Where is a good place to take my Girl Scouts troop on a field trip that would be free or very low cost?

Local wild life refuge, zoo, animal shelter, or other animal, dog/cat/horse/wild life rescue group, Fish hatchery, history museum, railroad museum, local factory, like a candy factory, ice cream factory or other factory that makes food products, ( not a slaughterhouse, obviously. lol )
Aquarium, if you live in a coastal area, day trip to a mountain area, historical park, lake or river.
A farmers market, flea market, craft fair, specialty festival like a Strawberry or Garlic or Zuchini festival. I’m running out of ideas now. haha

I took kids to the Rochester airport! They even offered overnight “indoor” campout. It was great.

I had about 20 -30 kids sleep over in my orchard on a cold night with no moon so they could look at the stars, and see the Andromeda galaxy. They loved it.

If you live near me you are welcome.

Those are some good ideas, guys.

Fire station.

Hiking about somewhere.

Bug collecting.

There actually is a Bugs Patch at the Brownies level.

A local TV station let our boy scout troop have a behind the scene tour of the studio and we were able to sit and watch a live news broadcast.

Oh, airport, bug collecting and TV station, good ones!

Oh! Observatory! Of course this would have to be a night time trip most likely Or maybe a local amateur astronomy club that would volunteer to set up some telescopes at night in your yard and you could do a camp out, star gazing thing. A few years ago a local astronomy club set up dozens of telescopes at a local vineyard here and everyone enjoyed wine tasting, food and star gazing with expert guidance.

Of course this was an adult affair, probably shouldn’t take Girl Scouts wine tasting. haha

I do the same thing in the UK. The Girlguiding organisation send me a magazine. There are lots of good ideas in that.

This year we have been kayaking, chocolate factory, dry slope skiiing, a big national event in London (Sparks), swimming, a night walk, party in the park, science museum, space centre. We have also joined with other local units and had a makeover and photographs, and a craft evening, Now I’ll give you just one guess what the most popular event was!

@stinley I’d guess swimming.

I guess chocolate factory!

Good for you for being a GS leader. I was a scout for 11 years and loved it.

Have you asked the troop members what they would like to do? That seems like the place to start. Are GS still earning badges? If, so, how about focusing on activities that aid in achieving a specific one?

And really, being a member of a GS troop is about being prepared for real life. Some topics that I think should be covered are diversity, sustainability, managing money and sex education.

I realize that this doesn’t answer the question, but it’s important that you, as a leader, identify the direction that best serves the girls.

Factories.

I’ve seen a steel plant pouring glowing hot steel. A bread factory was really interesting. I lived in the Detroit suburbs and regret never touring a car factory. I’ve been to a newspaper printing plant and a book printer.

@Dutchess_III got it! Chocolate factory
@gsleader have a look at the UK Girlguiding site as it has some good ideas that might be a little different to the ones from your country

Where do you live? You already have great general suggestion up above, but maybe there is something very specific where you live.

One of the most memorable Cub Scout trips that I ever took was to a State Police barracks in Holden, Massachusetts. (The trip was over 50 years ago and I wasn’t even ten years old at the time, so I don’t know any details about how the thing was set up or hosted, but I know there was no charge.)

The thing that made it most memorable was the “opportunity” to actually be locked into a holding cell. That’s a detail memory that I’ve never lost.

I would imagine that most large, public institutions would have some kind of outreach or PR program that would have some kind of offering to suit the interests and ages of your Scouts:

- college or university campuses (or other schools “in the future” for the girls, to take away some of the mystery)
– tourist attractions such as Old Sturbridge Village, Plymouth Plantation, New England Aquarium (Massachusetts) and Mystic Seaport (Connecticut) have outreach programs to attract groups such as yours

I do believe highly in the Girl Led prescribed way of leading, so I did ask my girls, of course. We live in a typical mid-sized city near a major city in the American Midwest. I was mainly hoping for ideas of either free field trips, or low cost (just a buck or two per girl) so all would be able to afford to go in this economy. It’s tough trying to do my duty as a leader without having the funds to back it up, but so far things have been going well and the girls are having nothing but positive experiences without costing them an extra dime. That has been welcomed by all my parents in this economy.

When they’re old enough, you can suggest that they all open Fluther accounts…

Out of curiosity I decided to check if the airport still offered the sleepovers for scouts and discovered that, yes indeed, they still do. Now it costs $25 per group. (it was free ages ago). Also they do a little more background checking.
But it was all well worth the trouble. The kids will remember the experience for life.
Here is the link to the airport in Rochester NY . Maybe your airport offers a similar service.

@GSLeader It’s good to hear that you asked the girls for ideas. What did they come up with?

They mostly came up with splash pad (we’ll be doing that) and stuff like Jac’s Warehouse and Skyzone, which we likely won’t. I just contacted our local municipal airport about a tour there. I think they’d love that! They also wanted to have a pizza party, movie night, sleepover with another troop at the church where we meet. That is in the works as I type.

Is there still a badge program? If so, are any of these activities geared towards earning one? If not, what is the purpose of the outing? For example, the overnight airport stay sounds like fun. What is the goal though? What I took away from being a GS is that it was an extension of education that home life and school didn’t cover.

There is a badge program, yes. We do Patchwork at weekly meetings, currently working on Pottery, Drawing, and Philanthropy. The purpose for the outings is educational, for experience, Girl Scouts are supposed to build the girls confidence. Oh, and yes, there are things called Fun Badges, and taking an airport tour will warn one for each who attend.

@GSLeader I’m going to be blunt here. Having the scouts build skills in patchwork, pottery, drawing and philanthropy are worthy in their own right, but how do they equate to their development towards leadership? How do they set these girls up for success when they become young women?

If they want to have a pizza party, challenge them to calculate the cost. Then arrange for a fund-raiser event, like washing cars, with proceeds minus the cost of cleaning and marketing supplies and a set donation to the charity the group supports going to the pizza party.

Another thought: What about arranging something with a local auto mechanics site to teach them how to do the basics, like changing a tire?

Along the lines of @Pied_Pfeffer‘s suggestion to visit an auto mechanic – okay – have you taken the girls to visit a working farm? I’m not thinking “petting zoo” here, but an actual farm that produces food, whether flora or fauna, and a view of how that is accomplished.

@Pied_Pfeffer. I appreciate your bluntness, and what you suggested we do is exactly what we do. It’s a Girl led program that works, and has for over 104 years. At the moment I have mostly younger girls and while I am currently priming them for what you describe, by the time they become Seniors and Ambassadors they pretty much take complete control and formats it pretty much the way you suggested. Keep in mind all leaders are different persons and we will all do things differently, but what you suggested is the prescribed way of doing things. Thanks for the inquiry.

That’s a good idea CWOTUS, I will pass that on to my girls and see what they think about that. Thanks!!

@GSLeader The overnight in my orchard included an astronomy lesson types of telescopes, objects in the night sky, viewing. And we identified a few passing satellites – including a bright Iridium flare reflecting sunlight off the satellite. That was like magic!
It got them thinking about those things up in space.

Of course I have dark sky so we have a nice view wen the weather cooperates.
Here is the best (IMO) site for identifying upcoming satellite events HeavensAbove . It is the one I use.
Look under Satellites, Iridium Flares. You must be very specific about the location.

Remember, though, the magic word here is free. Can’t afford much more in this economy.