Grow Your Program
Schools Want Field Trip Ideas: How Theatres Can Help
Introducing young people to the arts is a core part of any theatre’s mission. That’s especially true if your theatre has an education program. Fortunately, teachers and homeschool groups are always on the lookout for fun and educational field trip ideas. If you can market theatre productions to teachers and homeschool parents, you can fill the house while you fulfill your mission.
Teachers and homeschool groups are always on the lookout for fun and educational field trip ideas like theatre productions.
We’ll show you how to connect with teachers and homeschool groups, plus offer some ways theatres can make their performances and programs more enticing.
School Field Trips Are an Opportunity for Theatres
School groups offer some unique opportunities for community theatres and theatre groups. They allow you to reach a large group of people all at once, if you’re considering how to promote a play or grow enrollment in your acting classes. Attracting school field trips helps you to:
- expose new audiences to theatre in general and prospective theatre students to your arts education program in particular;
- form community partnerships with K-12 educators and homeschool groups;
- fulfill your mission of making the arts accessible to all (for some kids a field trip is their first theatre experience).
Once students are exposed to your theatre on a field trip, many want to return for classes or camps.
The benefits last long after the field trip is over. Once students are exposed to the theatre, many want to return again and again. Some may even choose to attend your classes or camps. And over time, the relationships you build with local teachers, schools, and homeschool groups can grow into a tradition. Imagine bringing generations of students into your theatre.
How to Find Homeschool Groups
It’s easy to find schools in your community. You probably already know where they are and you or your children may have attended one of them yourselves. Homeschool groups and co-ops may seem more challenging to connect with, but they’re actually easy to find if you know how to look.
You can find homeschool groups by using the online databases available from the Home School Legal Defense Association or at Homeschool.com. A simple Facebook or Google search may also turn up groups in your area that would be happy to hear from you.
Make it easy for parents in homeschool groups to find opportunities and field trip ideas with your theatre.
Parents in homeschool groups tend to be highly motivated to find opportunities for their children, including looking for homeschool field trip ideas. Make it easy for them by reaching out and proactively sharing information about upcoming kid-friendly performances, camps, or classes.
Tips for Attracting Field Trips
- Promote With a Purpose – Don’t rely on your general marketing materials to attract school groups. Teachers are busy and have curriculum goals for their students. It’s not enough that a performance is entertaining or emotionally stirring. They need to see how it will enrich their students.
- Connect Content and Curriculum – Look for opportunities to connect what happens on stage with what students are learning in the classroom. For example, a production of You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown might teach kids about friendship, community, and imagination. It could also be a starting point for a lesson on different story formats (plays, comic strips, TV shows, etc.) Websites like KidsKonnect might even offer worksheets you can share with teachers.
- Reach Out to Schools – Send flyers and special invitations directly to schools to let them know about your student-friendly productions. Outline any group discounts or special packages you may be offering. You might even offer to perform a scene or song during an assembly to get kids excited about the production.
- Offer Special Incentives – If you’re charging schools for tickets, try to build in some extra incentives. At Carroll County Arts Council productions, one adult chaperone is admitted free with every 10 paid student tickets. Another CourseStorm customer, Miami Theater Center, provides free transportation to and from performances. You can also offer tours of the theater, free snacks, or Q&As with the cast and crew.
- Convert Students Into Lifelong Theatergoers – Keep kids and their families coming back to the theatre by making sure each student goes home with a flyer about your upcoming season. Consider offering a special discount code students can use later to bring their families to the theatre. This is also a great time to promote any classes, camps, or after-school programs you offer.
Diverse Theatre Experiences Help You Reach More Students
Students may be delighted to see a play in your theatre, but you can also offer so much more. Our friends over at Savannah Children’s Theater invite students to put on a play! Theatre staff help the students rehearse and perform a curriculum-based musical comedy while teachers watch the performance.
They also bring the theatre to the students, offering live theatre performances in classrooms and on school campuses. These flexible options help teachers and homeschool groups find the theatre experience that’s right for their students.
If your theater offers classes or camps, check out our article on how theaters can boost enrollment in performing arts classes.
Natasha Wahid
Natasha is a seasoned marketing leader with a curious mind and a passion for storytelling and community. A mission-driven person, Natasha has spent the majority of her career in industries that impact people, including HR and education technology. A firm believer in lifelong learning, Natasha is currently sharpening her roller skating skills and dusting off her Italian.