Field Trip Details That Save Your Day

The fastest way to ruin a great field trip is to leave the “small stuff” to chance. Bathrooms, parking, payment rules, group size, refunds, and timing sound boring until you are standing at the door with kids who suddenly need to pee and a host who was not ready for your crew. I want you to walk into your next outing calm, prepared, and ready to have fun. 

We dig into Phase 2 of my Jump Start Field Trip Guide and break down the exact questions to ask a store manager, staff member, or organization before you book. You will hear how to introduce your group as hands-on parents learning alongside our kids, why that one sentence creates a better experience for everyone, and how to pick a group size that actually works for elementary kids. We also cover practical field trip planning tips like discounts, best visiting hours, stroller and space limits, emergency restroom access, and which payment methods to confirm ahead of time. 

If making the call feels intimidating, I share how a simple host script can take away the pressure so you do not have to think on the spot. We also talk about money boundaries like collecting payment up front and asking about the cancellation policy so you are not stuck paying for no-shows. This is all about building a village and creating joyful only child activities through simple, repeatable community outings. 

Subscribe for more only child parenting support, share this with a mom friend who loves planning adventures, and leave a quick review so more families can find the show. What local place would you love to turn into a field trip?

Transcript

Welcome To Family Of One Child

SPEAKER_00 0:04

Hi there and welcome to the Family of One Child podcast. I'm Four Comment, a wife, a part-time working mom, and a full-time believer in making the most of every joyful and sometimes busy moment of raising an only child. If you're ready for real stories, plenty of laughter and parenting tips, you're in the right place. So let's dive into this adventure together. Hi friends and welcome back to the Family of One Child podcast. I'm Foa and I'm so glad that you are here today. If you're listening while folding the laundry, washing the dishes, or you're in the bathroom for two minutes of just trying to get some peace, mama. I am here with you. Or if you're listening while you're driving your child to school, you may be going to the driving to gymnastics or just driving around till your child falls asleep. Whatever season you're in, welcome, girlfriend. So today we are diving into a phase two of the jump start field trip guide. So you're thinking, what jump start field trip guide? It is free. By the way, this guide that I created in the it's a free resource, okay? So I know I said free. F-I-E-E, it's a resource, and I mentioned that in the last episode. So if you're looking and you're wanting to create a field trip group for you and your child, and you want to bring maybe two or three friends, my friends as well, this would be a great resource for you to start with. Okay, so you go to the joyfulgathers press dot com and you go and get your resource there. It's a free resource. There's multiple free resources there. So go to joyfulgathers press.com. Okay. So if you're a mom also with multiple kids and you're listening to this podcast episode, you can totally use this too. I see you as well, mom with multiple kids. You are welcome here as well. So the phase one, the last episode was all about simple and doing doable activities that you were already enjoying with your child. It was like no stress, it was just you and your child doing something that you love. That was phase one. Well, phase two, I'm going to talk about that part. And phase two, it really helps when you do this, it helps the whole experience. It can be very stressful, you know, because there's certain details that you want to take care of before you go on these field trips with you and your child and your friends. Because oh my goodness, I've been doing this for 20 years, and I can tell you details like are there bathrooms? Can you use the bathroom? What is the parking like? Is it far for me to walk with my child? And then you want to know how far or what are the parking space, how many parking spaces are they available? Do I have to bring the exact cash on the day? Do I have to collect it? And if someone wants to bring their stroller, oh my goodness, can I bring my stroller? How many strollers can fit in the store or the location where you're going? So all these details before the field trip with you and your child and your friends, you want to you know know and get the information about this because it helps you focus on what matters the most before you go on the trip, and that is to have fun while you're learning and exploring together with your child, so that way you can just relax and just enjoy that experience, okay? So phase two. Remember, we're only talking about phase two in the jump start field trip. So if you're driving and you're like, okay, don't look at your phone. Uh-uh. So if you're not, if you're at home and you can get to your phone, open up, and you have downloaded that resource, just go to the jump start field trip template. But remember, if you're driving, do not do that, just listen. I mean, what's that song? Just listen. Listen to my heart when I'm calling for you. Isn't that Roxanne? Is that is that even did I get that right? Me and my songs, you know, I'm going to like plug in a song. You're thinking that song had nothing to do with just listen, okay? Just wanna add some fun in there. And if you want to join in, like when I'm singing and you want to harmonize because you know how much I am such a good singer. What? Or maybe you're in the pantry and you're eating your chocolates or chippies, or you're like, oh my goodness, this girl is making me laugh so much. I'm trying to be I'm trying