Field Trips Atlanta Georgia

Yay!  My parents live south of Atlanta.  There’s lots to do.  We love Callaway Gardens, which is a fabulous place for nature study, and has a beach (lake) which is rather nice.  There are a bazillion historical sites, so, like mentioned above, it kinda depends on where you’ll be.  Callaway is huge though, and if you’re within driving distance, I’d definitely try to spend a day there.  Tip- if you’re going with several people, it maybe cheaper just to buy a season pass, even if you won’t be returning again during the season.  Just check out the web-site, and you’ll be able to figure out the most economical way to do it.  Also, there are sometimes coupons for Callaway.

Have fun!

LillyLou

This is also my home state. Lots to do down in Atlanta. We loved the Aquarium, Fernbank, High Museum of Art, Cnn Center, Atlanta Zoo and World of Coke. We have always wanted to go to The Botanical Gardens and The Atlanta History Center. Also you cannot  miss a stop for lunch at The Varsity, this is an experience all to itself. Hope this helps some. Have a great trip.

Blessings

Diane

We went last summer and did the Zoo and Botanical Garden among other things. We loved both of these outings.

The zoo is the perfect size to stroll through in about three hours (of course you could take all day depending on the ages of your kids), they have a large veriety of animals and it is set up really well.

We also just adored the Botanical gardens, I really wanted to do the garden but wasn’t sure if my kids would like it since they were pretty young (5, 4, 2 & 8 mo at the time) but we ended up spending the whole day. The kids loved that they could run and play and move and really seemed to be fascinated by the different types of plants and environments they had created. They have a great kids section too with a Peter Rabbit garden, play fountain, etc. Although they enjoyed the non “kid” part of the garden very much as well.

I really hope to be able to return to both of these places again some day as the kids still talk about them. Now that we are doing nature study either place would be a fantastic place for nature notebooking!

But I will second the warning you already received, Atlanta is HOT this time of year :o) Maybe indoor would be better, I’d love to try the art museum……

Our homestate as well! We are from just North of Atl..but live in Middle Ga. currently. We love Stone Mountain! We usually get a season pass. There is so much to do there! If you like camping, they have a nice campground! When we have camped, sometimes we just walk trails, play in the creek, and definitely ride the train. But if you go just once, you would want to participate in it all! They also have lots of seasoned events. Fall Fest is great as well as the Christmas Fest! So much fun! And absolutely catch the famous laser show!

The Rock Ranch(owned by Truett Cathy of Chickfila) is not too far away. It isn’t an amusement park, but it has nice, relaxing, fun things to do!

Downtown Centlennial Park across from Coca Cola and the Aquarium is a nice place to visit as well. Kennesaw Mtn Battlefield Park, about 35 miles from downtown, is a nice place to hike and visit.

I am sure you have much in mind! One thing about Ga, your not too far from mtns or the beach! Have fun!!!

Definitley the Georgia Aquarium!  The Atlanta Zoo is amazing and has a very, very good educational program, with a great staff of “question-answerers”!  I would check the website http://www.zooatlanta.org to see what educational opps are available during the date of your visit.  We actually have two brand, new Sumatran tiger cubs that were just born!  And, a baby gorilla that is I believe 3 months old. 

Depending on the age of your children, you might try the Imagine It! Musuem (http://www.childrensmuseumatlanta.org/exhibits), they have a neat exhibit about Science and Sports, as well as a “Fundamentally Food” exhibit that lets children see what a farm is like (among other exhibits and activities).  Fernbank is great, depending on your children’s love of science, we can easily spend the day there.  I would caution you to check into the main exhibit that is currently on display and make sure you are comfortable with the exhibit – it is on Mythical Creatures.  The next main exhibit is on Darwin (starting Sept 21st, I believe).  Not sure when your trip is and if it would be in the time frame for the Darwin exhibit.  I must confess, I have not requested that the musuem provide me with content information about this exhibit yet, since I have not decided if we will go during that time.  There is a really fun, interactive “Kids Zone” that has just opened, a “Walk Through Georgia” that my son has been through dozens of times (and still wants to go through), etc.

Next to Zoo Atlanta is the Cyclorama, if your children are interested in the Civil War.  It is probably not appropriate for small children.  There is a small musuem-like area, a pre-presentation film, and then the main event, sitting in the rotunda that circulates through the largest painting in the world.  You could easily do the Zoo and Cyclorama in the same day.  The entire experience is about one hour, if I remember correctly.  My son is totally into studying history so we spent a little more time there than most.  http://atlantacyclorama.org/index.php .

