Vala's Pumpkin Patch

Home >> Group Information >> School Field Trips

Fall School Classroom Field Trips For 2010: A Day of Learning and Fun on the Farm

Part of our mission at Vala’s Pumpkin Patch & Fall Festival is to provide education through entertainment. We now live in a time when many children think milk comes from refrigerators and vegetables are grown in produce aisles. The land that is now Vala’s Pumpkin Patch has been a working farm for over 100 years. When school children visit Vala’s, we want them to have fun running through the pumpkin fields, and visiting our petting corral, but our greatest hope is that they will leave with a greater understanding of agriculture and an appreciation for Nebraska heritage.

School Field Trips Reservation On-line Reservation Form or call (402) 332-4200

There is lots to learn at Vala's
(allow 1 to 3 hours)
Teachers and parents may lead their class:

On a hayride to the pumpkin field
To see the NEW Barnyard Animal Band Show
On the Pumpkin Creek Train Ride
Through a short school group version of our new corn maze
To the “milk the cow” display in the Dairy Barn
To see the Pigtucky Derby Pig Races (always a favorite)
To see the Pumpkin-Eating Dragon Show
Through the Newly-Decorated Storybook Barn
Into the Petting Corral and Bunnyville
To play in the Corn Wagon Play area
To see the educational displays about Honey Bees, Farm Life, Cow Facts, and Railroads
Into the Apple Education Barn
To play on the Great Pumpkin Jump

SEVEN Great Fall Field Trip Tours to choose from

Apple Pickin’ Fun

September 28th through October 16th, Monday through Friday, 9 am to 3:30 pm Your class will be taken into the Apple Education Barn and then into the orchard to learn from our staff members about how apples are grown. Children will learn how to pick an apple, the importance of honey bees, how apples grow in the orchard, and other agricultural information appropriate for the developmental level of the class. Each child will pick and take home a small bag of apples. Allow 30 to 40 minutes for the lesson and orchard experience.
$6.50 per child for Admission, Train Ride, bag of apples, and activities
$6.50 per parent or adult volunteer for Admission, Train Ride, and activities
$6.50 for each sibling, includes Admission, Train Ride, & a bag of apples (Babies & 1-year-olds are free)
FREE for Teachers and Paid School Staff, Admission, Train Ride, and activities

Pumpkin Harvest(Fun For all ages)

September 28th through October 30th, Monday through Friday, 9 am to 3:30 pm. This is a teacher-guided experience on the farm. Children take a hay rack ride to the pumpkin fields, pick a pumpkin, and visit all the other activities on the farm. Teachers, look for the Apple Sign for on-the-farm teaching opportunities. The Apple Education Barn is open for all school groups, with educational displays and an observational beehive. Each child will take home a small pumpkin and a Vala’s Pumpkin Patch coloring book.
$6.50 per child for Admission, Train Ride, Pumpkin, and activities
$6.50 per parent or adult volunteer for Admission, Train Ride, and activities
$6.50 for each sibling, includes Admission, Train Ride, & a small pumpkin (Babies & 1-year-olds are free)
FREE for Teachers and Paid School Staff, Admission, Train Ride, and activities

Apple & Pumpkin Pickin' Combination Fun(Fun For all ages)

September 28th through October 16th, Monday through Friday, 9 am to 3:30 pm. Your class will have all of the experiences in the Apple Pickin’ Fun and Pumpkin Harvest Fun Programs. This field trip will have your children talking about the farm for months afterward. Allow 30 to 40 minutes for the lesson and orchard experience.
$7.50 per child for Admission, Train Ride, Pumpkin, Apples, and activities
$6.50 per parent or adult volunteer for Admission, Train Ride, and activities
$6.50 for each sibling, includes Admission, Train Ride & a small pumpkin (Babies and 1-year-olds are free)
FREE for Teachers and Paid School Staff, Admission, Train Ride, and activities

Calamity Jan's Gem Mining Tour,(for 2nd, 3rd, 4th, & 5th Graders)

September 28th through October 30th, Monday through Friday, 9 am to 3:30 pm. Give your students a hands-on experience "sluicing" for gold like the miners in the old west. Our staff members will give students a brief history of old west mining, the need for sluicing, and a demonstration. Then each child will receive their own bag of "mining rough" containing gems or fool's gold. They will receive a bag for their gems and a card to identify the various gems and minerals. After the lesson, visit the rest of Vala's Pumpkin Patch, take a train ride, and pick a pumpkin from the field. Allow 1 hour for the lesson and sluicing experience.
$9.00 per student for Admission, Gold Mining, Train Ride, Pumpkin, and activities
$6.50 per parent or adult volunteer for Admission, Train Ride, and activities
$6.50 for each sibling of students, includes a small pumpkin (Babies and 1-year-olds are free)
FREE for Teachers and Paid School Staff, Admission, Train Ride, and activities

It's All About Pollination! And Pumpkins!
(For Preschoolers through 5th Graders)

Offered on Tuesdays and Thursdays in October, this 1/2 hour educational lesson is taught by honeybee expert Wendy Fletcher, owner of It's All About Bees. Lessons are designed differently for each grade level. Learn about pollination, the importance of bees on the farm, hive behavior, how bees make honey, how honey is collected, and more. See the bees at work in the glass bee hive. Students will take home a 8 oz. Honey Bear. This is science full of fun! Before or after the lesson, visit the rest of Vala's Pumpkin Patch, take a train ride, and pick a pumpkin from the field. Allow 45 minutes for the lesson.
Cost:$9.00 per student for Admission, Lesson, Train Ride, Pumpkin, Honey Bear, & activities
$6.50 per parent or adult volunteer for Admission, Train Ride, Lesson, & activities
$6.50 for siblings of students, includes a small pumpkin
Babies and 1-year-olds are free
FREE for Teachers and Paid Staff