to be quiet. I will whisper and not make you laugh that much. Or if you're thinking, just get on with it for the jump start field trip template phase two, or you could be just standing by the kitchen drinking your coffee, or maybe you're eating something, and you're like, okay, I I'm just gonna listen. Well, mom, you can listen too. Now for the rest of the group, okay, I'll get back to you. I'm gonna walk through the next this next part. So open up if you want to, what you downloaded. So the first one is what do I want the host who may be the store manager, the store owner to know about my group and the purpose of my visit. Okay, so this is what you can you can say to the store manager word for word. You may give them a call or in an email, you can say, Hi, my name is four, and we are hands-on group of moms with elementary kids, and we're here to learn, explore, and discover, have fun. Now, the reason why you want to say hands-on because it helps set the tone that you're in your group, they are there to learn the type of service and products they provide and sell to your community, and it also lets them know you're there to explore and to discover the heart of their business or their organization by listening, and maybe you're gonna listen, they would like to share the history and how they started in the community, and also it really lets them know that you are there, you and your mom friends are there to learn side by side with their children, you're not relying on them to all their staff to babysit your children during their visit. Because I remember when I would call these business places, and there were quite a few, they were like, Oh my, and I would talk to them and they were like, you know, we've had groups come in before, and when the group would show up, either the the adults for some reason it was just like calm, and then they wouldn't be learning side by side, they would take a step back, and then they started to either be on their phone or talk somehow, and so the staff member or the owner had to really rein in the kids, had to tell them, please be quiet, do not be touching this, you know, stop talking, and they told me it was very exhausting for them because they were the parents or the adults, the teachers were there, but they weren't really taking care of helping them to settle the children. So when I told them our group was not that, when we show up, our the adults are wanting to learn with their kids, they're hands-on, they are going to be there with their child with expectation of taking care of their own child. So that is something that you want to you really want to express that to the store and store manager or the staff because you want them to have a good experience with your group as well. When you are visiting, I'm telling when you're visiting organization in your local community or a store, you want to live with a positive experience for them as well as you because then you get a repeat customer, and you know, next time you want to go and visit their location, they are going to be open to receiving your group, and so I just want to let you know let them know that you are hands-on, and your parents, you and your mom friends are also going to learn and be very active with your with the time that you are there. So, next one is what are the hours? This is what you're asking the host, which is could be the store manager, the business owner, or the staff, the person who is managing that place. You're gonna ask them what are the hours, what are the costs, and do you offer any discount groups? Because you want to ask these questions because it's important. This gives you and your group the opportunity because you want to find the best time that's for you all to visit this location, and also for them as well. If they're showing your group around, which means they might need to organize another person to do the group tour because they're taking care of you, so they'll have to ask another person. Okay, we need to have someone take care of that department, you know. They want to make sure that if customers, if they're not closing their store for you, customers are coming in, so they might need two or three more people on that location as opposed to two. They want to be fully prepared, and you also want to feel like your group is not being rushed because when they are talking to your group and they're showing you around, you want them to focus on you, you don't want them to like, oh yes, and this is blah blah blah, and then they're like, Hold on a minute, someone just called, or hold on a minute, someone just rang the bell, or hold on a minute, you'll be like, What in the world? You'll be like holding on, like freeze, and then they'll come back. It's gonna be like uh not a good experience. You want this the start right from the start, the beginning to the end to be a wonderful good flow without focusing on your group for that time, and also if they're selling products and you're interested in their products, I always ask for discounts. And 10 out of 10, they're always gonna if there is a discount, or they might say, Oh, we come during this week because there is a sale. I mean, I'm gonna go and book my meet up myself in that group for that week, so it's a win-win for all. Okay, the next one is you're gonna ask them how many families can comfortably attend. So this gives their the host, it gives them an idea. For example, I went into this store and they could only it was a candy store in my local area, and they could only fit 10 people comfortably, and so I made sure I honor that. I didn't go over it's because yeah, if another family said, Well, can I come? Can it goes, No, I can only fit 10. So you want to if they give you a number, make sure you stick with it, or you might have to say, I can do two trips, one for me, and then you tell the other mom, here the details, maybe you organize that, call them, but I