50 Best Virtual Field Trips for Kids – 2025
November 22, 2024
Teachers know that active learning is one of the best ways to get students inspired and engaged, but there isn’t always time or funding to book a school bus and send kids off to museums, landmarks, and zoos. Enter virtual field trips for students, a fantastic way to mix up the lesson plan and immerse students in real-world learning without ever having to leave the classroom. We’ve vetted 50 eye-opening and fun virtual field trips for kids below that give students the hands-on learning experiences they need to thrive. Organized into 8 different categories, you’ll find tons of field trips to choose from in the categories below:
- Virtual Field Trips for Kids—Wildlife, Zoos, and Aquariums
- Art Museums
- History and Natural History Museums
- Virtual Field Trips for Kids—Historical Sites and Landmarks
- Astronomy and Space Exploration
- Global Exploration
- Virtual Field Trips for Kids—Factories and Farms
- Video Libraries and Fun Educational Resources
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Virtual Field Trips for Kids—Wildlife, Zoos, and Aquariums
1) Africam: With options for livestreaming and recorded video footage, Africam brings elephants, zebras, cheetahs, and hyenas right into your classroom.
2) CornellLab’s All About Birds offers live footage of birds from all over the world. Check in with a northern royal albatross in New Zealand or a great horned owl in Austin, Texas to spark students’ love of nature.
3) San Diego Zoo: This highly interactive virtual field trip at the world-famous San Diego Zoo lets students watch videos, learn more about animals, play games, and learn about conservation.
4) The Monterey Bay Aquarium hosts one of the most peaceful virtual field trips for students. Through their live cams, students can immerse themselves in kelp forests and watch jellyfish and sea otters go about their days.
5) International Wolf Center: This Minnesota-based livestream account gives students a view into the daily life of four ambassador gray wolves living on 1.25 acres.
6) Zoo Atlanta’s Virtual Wild Walk takes students on an educator-led visit with interactive animal encounters. An education experience that comes with pre-and-post tour activities, this virtual field trip for kids has options for students of all ages.
Virtual Field Trips for Kids—Art Museums
7) The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s #MetKids virtual field trip for kids lets future art afficionados explore 5,000 years of art from across the globe. A site that lets student guide their own discoveries, students can navigate the museum by virtual map, watch videos, or use the site’s “time machine” feature to learn about world art history.
8) Museo Frida Kahlo: Transport students to Mexico through this virtual walkthrough of Frida Kahlo’s marvelous artwork. Located in Kahlo’s family home, students can also see what her painting studio, living room, and garden looked like while she was still alive.
9) The Benaki Museum in Greece offers impressively wide-ranging collections of ancient Greek and Roman art, in addition to Islamic, Chinese, and Korean art. A potential treasure trove of lessons about art and history, you can watch videos on their site or view photos of pieces from their collections.
10) The Louvre: Show your students some of the most famous art in the world through The Louvre’s virtual lecture tours. While you’re at it, make sure to check out Louvre Kids’ animated video series with episodes about art and history.
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11) National Gallery of Art: A rich repository of art-centered teaching resources, the National Gallery offers virtual field trips for kids of all ages. To encourage burgeoning artists, try their “Process and Product” video with easy-to-follow instructions for beginning art techniques. Explore “Afro Atlantic Histories” and “Uncovering America” for history and humanities lesson plan enrichment.
12) The British Museum in London has so much to offer educators. To tour their vast, global collection, you can use Google Street View or click through their own curated photo galleries. Supplement your students’ knowledge with their podcast, audio tours, and video lessons. And for even more active learning, choose educational videos from their popular YouTube channel.
13) Musée d’Orsay: Home to impressionist and post-impressionist masterpieces by artists such as Van Gogh, Renoir, and Monet, Musée d’Orsay’s collection transports students to a Paris from centuries past.
Virtual Field Trips for Kids—History and Natural History Museums
14) Smithsonian Museum of Natural History: Whether you want to teach your students about ocean life, dinosaurs, or bugs, the Smithsonian’s full virtual walkthrough of the museum makes kids feel like they’re really there.
15) National Museum of African American History and Culture: A fantastic way to teach students about African American history. This museum’s virtual field trips include interactive tours of arts and crafts and historical inquiries.
16) Xi’an Warriors: This virtual field trip for students surveys the vast army of 8,000 terra cotta soldiers that were buried alongside China’s first emperor, Qin Shi Huang. Although the website is in Chinese, it’s easy for English speakers to navigate its photo galleries.
17) The National World War II Museum offers students an impressively comprehensive understanding of this historical war. Through lessons on Pearl Harbor, the Manhattan Project, Japanese internment camps, American manufacturing and more, this museum grants young learners a multi-faceted view of WWII.
18) The Museum of Flight’s 360-degree tours of aircraft made by Boeing, NASA, and other makers lets students step into the history of aerial innovation.
19) The White House brings students into our most famous political building. With this interactive click-through tour, kids can view most of the building’s rooms, artifacts, and paintings.
20) National Constitution Center: The U.S. Constitution is an important document but not necessarily a page turner. This interactive site breaks down the history and meaning of each section of this historic text into easy-to-digest pieces.
Virtual Field Trips for Kids—Historical Sites and Landmarks
21) Colonial Williamsburg: Know for its Emmy award winning videos and Ben Franklin’s World podcast. Students can step into early American history through this museum’s virtual tour.
