Recommended Field Trips:
April Field Trip Ideas

The closest genuine mining experience to NYC is just over an hour's drive from midtown Manhattan. The Franklin Mineral Museum in Franklin, New Jersey, has a dazzling collection that includes fluorescent minerals seen under black light, Native American stone tools and artifacts, marine and wildlife fossils, a life-size mine replica and thousands of mineral specimens. Guided tours are offered hourly in season. There are three mine "dumps" nearby which provide a mining experience. Afterward you can have your minerals identified. Check out the list of minerals that have been found here. The Franklin Museum also hosts a big gem and mineral fair in late April and late September, and other weekend field trips and events. The Sterling Hill Mining Museum also has a fantastic fluorescent mineral display, gold, silver and copper displays, and more, including an outdoor collecting site where visitors can collect six specimens. Additional experiences, such as a fossil sandbox and mine tours, are extra. Both museums are open seven days a week from April to November.

About three hours' drive from the city, in upstate New York halfway between Albany and Syracuse, you can visit Herkimer, New York. Mining Herkimer diamonds, which are clear, double-terminated quartz crystals, is hard work, but a worthwhile adventure for the entire family. Several mines exist in Herkimer, such as the Ace of Diamonds mine. There are many Events, including an annual Homeschoolers Day.

For a local field trip a subway ride away, visit the amazing gem and mineral collection in the American Museum of Natural History. There are also teacher/student resources you can check out on-line.

	Celebrate Passover with a visit to the Rose Haggadah, on view at the Stephen A. Schwarzman building in the New York Public Library at 42nd St. and Fifth Avenue. In three volumes, the Rose Haggadah brings together fifty years of Passover-themed artwork, with works by some of the most prominent American artists of the 20th century. Every year a different volume is opened at this time, accompanied by a video with images from all three volumes. Meanwhile, a fourth volume is in progress. You can also learn about Passover at the Eldridge Synagogue.
Honor the decorative traditions of Easter with a visit to The Ukrainian Museum, on E. 6th St. between 2nd and 3rd Avenues, to see the art of Pysanka: the Ukrainian Easter Egg.
	The month of April goes from bud to branches heavy with blossoms in the Cherry Tree Esplanade of the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. On-line you can find their cherry tree guide and examine the stages of blooms. in Early May, the Sakura Matsuri is their annual rite of spring, celebrating Japanese culture with over 60 events and performances for all ages.

Don't forget to record your experiences with photographs, drawings, stories, maps, scrapbooks, memoirs, reviews, articles, or letters. Make keepsakes, send communications, submit informative articles to homeschool publications, and write and illustrate stories to share with your friends. Use field trips as a starting place to encourage further research and creative projects.