can only take this size group, and also because of the size of the group, just be mindful because if they have if they've opened, they haven't closed that you know the store or that location to the public, that having people coming in and out, so they might give you smaller numbers, so just letting you know, knowing how many you're asking them for your group, how many people can attend, and then also as well when it comes to questions. I noticed my sweet spot for the numbers were 10 people total, because when a child is asking a question or an adult, you want to give them time and you want to make sure they have the space to ask questions. If you have too many people in your group, maybe and you only have, for example, my field trip groups were only the time frame was only 40 minutes to one hour. That worked for us. So within that time, in the learning about the location, the going around and touring the place, asking questions, you want to make sure that the group is small enough that each person has time to ask, and you I find that a lot of times a lot of parents ask more than more than the children, so it is a learning for everyone. So you want to make sure that everyone has time to ask their questions, and you want the person, the store manager, or the staff have time to answer them back. So just remember when you're taking you and your child and your mom friends with their kids, just be mindful. Will everyone have time to ask their questions? You don't want to make this group too big, so that's what I'm saying. Maybe two or three mums all together, and I know some of you have multiple families, so if it's if you have like you and your child, and then if you have a mom with like five children, well, that's like okay, and then she needs to bring another person. I would just leave that, just you and that family, because by the time you get to the location, you're all asking questions and you're all exploring together, and I'm just saying it's not too overwhelming for the person who is doing the tour with your group. You want to make it enjoyable for them as well, so not only for you, but you got to think about the person who is touring or teaching your group, okay? The next one is are the rest rooms available and easy to access? This was important for me. It's so important because me, I go to the bathroom a lot. Was that way too much information? I mean, I went to the bathroom a lot when my child was little, and I still go to the bathroom. I tell you, I think I just say the word and I need to go. So, and also with little kids, we know you tell them go to the bathroom before we leave home, and they're like, Okay, I don't need to go. And then you tell them, Are you sure you don't need to go? They uh yeah, and then you you know you you encourage them to go, so they do go, but then somehow when we get there, maybe they need to go. So I tell the store, if the store or the location says no, we don't have any public restrooms available, I tell them because I know there's always there's always a bathroom in the office, like there's no way there won't be any. Uh it'd be very unique if the location had no bathroom for the staff room because I'm questioning where are they going to the bathroom? So this is how I ask the manager for emergency purposes. If one of my the you know, the the moms in my group or my child needs to go, can they go? I understand it's not open for the public, but this will be an emergency, and then they always say 10 out of 10, I always get a positive yes. So that way I know if there's an emergency and someone needs to go to the bathroom, that is taken care of. We do have access to go to the bathroom, and they're really fine about it. I never gotta know, I always gotta show that is fine. Okay, so the next one is depending when you go to the location, what kind of payments, what type of payments do they want your group to pay with cash the exact amount? Is it card? Is it digital apps available? You want to take care of this detail as well because there's nothing worse than showing up, and they say, like, we only take cash, and you're like, Oh my goodness, well, you're looking in your purse, I don't have any cash. Sometimes that's mostly me. I usually take my husband's cash. I'm like, I'm looking in his wallet. So if I had a field trip, I'm like, hey, I don't have anything, so it's uh when you go to the location, right? And you like and that store manager says, Okay, I don't have cash, there's nowhere and you say, Well, I have a granola bar, I have some gum, I have my you know, a child's favorite toy and a Walmart recipe. Do you take chickens? Does that count? You know, they're gonna look at you and they're gonna say, No, and then you're gonna look at your other mom friends like does anyone have exact cash? Now you could be the person that always carries cash around, but I'm just telling you, this type of detail you want to take care of, and that's just one less thing you have to be concerned about when you show up on the day. So the next one is what type I mean, you when you show up, you want to find out about the parking. Is it free parking? Is how many cars can park there? Is it on the street? Do you have to walk like 20 minutes or two blocks down? You want to find this all out before you show up at the location. So, also you want to ask this the host, or you know, once again, I'm a mean the store manager or the place that you're booking. How early should you book with them? Some places might need a month, some places might say, Oh, we're good, come within the week, or just give us a few days. It's always good to ask, but you want to work around your schedule too. First, does that work for you? Because you want to serve what's best for you because you're the one creating this positive experience for you and your child. So pick the day that works best for you once you give them the days, then ask your friends. So