Fall School Classroom Field Trips For 2010: A Day of Learning and Fun on the Farm
Part of our mission at Vala’s Pumpkin Patch & Fall Festival is to provide education through entertainment. We now live in a time when many children think milk comes from refrigerators and vegetables are grown in produce aisles. The land that is now Vala’s Pumpkin Patch has been a working farm for over 100 years. When school children visit Vala’s, we want them to have fun running through the pumpkin fields, and visiting our petting corral, but our greatest hope is that they will leave with a greater understanding of agriculture and an appreciation for Nebraska heritage.
School Field Trips Reservation On-line Reservation Form or call (402) 332-4200
There is lots to learn at Vala's
(allow 1 to 3 hours)
Teachers and parents may lead their class:
- On a hayride to the pumpkin field
- To see the Barnyard Animal Band Show
- On the Pumpkin Creek Train Ride
- Through a short school group version of our new corn maze
- To the “milk the cow” display near the Dairy Barn
- To see the Pigtucky Derby Pig Races (always a favorite)
- To see the Pumpkin-Eating Dragon Show
- Through the decorated Storybook Barn
- Into the Petting Corral and Bunnyville
- To play in the Corn Wagon Play area
- To see the educational displays about Honey Bees, Farm Life, Cow Facts, and Railroads
- Into the Apple Education Barn
- To play on the Great Pumpkin Jump
SEVEN Great Fall Field Trip Tours to choose from:
Apple Pickin’ Fun
- September 27th through October 15th, Monday through Friday, 9 am to 3:30 pm
- Your class will be taken into the Apple Education Barn and then into the apple orchard to learn from our staff members about how apples are grown. Children will learn how to pick an apple, the importance of honey bees, how apples grow in the orchard, and other agricultural information appropriate for the developmental level of the class. Each child will pick and take home a small bag of apples. Allow 30 to 40 minutes for the lesson and orchard experience.
- $6.50 per child for Admission, Train Ride, bag of apples, and activities
- $6.50 per parent or adult volunteer for Admission, Train Ride, and activities
- $6.50 for each sibling, includes Admission, Train Ride, & a bag of apples (Babies & 1-year-olds are free)
- FREE for Teachers and Paid School Staff, includes Admission, Train Ride, and activities
Pumpkin Harvest(Fun For all ages)
- September 27th through October 29th, Monday through Friday, 9 am to 3:30 pm. This is a teacher-guided experience on the farm. Children take a hay rack ride to the pumpkin fields, pick a pumpkin, and visit all the other activities on the farm. Teachers, look for the Apple Sign for on-the-farm teaching opportunities. The Apple Education Barn is open for all school groups, with educational displays and an observational beehive. Each child will take home a small pumpkin and a Vala’s Pumpkin Patch coloring book.
- $6.50 per child for Admission, Train Ride, Pumpkin, and activities
- $6.50 per parent or adult volunteer for Admission, Train Ride, and activities
- $6.50 for each sibling, includes Admission, Train Ride, & a small pumpkin (Babies & 1-year-olds are free)
- FREE for Teachers and Paid School Staff, Admission, Train Ride, and activities
Apple & Pumpkin Pickin' Combination Fun(Fun For all ages)
- September 27th through October 15th, Monday through Friday, 9 am to 3:30 pm. Your class will have all of the experiences in the Apple Pickin’ Fun and Pumpkin Harvest Fun Programs. This field trip will have your children talking about the farm for months afterward. Allow 30 to 40 minutes for the lesson and orchard experience.
- $7.50 per child for Admission, Train Ride, Pumpkin, Apples, and activities
- $6.50 per parent or adult volunteer for Admission, Train Ride, and activities
- $6.50 for each sibling, includes Admission, Train Ride & a small pumpkin (Babies and 1-year-olds are free)
- FREE for Teachers and Paid School Staff, Admission, Train Ride, and activities
Calamity Jan's Gem Mining Tour,(for 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, & 5th Graders)
- September 30th through October 29th, Wednesday through Friday, 9 am to 3:30 pm. Give your students a hands-on experience "sluicing" for gold or gems like the miners in the old west. Our staff members will give students a brief history of old west mining, the need for sluicing, and a demonstration. Then each child will receive their own bag of "mining rough" containing gems or fool's gold. They will receive a take-home bag for their gems and a card to identify the various gems and minerals. After the lesson, visit the rest of Vala's Pumpkin Patch, take a train ride, and pick a pumpkin from the field. Allow 1 hour for the lesson and sluicing experience.
- $9.50 per student for Admission, Gem Mining, Train Ride, Pumpkin, and activities
- $6.50 per parent or adult volunteer for Admission, Train Ride, and activities
- $6.50 for each sibling of students, includes a small pumpkin (Babies and 1-year-olds are free)
- FREE for Teachers and Paid School Staff, Admission, Train Ride, and activities
It's All About Pollination! And Pumpkins!
(For Preschoolers through 5th Graders)
- Offered on Tuesdays and Thursdays in October, this 30-45 minute educational lesson is taught by honeybee expert Wendy Fletcher, owner of It's All About Bees. Lessons are designed differently for each grade level. Learn about pollination, the importance of bees on the farm, hive behavior, how bees make honey, how honey is collected, and more. See the bees at work in the observational glass bee hive. Students will take home a 8 oz. Honey Bear. This is science full of fun! Before or after the lesson, visit the rest of Vala's Pumpkin Patch, take a train ride, and pick a pumpkin from the field. Allow 45 minutes for the lesson.