The Botanical Garden is fun and has some good educational programs.  After Sept 1st – Hillcrest Orchard in Elijay, is a must-do yearly event for our family.  http://hillcrestorchards.net/index.html .  Not sure where in the Atlanta area you will be, so it may be a bit of a drive. 

I will post again if I can think of anymore!  Enjoy your trip!

Stephanie 

@Queenybell . . . The Aquarium is VERY busy on non-school days and even crazier on or around holidays.  My son has difficulty in enclosed, loud environments so we usually go on days when school is in session and there is not so much of a crowd (unless there are lots of field trips, which has not been so bad the past year or so because the schools cannot afford out of school field trips).  That said, depending on the crowds, I would allow for at least three hours to tour the Aquarium.  My son likes to go through the galleries more than once and read everything (even if he has read everything the previous 10 times!).  We can easily spend the day at either the Zoo or Aquarium, though.  When we go on a school day, most of the time I call ahead to see what approximate numbers are scheduled for field trips that day.  The Aquarium has a cool Penguin crawl that you will probably want to go into too, so I would recommend clothing that mom can crawl in too!  =)

@CSMama . . . Another fun, shorter field trip would be to the Gwinnett Environmental and Heritage Center (http://www.gwinnettehc.org/).   This is in Buford, which would be close to both Brasleton and Lawrenceville (probably less than 30 minutes away, including traffic).  There is a mini-aquarium showcasing marine life that is in each Georgia region.  This smaller musuem teaches about water and conservation.  The entire area is really geared to kids and almost everything has hands on activities and, what I would call, teaching play areas.  There are exhibits teaching how humankind have interacted with water (civilizations built along river banks, how this led to wars, etc.)  It is not super involved, but for us, it springboarded into further discussion and research at home.  There is also a multimedia presentation called Blue Planet that is neat.  If I recall, there is evolution based information presented, but I do not remember it being too overt.  Also, there are good walking trails (though somewhat hilly).

You could also check out the Yellow River Game Ranch (http://www.yellowrivergameranch.com/) – it is a smaller zoo.  Please note that I generally do not take my son here because for some reason I have a panic attack at my son being in proximity to injured or sick animals, even though he cannot touch them.  I am not a total neat freak, but for some reason I totally panic at this place.  I have three younger brother – one would think I would handle the place easily – but somehow I do not.  I do not know anyone else who has this problem so you would probably be fine there.  The setting along the Yellow River is beautiful and there is a great picnic spot overlooking the River.

Not really a field trip, per se, but you would be very close to the Gwinnett Braves (minor league baseball team), which is also in Lawrenceville.  http://www.yellowrivergameranch.com/  This is a fairly inexpensive trip.

Michael C. Carlos Musuem (located at Emory University) is great.  We will be visiting after summer crowds are through.  You can sign up for notifications of kids programs, they do not always post them.  I would suggest reviewing as there may be some aspects that may/may not fit with one’s beliefs and child’s level. http://www.carlos.emory.edu/

You are probably about an hour (maybe more or less) from the University of Georgia, which offers various kids programs throughout the year.  Not sure if this is the main link but it is what I have saved http://www.uga.edu/information/kids-summer.html .  One of the most fun activities we have done at UGA was one that I thought my son would have not been interested in.  UGA does a yearly “Tennis Block Party” that the tennis team leads.  It is a free event, with free pizza and drinks.  There are stations set up for the kids to do tennis drills with the players and coaches.  This has previously been held on a weekday afternoon, so it is perfect for homeschoolers.  There are other art, music, marine science, etc. events that they run.  My son has not been very interested in their art musuem, but your kids may be.  Athens, while a college town, has a very poor demographic so there are TONS of free or low cost family activities.  I would check around for activities in Athens Parent (http://athensparent.com/) and Atlanta Parent (http://www.atlantaparent.com/index.shtml).  Usually, the events in Athens are less crowded than the ones in Atlanta, but this just depends on the activity.

Last one, I think =).  North Georgia has the Wildlife Wonders zoo.  http://www.northgeorgiazoo.com/index.html  We have not been here yet, it is on our fall to-do list.  But it might be worth checking out.

Hope this helps!

Stephanie

We were just at the aquarium last month and the kids cannot wait to go again!  If you can manage it go!