Field Trips
Bring your students to Cracker Country for an exceptional field trip sure to spark young learners’ imaginations!
Driving Directions: All vehicles are to enter the Florida State Fairgrounds via the Orient Rd Service Entrance only for our field trip programs.
Follow our directions located HERE. Please note GPS will bring you to a locked gate.
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. A friendly tour guide, dressed in historic clothing, will lead each group on a Florida history adventure designed for ages 4-6. Students will explore a 1917 railroad caboose, visit a turn-of-the-20th-century Florida family's cabin and learn about some familiar farm animals (sheep, chicken and bees). Every student will make and take home their own wooly “sheep” headband and a “bee” to play a pollinator game, which comes with a complimentary beeswax candle.
Tour Time: 10:00am-12:00pm (if staying for lunch - most groups stay until 12:30pm)
Dates: Oct 2, 9, 11, 23, 25, 30; Nov 1, 6, 8, 15, 20, 22; Dec 4, 6, 11; March 25, 26, 27, 28; April: Tuesday-Friday; May: Tuesday-Friday
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 $14 each. Cracker Country is not open to the public during your visit. Individual tickets cannot be sold at the gate.
Deposit: A $75.00 non-refundable deposit is due within 30 days of booking your field trip. The deposit is required to hold your reservation. Please pay online Here.
Lunch: Groups are welcome to bring a picnic lunch. Picnic tables and restroom facilities are provided for use after the tour ends. Please leave all lunches and coolers in a vehicle until it is time for lunch. Note there are no food service facilities on the Fairgrounds.
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 surprise item (such as a keychain, small toy, stickers, etc.). This program does not include a visit to the gift shop. Please contact us at Museum@floridastatefair.com if you are interested.
Sunshine State Standards: This School Tour program aligns with a variety of Kindergarten Sunshine State Standards including:
Dance Critical Thinking & Reflection 1 and Organizational Structure 3
Social Studies American History 2 & 3 and Geography 1
Language Reading Standards 1
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 (if staying for lunch - most groups stay until 1pm)
Dates: Tuesday - Fridays on the following dates: Sept 17, 18, 19, 27; Oct 1-31; Nov 1-22; Dec 3-11; March 11-28; April 1-30; May 1-14
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 $14 each. Cracker Country is not open to the public during your visit. Individual tickets cannot be sold at the gate.
Deposit: A $75.00 non-refundable deposit is due within 30 days of booking your field trip. The deposit is required to hold your reservation. Please pay online Here.
Lunch: Groups are welcome to bring a picnic lunch. Picnic tables and restroom facilities are provided for use after the tour ends. Please leave all lunches and coolers in a vehicle until it is time for lunch. Note there are no food service facilities on the Fairgrounds.
Shopping: Bring money for souvenirs. Each group will have the opportunity to visit our gift shop. 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 $0.50. The General Store accepts cash and all major credit cards.
Add-on: Add our Florida Industry program as part of your tour and stay until 2:00pm for $16 per student & $20 per adult. Grades 4-8 only.
Sunshine State Standards: The Rural Home Life School Tour program aligns with a variety of Florida School Standards including many Social Studies Standards:
1st Grade: Compare life now with life in the past; Understand history tells the story of people and events of other times and places.
2nd grade: Identify terms and designations of time sequence.
3rd grade: Identify the cultures that have settled the United States, Canada, Mexico, and the Caribbean.
4th grade: Describe pioneer life in Florida; People have many different types of jobs from which to choose. Identify different jobs requiring people to have different skills.
5th grade: Examine 19th century advancements (canals, roads, steamboats, flat boats, overland wagons, Pony Express, railroads)
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
Dates: Oct 22, 23, 24, 29, 30; Nov 12, 13, 14, 19, 20, 22; Dec 3, 4, 5, 6, 10, 11, 12; March 11, 12, 13
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 $20 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. Please leave all lunches and coolers in a vehicle until it is time for lunch. Note there are no food service 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 and all major credit cards. 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 the museum (except 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 $100.00 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.
Pay Online: link coming soon
The remaining balance, after subtracting the $100.00 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. 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.
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.