I did that, and it worked best for me. So remember, taking care of these details really helps you to have that positive experience, and you want it to be fun for you and your child. That way, the more information you have, the more prepared you are just to enjoy the day. Before we keep going, you know what time it is, it's a shout-out, and I love this part because it reminds me that this community we're building is literally, literally stretching across states, countries, and time zones. So I want to thank you because someone is listening to this podcast while making dinner, you know, while cleaning the house or just doing the laundry. And so I just want to say hello. Hello, hello, and today I wanted to give you a shout out. And the first one I want to give a shout out to is from Ashburn, Virginia. Hi to the listener there to Springfield, Massachusetts, Newtown, Iowa, Navarre, Florida, Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Concord, North Carolina, Malpedis, California, New Britain, Connecticut, San Francisco, California, Boston, Massachusetts, Adelaide, South Australia, Fredericksburg, Virginia in Sydney, New South Wales. Hi friends, I see you all and I appreciate you all. I mean, I used to have a stutter problem. I I mean I I mean even when you listen to this podcast, sometimes sometimes I'm like going blah blah uh uh uh uh uh uh I don't know but I used to stutter or when I would call I would not I didn't know what I was saying. So for me, I just as long as I followed a list, or sometimes I just practiced what I said, or I just got someone else to say it until I was able to make it. But I know there are many mums who may be thinking, Oh my goodness, I don't want to call. Well, that is why with one of the free resources, the host script template, that is there for you to use, so you can use those exact words, just go to the host script if you would like to use that script to call the business or with your email, and you won't even have to think about it, just you can set it from word for word. So remember, just go to the joyfulgathers press.com website, and you will find your free FREE resources there. Okay, the next one. Now you know you go, you're talking about the next one, is about the money. Remember, you have to you need to know about the cost, does it cost where your location, your field trip is? What type of payment methods do they want you to use? And do you get group discounts and then the group size? And so here when you're taking care of this, also ask about the cancellation policy because some places that you book with them, they may not give you refunds. So when you're booking and creating this field trip for your group, make sure you collect the money up front first from the people that are attending, and you want to let your friends know if they're not able to attend this field trip, they're not they cannot get their money back because you've already given it to the store, and that way you let them know it it helps you and it reminds them that you will not be paying that money from your own pocket because remember you've collected the money, and you this store is you have to pay that to the store. So tell your friends if you this store does not give out refunds, so either you lose it or you need to tell me if you're coming or not. Give me plenty of notice, and seriously, you don't want to be paying that out of your own pocket pocket, and so taking care of this once again helps you and your child to have fun, you know, like that song, girls just the one and have fun. Did I hit that note, or did it just go out the window and just keep going to Mars over the moon? Yeah, so you just want to have fun with your child, you want to learn and discover, and details like this you want to take care of, you don't want to focus on it on the day, okay? So that is why you want to ask about the cancellation policy. Okay, so this one here, the next one is safety, comfort, and you're doing your final trick. Check now you have gotten information about the day of when you're going, the parking, you got the restroom, you know about the payments, what type of payments, and you know about the group size, and you told them your hands-on group. See, now that you've got all that information and you know those details, you can just show up and have fun. I will not sing that song. Give us just the one just the one uh, just the okay, let's get going. So, even though phase two might feel a lot a lot of work, this helps you to build your village, it's gonna help you build your connection because you're taking care of business. Taking care of business, can this be a podcast? Sing, sing along. Well, am I only the only one singing? Okay, so walking through this jump field trip template step by step, it's going to help you create a positive experience that you are wanting for your child, and you want your mom friends to enjoy it with you, okay? So, once again, when you go through this step by step, it helps you to have a smooth experience. So use these free resources, and if you're like, oh my goodness, I just cannot do it, give it to another mom friend in your group and say, Here, use these resources and you can use this to create a fun field trip for us. Just like, here you go, read it and listen to this episode so you can do this for us, mom. You are doing the best you can with the time that's given with the resources you have. You are doing a great job. I mean, seriously, you are amazing, you are amazing, mom, for your child. You are an amazing wife for your husband. So, I want to continue on to encourage you, continue on letting you know that you are amazing. You're giving to your family, you're giving to your community. Remember to give to yourself, give yourself a big hug. God loves you, I love you. I am your friend for I'll see you in the next episode. Remember, be a friend to yourself as well. You're amazing. Bye.