Long Ago & Today
Ages 4, 5 & 6
Young learners will explore connections between long ago and today through play, dance, storytelling and hands-on activities. All groups will make and take home a textile craft, learn about history, study the parts of a chicken, explore a 1917 railroad caboose and visit a turn-of-the-20th-century Florida family's cabin.
Each group will be greeted by a tour guide who will lead young learners through activities that highlight Florida from long ago. All groups will make and take home a textile craft, learn about chickens, explore a 1917 railroad caboose and visit a turn-of-the-20th-century Florida family's cabin.
Tour Time: 10:15am-12:00pm
Dates: Tuesday - Fridays on the following dates: March, April & May 2024
Student Cost: $10 per student
Chaperones: One adult (teacher or chaperone) per ten students is required and admitted for free. Additional adults pay the rate of $12 each. Cracker Country is not open to the public during your visit. Individual tickets cannot be sold at the gate.
Add-on: Add a souvenir packet for your students for $2 per student! Each packet includes a wooden 12 inch ruler, a Cracker Country pencil, and a keychain. This program does not include a visit to the gift shop. Please contact us at Museum@floridastatefair.com if you are interested.
Rural Home Life
Grades 1-5
Bring your students and discover the daily lives of Florida’s pioneers. Spend the morning immersed in a rural Florida community of the past and learn how a late 19th century rural family survived. Try your hand at farm and household chores, explore community buildings and learn the skills of Florida’s pioneers. Students will take back to their modern world knowledge of the differences and similarities between their lives and those of children in 1898. All groups will dip a candle, visit our train station and shop in our Cracker Country General Store.
Tour Time: 10:00am-12:15pm
Dates: Tuesday - Fridays on the following dates: Sept 19-Dec 7, 2023; March, April & May 2024
Student Cost: $10 per student
Chaperones: One adult (teacher or chaperone) per ten students is required and admitted for free. Additional adults pay the rate of $12 each. Cracker Country is not open to the public during your visit. Individual tickets cannot be sold at the gate.
Add-on: Add our Florida Industry program as part of your tour and stay until 2:15pm for $16 per student & $18 per adult. Grades 4-8 only.
Image: School House built circa 1912
Extended Day Add-on
Grades 4-5
Stay a little longer and explore some of Florida’s pioneering industries. What makes Florida a good place to raise cattle? What vegetables did Florida farmers choose to grow? Did orange trees always grow here? Why was steam power important to historic Floridians?
What to expect: Learn to pack like a cowhunter and make a leather craft to take home; explore the history of citrus in the Sunshine State and sample some home-grown orange juice; design an advertisement to bring more farmers to 1890s Florida; experience our collection of antique stationary steam engines!
Please Note: This tour takes place in Cracker Country.
Tour Time: 1:00pm-2:00pm
Student Cost: $16 per student - includes the price of our Rural Home Life School Tour in the AM.
Chaperones: One adult (teacher or chaperone) per ten students is required and admitted for free. Additional adults pay the rate of $18 each. The museum is not open to the public during your visit. Individual tickets cannot be sold at the gate.
Image: Chuck Wagon
Field Trip FAQs
Lunch?
Groups are welcome to bring a picnic lunch. Picnic tables and restroom facilities are provided for use after the tour ends at 12:15pm.
Please leave all lunches and coolers in a vehicle until it is time for lunch. Please note there are no food services facilities on the Fairgrounds.
Shopping?
In the Cracker Country General Store you will find a wide selection of historical toys, games, candy, books, 1890s reproductions and much more. Prices start at an affordable $0.40. The General Store accepts cash, Visa, Master Card, and personal checks with ID. Proceeds from sales in the General Store help support Cracker Country's education programs.
Please note: Florida Industry & Long Ago & Today Field Trips do not include a visit to the museum gift shop.
What is not Permitted?
No food or drink is permitted inside of the museum (with the exception of water bottles). Please leave all lunches and coolers on the bus. There are water breaks built into your tour and numerous water fountains located throughout the museum that you may use at any time.
For the safety of historic artifacts and the comfort of all visitors, students are not allowed to wear backpacks. However, adults may bring bags if necessary.
Payment?
