I was trying to thinking of something a little different to post about today. I took a walk through my iphoto folder and came across an idea that I am shocked I haven’t shared yet – the Apple Store Field Trip. It’s like the holy grail of field trips, right? A complete trip dedicated to playing with iPads. You’ve gotta be freaken kidding me. My little bundles of joy were quite literally (as said in the voice of Rob Lowe from Parks and Rec) over the moon. Heck they were so far past the moon they didn’t even know where the solar system was at. Busting.at.the.seems.
You want to know why this teacher was over the moon excited. This trip was free. No gimmicks. No donations. No hoopla. Just sign up and it’s free. I was super nervous about how the staff would be with a group of kids with autism. They were amazing – so sweet and accommodating. So if you are looking for a fun end of the year, start of the year, or any freaken time of the year field trip – look into this!
For our trip – we did an iMovie trailer tutorial (check out my tutorial here). The staff explained to the kids how to use iMovie on the iPads. On iMovie there are different templates for a variety of types of trailers (scary movie, superhero, fairy tale, adventure, etc.) that you can input your own videos and information into. The kids then got in small groups and each group had an iPad to make their own movie trailer on the iPads. Then in the end – we all got to watch each other’s movies on the big tv in the Apple Store. My guys were dying. Sobbing laughing, squealing with delight, and having an utter blast.
Again the staff were all amazingly helpful and patient. The students all got free t-shirts and tote bags. Plus – they let us hang out for a little bit after and play with all the iPads set up around the store. Find a better field trip than this. I dare you.
I am linking up with the Eager Teacher’s Teachers Talking Tech Linky Party. Check out the other cool tech ideas 🙂
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9 Responses
Oh wow, how fabulous!
Kara
Spedventures
This is such a great idea!!! I didn’t know you could do such a thing. I would love to take my kids next year. I’m going to use iMovie for a creative writing activity. Thanks for sharing and for helping me get my party started!
Sarah
The Eager Teacher
Miss Eager
Thank you so much for sharing. We have an Apple Store on our Transit bus line. Can’t wait to set a trip up!
Thanks for a great linky 🙂
No problem – it’s a hidden secret!
Ah! I wish I saw this a few weeks ago! What a great field trip–I’ll have to look into it for next year!
Just set up a trip for mid-June. (We are in school until the 26th, ugh!) I am excited about it, but the person I talked to at the Apple store sounded a little nervous! The store is in the mall, so I figure we can go there, then to the food court for lunch. McDonald’s was a favorite earlier this month. Thanks for the tip!
Next year for sure! It’s SO fun! 🙂
Ahh exciting! Let me know how it goes 🙂