Kleenex Field Trips

I was invited by The Motherhood to visit The American Museum of Natural History and accepting the invitation was a no-brainer since it is Theo's and my favorite museum.  This trip was also being hosted by Kleenex Field Trips, whose mission it is to bring back field trips as an integral part of the overall education of our children.  Due to budget cuts, more and more of this nation's public schools are having to do away with field trips, and that is something that is deeply saddening to me.  I can recall learning so much from my field trips as a child, and I can only hope that my Theo will have access to those same educational experiences.

Our first stop in the museum was at the Frogs: A Chorus of Colors exhibit.  If you didn't already know this, you can never go wrong with boys and frogs.  Theo was thrilled to see so many frogs, and we were even lucky enough to see some of them being fed!  The name "A Chorus of Colors" was beyond apt, as the colors on these frogs were almost shocking.  Here it was I thought that frogs came in green - and, I don't know, maybe olive - but instead there were dozens of colors on display.  This just goes to prove that you are never to old to learn something on a field trip!  My favorite frog was green; the reason he was my favorite was because of the annoyed look on his face:

Theo asked me why he was so mad and I said, "He's on a diet.  He misses carbs.", which was met with a quizzical look before he ran off to look at the next frog.  One day he will eventually "get" my sense of humor.

One of my favorite things about this experience was the look of intense wonder on my boy's face as he searched for a camouflaged frog in one particular terrarium:

"I found the frog, Mama!", he shouted, proudly.  Then he was quickly off to investigate the next set of frogs.

The other thing I got a real kick out of was seeing my son outfitted as a Paleontologist as he dug for dinosaur bones:

As much as Theo loves dinosaurs, this was a special experience for him to be able to pretend that he was a "dino scientist" as he calls it.  "Look, Mama; I'm like Dino Dan's father!".  As a mother who encourages his active imagination, it was such a delight to see him getting into character like that. 

I am so grateful to have been able to share this experience with Theo, and I look forward to the many field trips he and I will take together over the years.  I do, however, want him to have experiences like these with his classmates in the future.  To learn more about the Kleenex Field Trips initiative please click here.


*Kleenex Field Trips and The Motherhood sponsored our attendance on this trip and my participation in this campaign.