Field Trips
Set on 48 acres of coastal farmland in Bristol, Rhode Island, Coggeshall Farm Museum recreates the daily experience of tenant farmers on a late 18th-century salt marsh farm through live interpretation, historic structures, heirloom plants, and heritage-breed animals.
The dynamic living history environment is the perfect setting for field trips for students of all ages! Teachers have an option between guided tours or a self-guided visit. After your program, feel free to enjoy a picnic lunch on the farm! See below for program details.
Questions? Email CoggeshallED@osv.org.
Field Day
Designed for all ages, Pre-K through 12
Celebrate 50 years of Coggeshall Farm Museum’s favorite activities with our all-ages Field Day program. Learn colonial games and sports in our pasture, try your hand at splitting and sawing wood, take a nature hike, meet our animals, help with seasonal chores, and learn 18th-century history with our interpreters. Perfect for large grade levels! Field Day is our most flexible field trip option and typically lasts 2 hours.
Please contact CoggeshallED@osv.org if you’d like to bring multiple grade levels or have specific requests.
Pricing:
- $10 per student, $10 per chaperone, and free for up to two teachers
Our Big Backyard
Designed for Preschoolers and Kindergarteners
In this approximately 2 hour program, students will experience a total feast for the senses as they explore our working living history farm museum. Meet our farm animals, search for signs of wildlife, and use all five senses to discover our farmyard. Students will also learn about what animals need to survive and how we can provide those things for wild and domestic animals here at the farm.
Pricing:
- Our Big Backyard and museum admission: $8 per student, $10 per chaperone, FREE for teachers (one per class)
Citizen Kid
Designed for 1st and 2nd Grade Students
Our farm—past and present—plays an important role in our community. On this field trip students will learn about their place in the community and the roles of children at the turn of the 18th century. Students will try out the different ways that children in the 18th century helped on their family farm, what school was like for the children at the time and what kids did when there was time to play. All of this learning and growing helped children to become good future citizens in their community. This program is approximately 2 hours long.
Pricing:
- $10 per student, $10 per chaperone, and free for up to two teachers
Strong Roots
Designed for 3rd Grade Students
Join Coggeshall Educators as we explore the natural ecosystems and habitats around us. Discover how plants, animals, and humans work together to create a rich and beautiful world and find out how we can be stewards of the earth starting in our own backyards. Through hands-on activities, learn how Coggeshall is answering the important question: What can farming from the past teach us about farming for our future? This program is approximately 2 hours long.
Pricing:
- $10 per student, $10 per chaperone, and free for up to two teachers
Who Tells Your Story?
Designed for 4th and 5th Grade Students
Using primary sources, students will learn about the lives of three separate groups who lived in Bristol Harbor– Indigenous, Settlers, and Enslaved. After investigating the history of the Bristol slave trade and the Pokanoket tribe, students will have an opportunity to try their hands at some of the practical skills and lessons imparted by 18th-century writers.
This program is approximately 2 hours. Due to the depth and scale of this program, we recommend this field trip for groups of less than 40 students per field trip. If you are able to split large grade levels into two separate days, please note it in the comments or email coggeshalled@osv.org.
Pricing:
- $10 per student, $10 per chaperone, and free for up to two teachers
History Deep Dive
Designed for High School Students
Looking for supplemental learning for your class? Bring your students to Coggeshall for a deep dive into a variety of 18th-century topics. Learn from our historians on a 2-hour-long guided walking tour of our 1796 homestead. There are many possible topics including: Farming and the American Dream, Foodways and Culture, Textiles: From Sheep to Loom, Animal Care and Husbandry, Hearth, and Home, or Untold History: The Bristol Slave Trade.
Pricing:
- $10 per student, $10 per chaperone, and free for up to two teachers