All student and adult admissions must be included in one payment. No one will be able to purchase a ticket separate from the group. Please make all checks payable to the Florida State Fair Authority. We accept all major credit cards.
Deposit?
A $50.00 non-refundable deposit is due 30 after your field trip is confirmed by Cracker Country. If payment is not received by this date, your group may not be eligible to attend the field trip. Make checks payable to the Florida State Fair Authority and mail to: Attn: Cracker Country P.O. Box 11766 Tampa, Fl. 33680
Pay Online: https://floridastatefair.ticketspice.com/cracker-country-school-deposits-2023-2024
The remaining balance, after subtracting the $50.00 deposit, will be due the day of your field trip. We recognize that student numbers can and do change, so fees will be adjusted based on the number of students attending the day of your tour. We regret that we are not able to accept purchase orders so please plan to pay by cash, check or credit card when you arrive.
Weather?
Field Trips take place rain or shine. Please encourage your group to dress appropriately for outdoor activities.
In the event of severe weather... During heavy rain or severe weather we may cancel your tour the day of the tour by calling the phone number you provide. Due to Florida's quickly changing forecasts a decision to cancel will never be made prior to the date of your tour. If we cancel your tour due to severe weather, we will make every effort to reschedule your group on an alternative date.
Group Size Minimum?
A minimum of 15 participants is required for a field trip program. Groups with fewer participants may be booked for a minimum fee of $150.00 (equivalent to 15 paid admissions).
Cancellations?
If you cancel your field trip 30 days or more after it has been confirmed, you will owe a $50.00 cancelation fee. All cancellations must be in writing and emailed to Museum@FloridaStateFair.com or mailed to:
Attn: Cracker Country
P.O. Box 11766
Tampa, Fl. 33680
Chaperones?
The Florida State Fairgrounds requires one adult (teacher or chaperone) per every 10 students. All required adults receive free admission for the field trip. Adults accompanying the group beyond the required number of chaperones must each purchase an admissions ticket through your school. Cracker Country is not open to the public during your visit. Individual tickets cannot be sold at the gate.
Chaperones and adults are responsible for the behavior of the group and are required to supervise and stay with students at all times during the visit.
All adult chaperones must arrive on time and enter the field trip with the school. The gates into the Fairgrounds will be closed once the field trip program begins, so late chaperones CANNOT be admitted.
Upon arrival
When you arrive for your Cracker Country field trip our staff will greet you in the parking lot. We will assign tour guides for your classes and introduce you to your experience. Your students will be participating in many hands-on experiences - so please have your students leave their belongings including backpacks and purses on the bus.
Directions: All vehicles are to enter the Florida State Fairgrounds via the Orient Rd Service Entrance only. Follow our directions located HERE. Please note GPS will bring you to a locked gate.
Field Trip Vocabulary
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Vocabulary:
Caboose: a car usually at the rear of a freight train for the use of the train crew and railroad workers.
Long Ago: in the distant past.
Plant (v): to put or set a seed in the ground to grow.
Rural: relating to the countryside; rather than a town.
Wool: the soft curly hair from a sheep or similar animal can be used to make cloth.
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Vocabulary:
Abacus: a counting device consisting of a frame holding parallel rods strung with moveable beads; used in a 19th century schoolhouse to help teach arithmetic.
Ash Hopper: a wooden container used as a filter. It is filled with hardwood ashes, water is poured over the ashes and drips out of the bottom bringing lye (used in soap making) with it.
Candle: a wax or tallow cylinder with an embedded wick that is burned for illumination.
Churn: a device in which cream is beaten vigorously to make butter; can be made of wood, pottery, or glass.
Cream: the high fat part of milk that is skimmed from the surface of fresh milk and used to make butter.
Chamber Pot
Heart Pine: wood from the center, or heart, of a long leaf pine; heart pine lumber is an excellent building material due to the high resin content of its sap which gives it a natural resistance to decay and insect damage.
Hearth: the flat bottom of the fireplace where a fire is built; the fire in the hearth is a source of illumination, warmth again chill and heat for cooking.
Lye: a caustic salt that can be used to make soap. Lye is procured by dripping water through hardwood ashes gathered from the hearth.
Rope Winder: a hand cranked machine used to twist several pieces of twine into rope.
Lesson Plan: