Field Trips are a big part of the Happy Day experience! We believe that supplementing classroom curriculum with exposure to the real world is vital for children. Following you will find a description of our great trips in and around our wonderful city of Boston.
Each September, the children of Happy Day board a school bus carrying their bag lunches and travel to Honey Pot Hill Orchards, located in Stowe. Complete with a hayride, a pumpkin patch, and an animal farm, the children have a very fun and full day while at Honey Pot. Our morning concludes with the whole group eating lunch in the covered seating area at the farm before boarding the bus to return to school.
Every April at CHDS is art month. The curriculum for each program focuses on different artists and art techniques. To reinforce the concepts presented during the month, the children spend one morning at the Museum of Fine Arts viewing first hand examples of artwork they have been creating themselves. In groups of 8-12 children, the trained MFA instructors introduce to the students varying styles of art. The groups come back together at the end of the tour in the museum’s art studio where all of the children are provided with a piece of blank canvas, a paintbrush, and a few colors of paint. In the center of the room is an arrangement of flowers for the children to create their own still life painting, which are mailed to the school after drying.
When the weather grows warmer, the children of CHDS take their annual field trip to the Franklin Park Zoo. With birds, lions, gorillas, and even a small playground, the Franklin Park Zoo has something to spark every child’s interests. Caged behind a glass wall, the children have the opportunity to view the animals from the zoo’s ranger station, across a moat, or from behind the wheel of a land rover, such as in an African safari. Following our walk through the park, the children have a picnic lunch on the grounds prior to returning to school.
The Swan Boats field trip not only gives the children an opportunity to see the swans that live at the small pond in person, but also brings to life the beloved children’s book Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McCloskey. Following their ride on the Swan Boats, the children visit the bronze statues dedicated to the McCloskey book. The statues depict Mrs. Mallard and her eight ducklings making their way to the Public Garden. These famed figures are perfect for sitting, climbing, and posing for pictures! After a reading of the story by one of the teachers, the children gather in the Commons to eat their bag lunch.
In order to learn the importance of bike safety while having fun, the children of CHDS spend one special morning at the Millennium Park with their bicycles/tricycles. Parents meet teachers and chaperones in the morning at Millennium and the children spend the next couple of hours riding their bikes around the paved pathways that circle the playing fields. After a full morning of bike riding, playground fun and sports on the large fields, the children have a picnic lunch before returning to school for the afternoon.
The Trailside Museum, located in the Blue Hills in Milton, provides children with an experience that is different from visiting a farm or zoo. Children are able to walk through both the inside and outside exhibits to learn more about wildlife that is native to this area, such as the white-tailed deer or the snowy owl. The Happy Day children also take part in a short program with a trained instructor where one of the injured animals that has been brought to the museum for care is discussed and presented. The children get an up close look at the animal and are able to ask any questions they may have about it. In the past CHDS has come face to face with turtles and owls.