Pollination, Apple & Pumpkin Pickin' Combination Fun(For All Ages)

Science can be fun in the field, in the orchard, and in the classroom. Let our staff lead lessons in pollination and apple growing and have fun with a hayrack ride to the pumpkin field. This combines all the experiences of the Apple Pickin', Pumpkin Harvest, and It's All About Pollination tours. Children will take home a bag of apples, a pumpkin, a coloring book, and an 8 oz. Honey Bear. Allow about 1 hour and 15 minutes for the lessons and orchard experience.
This experience is only available on the following 4 days
Tues. Oct. 6th, Thurs. Oct 8th, Tues. Oct 13th, and Thurs. Oct. 15th.
$12.00 per student for Admission, Lessons, Train Ride, Pumpkin, Honey Bear, & activities
$6.50 per parent or adult volunteer for Admission, Train Ride, Lesson, & activities
$6.50 for siblings of students, includes a small pumpkin
Babies and 1-year-olds are free
FREE for Teachers and Paid Staff

"Let's Do It All" Combination Fun(For 2nd through 5th Grade)

This is a combination of It's All About Pollination lesson, the Gem Mining lesson and sluicing experience, the Apple Education lesson and orchard experience, plus the Pumpkin Pickin' and all the other activities at Vala's. Students will take home an 8 oz. Honey Bear, a bag of apples from the orchard, a pumpkin, and a bag of gems.
This experience is only available on the following 4 days
Tues. Oct. 6th, Thurs. Oct 8th, Tues. Oct 13th, and Thurs. Oct. 15th
Because of the limited availability, you must reserve this by phone at (402) 332-4200.
$16.00 per student for Admission, 3 Lessons, Train Ride, Apples, Pumpkin, Honey Bear, Gem Mining, & activities
$6.50 per parent or adult volunteer for Admission, Train Ride, Lesson, & activities
$6.50 for siblings of students, includes a small pumpkin
(Babies and 1-year-olds are free)
FREE for Teachers and Paid Staff

Add one of these experiences to the above programs:

Pioneer Days,for all ages

Every Tuesday and Friday, from 10 am to 2 pm is Pioneer Day at Vala's Pumpkin Patch. Hear from our staff how pioneers lived and worked. Ask for the "pioneer" at Calamity Jan's Mining Store. Free with your school group admission.

Pioneer Candle Dipping,for ages 7 & up (2nd Grade & up)
Each child will learn how and why the pioneers used candles for light. They will each dip a candle to take home with them. Available every Tuesday from 10 am to 2 pm.
Additional Cost: - $1.00 per child
Wagon Train Doll-Making & Wooden Wagon Train Model-Making,for ages 6 & up (1st Grade & up)
Each child will learn about life of the pioneers as they traveled west by wagon train and choose to make either a rag doll or a wooden model of a covered wagon. All materials and instructions are included. Allow 30 to 45 minutes.
Additional Cost - $5.00 per child

Check-In

Upon arrival one teacher should go to the Admissions Barn window, pay, and receive the stickers for admission. Please have the other teachers and volunteers unload the children and have them wait near the entrance, but out of the parking lot. A Vala’s staff member will be helping to direct the children to a safe area to wait. After checking in have everyone put on the Vala's Pumpkin Patch sticker. Everyone must be wearing a sticker to pass through the admissions gate and to ride the train. The pumpkin tour includes coloring books and bags for the pumpkins for each child.

Quick & Easy Check-In

Bypass the event day check-in by paying in advance and picking up the admission stickers and pumpkin bags before you arrive. On the day you arrive each child should have their sticker on and, if doing the pumpkin tour, their bag with them. You can even have the bags pre-labeled with each child's name. If you are doing the Apple Tour, bring the children's name labels with you since the bags are handed out during the Apple Education session. When you arrive, unload and procede as a group through the admission gates. The stickers serve as your admission ticket and train ticket. If you have some last minute add-ons or late arrivals, such as parents with siblings, they can pay on their own at the Admissions Barn at the school group rate and join the group at a designated time or place.

Amount of Time

School groups may stay until 3:30 pm if time permits. Some groups stay for the day and other groups stay 1 to 3 hours. The Pigtucky Derby Pig races, with an educational lesson included, lasts 20 minutes and is scheduled every hour on the hour beginning at 10 am. The hayride to the pumpkin field lasts about 30 minutes, and is a favorite activity of school children. The Pumpkin-Eating Dragon show begins on the half-hour, starting at 10:30 am. The train ride is about 8 minutes long.
Lunch
$3.75 per person - Cheese Pizza, Hot Dog, or Peanut Butter Sandwich, Chips, and Drink
Class Snack Pack
$18.00 - 1 gallon of Apple or Cherry Cider (serves 15 to 20) cups provided for each person 2 dozen fall cookies
Classrooms are also welcome to bring their own food. There are plenty of picnic tables.

Homeschooler Days

Tuesday, September. 29th
Tuesday, October 6th
Tuesday, October 13th
Parents and their homeschooled children may take advantage of the school group student rates and stay all day and evening. Prices vary according to the type of school tour. Apple Education, Gem Mining, and Pollination lessons need to be scheduled before 2 pm. (Call 402-332-4200 to set this up) Simply identify yourself as a Homeschool family or group. All adults are $6.50 and babies under age 2 are free. On-line booking is available for groups of 20 or more. Call for groups of less than 20 (402-332-4200).