22) The Vatican Museum’s virtual collections allow students to explore great works by Italian masters. 360-degree tours let kids examine the Sistine Chapel, works by Raphael, and many other permanent Vatican collections.
23) Anne Frank House: A historical virtual tour with a strong storytelling component. Online visitors can watch videos about Anne Frank’s diary, life story, and home.
24) National Women’s History Museum: One of the most inspiring virtual field trips for students. This museum showcases female trailblazers of the past and present. Lessons about Harriet Tubman, women in NASA, women’s rights movements, and feminist movements introduce students to women’s important contributions and progress.
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25) The 9/11 Memorial Museum offers an interactive walkthrough of the museum’s exhibits about New York history and Plaza-level memorial fountain.
26) Ellis Island: A hands-on way to teach students about the history of immigration in the U.S. This museum offers a virtual field trip, exploratory map, and immigrant stories.
27) Statue of Liberty: If you can’t take your students to climb the Statue of Liberty’s 354 steps in person, this virtual field trip is another great way to bring kids close to the experience.
Virtual Field Trips for Kids—Astronomy and Space Exploration
28) Stellarium: One of the most awe-inspiring virtual field trips for kids. Stellarium is a digital planetarium that lets them explore the night skies any time of day. Students can choose a location, view visible stars, planets, and satellites. And they can click on each to learn more about the cosmos.
29) NASA’s Tour of the Moon: A very close look at a celestial body we see every day. This 4K video tour shows up close videos of the Moon’s many craters and basins.
30) Johnson Space Center: A perfect virtual tour for fledgling astronauts and astronomers. Boeing offers multiple virtual tours of this Texas-based space center.
31) The Smithsonian’s Air and Space Museum offers virtual tours of many of their ongoing exhibits, including exhibits about moon exploration, the Wright Brothers, and early flight.
32) The Space Foundation’s Discovery Center is another excellent source of virtual field trips for students of all ages. These hands-on sessions teach students about rocketry, weather, our solar system, and Mars.
33) Access Mars: One of the most eye-opening virtual field trips for students. This 360-degree tour of Mars lets you tag along with NASA’s Curiosity rover.
34) Goddard Space Flight Center offers virtual field trips for kids of all ages. Through these educator-led sessions, students can learn about living and working in space, building satellites, and Goddard’s current missions.
Virtual Field Trips for Kids—Global Exploration
35) Rick Steves’ Europe: A long-time travel show host, Rick Steves short videos dive deep into history, culture, and beautiful sights all around Europe.
36) Great Wall of China: A virtual trip might not scratch visiting the Great Wall of China off your bucket list, but this guided virtual tour introduces kids to the history the Wall and many epic views.
37) Sơn Đoòng Cave: Famous for being the largest cave in the world. National Geographic’s 360-degree tour Vietnam’s Sơn Đoòng Cave introduces students to a marvel of geology.
38) Rhi Rhi Cave Burial Site: Another fantastic virtual field trip for students. This video follows scientists into an ancient burial site in the Himalayan mountains. Over the course of this tour, students learn about anthropology, geology, world history, and scientific field work.
39) Borneo Rainforest: A science-focused audio tour of Borneo’s rainforests, this video series teaches students about biodiversity and conservation.
40) The National Park Service has a live webcam stationed in nearly every one of their parks. Transport students to Yellowstone and Arches National Parks or guide them through a lesson on volcanoes while they check out Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park.
Virtual Field Trips for Kids—Factories and Farms
41) M&Ms Factory Tour: What kid isn’t a candy lover? An easy crowd pleaser, this Food Network tour shows how a classic candy gets made.
42) Taylor Guitar Factory: This factory tour is a fascinating behind-the-scenes look at all the automation, artisanship, and hard work that goes into making each Taylor guitar.
43) Purina Farms: A great way to start your students’ days off with a dose of cheer, this video tours Purina’s St. Louis farm and canine training facility.
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44) Farm Food 360: Ever wonder how a mushroom grows? This series of tours of Canadian farms will show students where the grains, produce, and meat they eat comes from.
45) Coca Cola Factory: With these live, instructor-led tours, kids can get an inside peek into everything that goes into making and bottling their favorite beverage. Coca Cola’s tours focus on the science behind the soda, with options for a STEM virtual tour or a meeting with a food scientist.
Virtual Field Trips for Kids—Video Libraries and Fun Educational Resources
46) Discovery Education is a fantastic place to find videos on subjects ranging from literacy to sports to STEM. An ever-growing library with new videos added each month, Discovery posts short educational documentaries, interviews, and how-to guides.
47) Google Earth puts the whole planet within reach. A fantastic way to spark curiosity about our world. Google Earth lets you zoom in for a 3D view of hundreds of cities, take guided tours, and create maps.
48) National Geographic Education: A robust YouTube channel that lets kids travel without leaving their seats. This resource has virtual field trips for students of all ages.
49) GeoGuessr: A fun way to get your whole class learning more about geography and world culture. GeoGuessr is a guessing game that drops you anywhere in the world. Use Google Street View and looking for clues. You win the game if you’re able to guess what part of the world you’re in.
50) Google Arts and Culture is a highly interactive site that lets students encounter famous and lesser-known works of art. To keep things lively, check out their visual crosswords, interactive coloring book, and art trivia games.
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