Are you looking for ways to travel and homeschool at the same time? If so, Florida is a great place to go! There are plenty of fun ways to explore nature and lots of fun activities to do together as a family. Read on for some ideas on how to make the most of your time in the Sunshine State!
Florida offers a wide range of learning opportunities for homeschoolers wanting to explore nature. In addition to the beautiful beaches, canals, and bays, there are historical tours, butterfly habitats, the Everglades, petting zoos, nature preserves, snorkeling, state parks, birdwatching, and more. While exploring nature in Florida, one can expect to see wildlife such as manatees, birds, dolphins, alligators, turtles, deer, sharks, tropical fish, stingrays, jellyfish, and more.
From hiking trails and birdwatching to fruit picking farms and snorkeling, you will not run out of things to do while exploring Florida with your homeschooler! Read on to see some of the fun ways we have explored nature in Florida!
Boat Tours
Florida offers many boat tours which are both entertaining and educational. On a guided boat tour, you can catch crabs, look for dolphins, view the sunset, see alligators in the Everglades, view lighthouses, hear the history of the area, and much more!
Other boat tours teach about the ecosystem, mangroves, marshes, swamps, and wildlife.
If you are more the type to explore nature on your own, feel free! You can rent a kayak, canoe, or charter a boat and see all that Florida has to offer!
Beaches
Florida has some of the best beaches in the world!
As a traveling homeschool family, we have traveled to Miami Beach, Panama City Beach, Fort Myers Beach, Sanibel Island, Captiva Island, Naples, Cape Coral, Fort Lauderdale, Destin, Santa Rosa Beach, Clearwater, St. Petersburg, and Daytona Beach. I’m probably forgetting a few. We travel A LOT.
While we have many other beaches in Florida to explore, our absolute favorite so far has been Sanibel Island. The amount of shells to be collected is out of this world! I’ve never seen such huge shells on the beach either! We collected seashells by using Mesh Beach Shell Bags.
Next Time You See a Seashell is a great book to help kids identify seashells, learn about how they are formed, and there are questions to help kids explore shells.
It was a great way to bring learning to life and have fun at the same time!
Interactive Wildlife Experiences
Hands-on activities are the best way for kids to learn which is why we love interactive wildlife learning opportunities. Luckily, Florida offers many opportunities to bring learning to life.
You can watch and swim with dolphins or take a lazy river while swimming with stingrays!
There are also some amazing Touch Tanks available. Children have the opportunity to feed fish, touch stingrays, crabs, starfish, oysters, turtles, and live shells.
If you would rather learn on your own, great! Ocean Animals for Kids is a great book to teach kids all about ocean animals, the sounds they make, their size, what they eat, and more.
Nature Walks
There are many nature trails in Florida. On our latest adventure in Florida, we found an amazing wildlife refuge on Sanibel Island.
This refuge offers sightings of all kinds of wildlife – bobcats, otters, birds, rabbits, raccoons, rats, alligators, crocodiles, turtles, snakes, lizards, frogs, storks, manatees, and more!
In addition to animals, there are also many plants, trees, and flowers to identity.
Before starting our walk, we made a list of things we were hoping to see. We turned it into a fun scavenger hunt and were able to cross many of our items off the list!
My son’s excitement over finding an item on our scavenger hunt made our whole trip!
Birdwatching
Florida has some amazing birds! Birds of Florida Field Guide is a great resource. A great learning opportunity would be to take the bird guide and match it up with some of the amazing birds!
Storks, seagulls, flamingos, herons, pelicans, woodpeckers, cardinals, mockingbirds, and hundreds of others call Florida their home.
Bird lovers, visit the Tropical Audubon Society in Miami for an amazing bird experience.
We recently had a fun experience on Sanibel Island. We’ve been able to feed seagulls (by accident! – they stole our Cheetos!) and get really close to many different types of birds. I’ve never seen as many tropical birds as I have in Florida.
Guided Tours
Florida has an endless amount of educational opportunities by guided tour. You can explore caves, frogs, butterfly exhibits, nature preserves, snorkeling, alligator shows, history tours, and the list goes on.
Since tour guides do an excellent job of making learning an entertaining experience, kids are sure to have a blast and learn a lot!
Museums
Museums are an excellent way to explore nature on a rainy day. The Museum of Science and Discovery in Fort Lauderdale is an excellent choice.
There are options for kids to dig for fossils, see live animals, make a volcano erupt, take care of baby animals, feel hurricane winds, and learn about insects.
If that isn’t what you’re looking for, try aquariums, planetariums, or zoos. There are hundreds of options to choose from and something different to learn at each place!
Conclusion
Looking for something educational yet fun to do with your kids while homeschooling? Consider traveling to Florida! With its expansive beaches, shells, and diverse wildlife, there’s no shortage of natural wonders to explore here.
In addition, Florida offers plenty of kid-friendly activities like theme parks, water parks, and boat tours, some of which are both educational and entertaining.
Travel homeschooling is becoming more popular, and I’m glad we took the chance on our dream. You can do it too! Here’s how we did it.
Remember, not all learning comes from a textbook. Just because it’s called homeschooling doesn’t mean it all has to be done at home. Get outside and explore nature and your kids will thank you.
So what are you waiting for? See you there!
