chaperone. Teachers are free.
Capacity: Max 75 students. A minimum of one adult chaperone is required for every five children.
Description: Schedule your visit to The Magic House’s satellite location in the City of St. Louis, MADE for Kids! Students are invited to explore this STEAM-infused makerspace, featuring 7,000-square-feet of interactive learning experiences including four areas: a Makers’ Workshop, an Artists’ Studio, a Designers’ Lab, and an Entrepreneurs’ Marketplace. Following private exploration of MADE for Kids, students will sharpen their problem-solving skills and engage their creativity as they participate in a grade-level specific design challenge, created to align with Missouri GLEs.
Kindergarten Straw Rockets: Create and launch a rocket that can shoot over a wall.
Grade 1 Turn Up the Volume: Design and build a device that makes sound in two different ways.
Grade 2 Roll With It: Design and build a device that can move a car 6 inches without touching it.
Grade 3 Tower of Strength: Build a skyscraper using a variety of non-traditional building supplies strong enough to withstand the wind.
Grade 4 No Wire Circuit: Create a circuit using a variety of household objects, anything but wire, to light an LED bulb.
Grade 5 Hole in One: Build a machine that can hit a ball into a stationary cup.
Grade 6 Water Filters: Using everyday products, create a device to filter one cup of ‘polluted’ water.
Grade 7 Transfer Energy: Drawing inspiration from Rube Goldberg Machines, create a series of reactions using simple machines to transfer energy!
Grade 8 Build a Thermos: Build a device that can melt an ice cube in 3 minutes.
Location: 5127 Delmar Blvd, St. Louis, MO 63108
Thanks to a generous grant from Boeing, a limited number of qualifying school groups will participate in this field trip program free of charge.
FAQ
How many chaperones are required for a field trip? One adult chaperone is required for every five children.
Where can buses drop-off and pick-up my group? Buses may pull to the Emerson Education Center entrance for drop-off and pick-up, a staff member will provide direction upon arrival when arriving for a reserved field trip program.
Can our group explore The Magic House after our field trip? School Groups are invited to explore The Magic House following their guided field trip until 12:00 pm. Your class can enjoy free play in some of their favorite exhibits including the Children’s Village, Bubble Room, Art Studio and more!
May memberships, passes or coupons be used toward admission for a field trip? Memberships, passes and coupons are for public hour use only and cannot be used during a reserved field trip program.