- Cost: $9.00 per student for Admission, Lesson, Train Ride, Pumpkin, Honey Bear, & activities
- $6.50 per parent or adult volunteer for Admission, Train Ride, Lesson, & activities
- $6.50 for siblings of students, includes a small pumpkin
- Babies and 1-year-olds are free
- FREE for Teachers and Paid Staff
Pollination, Apples & Pumpkin Pickin' Combination Fun(For All Ages)
- Science can be fun in the field, in the orchard, and in the classroom. Let our staff lead lessons in pollination and apple growing and have fun with a hayrack ride to the pumpkin field. This combines all the experiences of the Apple Pickin', Pumpkin Harvest, and It's All About Pollination tours. Children will take home a bag of apples, a pumpkin, a coloring book, and an 8 oz. Honey Bear. Allow about 1 hour and 15 minutes for the lessons and orchard experience.
- This experience is only available on the following 4 days:
Tues. Oct. 5th, Thurs. Oct 7th, Tues. Oct 12th, and Thurs. Oct. 14th. - $11.00 per student for Admission, Lessons, Train Ride, Pumpkin, Honey Bear, & activities
- $6.50 per parent or adult volunteer for Admission, Train Ride, Lesson, & activities
- $6.50 for siblings of students, includes a small pumpkin
- Babies and 1-year-olds are free
- FREE for Teachers and Paid Staff
"Let's Do It All" Combination Fun(For 1st through 5th Grades)
- This is a combination of It's All About Pollination lesson, the Gem Mining lesson and sluicing experience, the Apple Education lesson and orchard experience, plus the Pumpkin Pickin' and all the other activities at Vala's. Students will take home an 8 oz. Honey Bear, a bag of apples from the orchard, a pumpkin, and a bag of gems.
- This experience is only available on the following 4 days:
- Tues. Oct. 5th, Thurs. Oct 7th, Tues. Oct 12th, and Thurs. Oct. 14th
Because of the limited availability, you must reserve this by phone at (402) 332-4200. - $16.00 per student for Admission, 3 Lessons, Train Ride, Apples, Pumpkin, Honey Bear, Gem Mining, & activities
- $6.50 per parent or adult volunteer for Admission, Train Ride, Lesson, & activities
- $6.50 for siblings of students, includes a small pumpkin
- (Babies and 1-year-olds are free)
- FREE for Teachers and Paid Staff
Homeschooler Days
- Tuesday, September. 28th
Tuesday, October 5th
Tuesday, October 12th - Parents and their homeschooled children may take advantage of the school group student rates and stay all day and evening. Prices vary according to the type of school tour. Apple Education, Gem Mining, and Pollination lessons need to be scheduled before 2 pm. (Call 402-332-4200 to set this up) Simply identify yourself as a Homeschool family or group. All adults are $6.50 and babies under age 2 are free. On-line booking is available for groups of 20 or more. Call for groups of less than 20 (402-332-4200).
Check-In
- Upon arrival one teacher should go to the Admissions Barn window, pay, and receive the stickers for admission. Please have the other teachers and volunteers unload the children and have them wait near the entrance, but out of the parking lot. A Vala’s staff member will be helping to direct the children to a safe area to wait. After checking in have everyone put on the Vala's Pumpkin Patch sticker. Everyone must be wearing a sticker to pass through the admissions gate and to ride the train. The pumpkin tour includes coloring books and bags for the pumpkins for each child.
Quick & Easy Check-In
- Bypass the event day check-in by picking up the admission stickers and pumpkin bags before you arrive. Bring your purchase order, cash, or school check or arrange to be billed. On the day of the field trip each child should have their sticker on and, if doing the pumpkin tour, their bag with them. You can even have the bags pre-labeled with each child's name. If you are doing the Apple Tour, bring the children's name labels with you since the bags are handed out during the Apple Education session. When you arrive, unload and procede as a group through the admission gates. The stickers serve as your admission ticket and train ticket. If you have some last minute add-ons or late arrivals, such as parents with siblings, they can pay on their own at the Admissions Barn at the school group rate and join the group at a designated time or place.
Amount of Time
- School groups may stay until 3:30 pm if time permits. Some groups stay for the day and other groups stay 1 to 3 hours. The Pigtucky Derby Pig races, with an educational lesson included, lasts 20 minutes and is scheduled every hour on the hour beginning at 10 am. The hayride to the pumpkin field lasts about 30 minutes, and is a favorite activity of school children. The Pumpkin-Eating Dragon show begins on the half-hour, starting at 10:30 am. The train ride is about 8 minutes long.
- Lunch
- $3.75 per person - Cheese Pizza, Hot Dog, or Peanut Butter Sandwich, Chips, and Drink
- Class Snack Pack
- $18.00 - 1 gallon of Apple or Cherry Cider (serves 15 to 20) cups provided for each person 2 dozen fall cookies
- Classrooms are also welcome to bring their own food. There are plenty of picnic tables.
COME VISIT OUR CLASSROOM IN THE FIELD
