Your kids field trip spending money

[Sarah428]

The nature center that I work at has a small gift shop. Today we had a school group of about 70 2nd graders come in and shop and they wiped the store clean. Some of these kids had over $20 with them, in envelopes that were given to them by their parents.

So my question is: how much do you give to your children to take when going on a field trip that includes a gift shop?

We're also finding more and more schools don't allow the kids to visit the gift shop. Would pre-made gift bags priced under $5 be something that parents would be intereseted in?

Sarah

[ChristyMarie]

When I worked in daycare (I had 7-12 yr olds for the summer so LOTS of field trips) they were not allowed to bring cash or purchase anything.

I think it avoided a LOT of problems.

[funnybone]

My kids have only been allowed to bring money when the field trip involved buying lunch. I agree, it avoids so many problems by not allowing it.

[BarbaraL]

Tough one! DD is now 18, so this is no longer an issue. I remember one field trip; the kids were told they were not allowed to go the the shop and buy souvenirs. DD's chaperone followed the rules and did not allow it. Some other chaperones did allow it, upsetting the kids who couldn't buy souvenirs.

I gave DD money based on her age; more as she got older; $5-10 in grammer school; $15-20 in middle or high school. It depended on the trip, too. I always made sure she had some cash to buy a drink or a snack.

[Sarah428]

I agree that not allowing them to bring money, etc. is the easiest. I was just shocked at the amount of money some of these kids had. We search high and low with vendors with quality items that are $5.00 or less and educational. And these kids felt that because they had $10 or $20 they needed to spend it all.

BTW: Where I work we receive no state funding, etc. and the majority of our animal care/rehabiliation money comes from gift shop income. Not all gift shops are selling your kids plastic junk that is marked up 100% ;)

[gertdog]

I occasionally evaluate museum field-trip programs as part of my job. Gift shop visits are a hot-button issue with teachers I've interviewed. They don't care to be responsible for cash, or for keeping track of all the widgets the kids buy for the rest of the school day.

One thing we've suggested to our museum clients is to include some gift shop information in the pre-visit information packet sent to teachers. Something like "Note that the museum has a vending area where visitors may buy snacks, as well as a gift shop with kid-friendly items like x, y, and z. We suggest that students bring no more than $X with them on the trip. If you wish to allow your students to purchase snacks or souvenirs during their visit, you may want to include this information in the parent permission slip for the trip."

Many teachers, as you've mentioned, opt to skip the gift shop. Those who do visit the gift shop appreciate advance notice of what to expect so that they can explain any policies to students and parents.

[Gracie]

DD is 13 now so this isn't an issue any more for me either but I have to say that I love your idea of a $5 gift bag - marketed towards the younger kids - especially as the gift shop is a great source of revenue for you.

You could be sure that schools are aware of this item so that they can be sure to include this information in the field trip packet/permission form that parents get.

It's still going to be up to the school to allow/disallow kids to visit the gift shop and up to the parents how much they allow their kids to bring with them, but I just thought you had a great option for this issue.

Loren

[lhall]

I don't send money. It hasn't been mentioned before, but I don't think they have been anywhere with a gift shop yet.

I think it's better not to visit the gift shop at all. Too many issues with losing money, losing the items purchased, and kids w/o money feeling bad/leftout/jealous.

Leigh

[newtricks]

Originally posted by lhall
I think it's better not to visit the gift shop at all. Too many issues with losing money, losing the items purchased, and kids w/o money feeling bad/leftout/jealous.


I so agree! Although I do like the gift bag idea if all the kids got them just as they were leaving and getting on the bus.

I can't stand to go in gift shops with my 3 kids so I can't imagine chaperoning a bunch of kids!

[lindrusso]

Argh. This is one of my "issues" with field trips.

I chaperoned a field trip where the kids were allowed to bring money for rides, the gift shop, whatever. It didn't occur to me that this would be a problem until we started buying things. I had 2 kids besides my own son with me. One of the boys didn't have any money, so I ended up buying him ice cream when my son and the other boy asked for it. I also gave him money for one ride. I didn't want to say no to the 2 that did have money, that didn't seem fair, but I couldn't let them do and buy things and let the other go without.

So, after that experience, I believe that they shouldn't be allowed to bring money. If the teachers think it would be nice for the kids to be able to go on a ride or get a small treat, the money for those items should be figured into the cost of the field trip (in our school, we have nominal fees for each field trip). That way, every child gets the same thing and no one feels left out and it doesn't put chaperones in an awkward position. Frankly, I say save the gift shop and the rest of the treats for when you go with your own family and skip it altogether.

I was also annoyed because the kids wanted to spend most of their time spending their money instead of enjoying the field trip!

But to answer your actual question - :rolleyes: - I have decided that my kids can use money from their own allowance if they want to visit the gift shop or get a treat. The last field trip my son went on, they were allowed to bring up to $10. The gift bag idea is intriguing, but I happen to be "anti-stuff". :) I would rather they enjoyed the field trip and learned something and didn't focus on getting "stuff".

Hmmmm....I think maybe I'll bring this up at school and see what we can do about it. It really bugs me.

Alysha :)

[jmarie]

One of the classes at a school here, mandates that parents send a certain amount of money. The teachers collect the money, the souveniers are purchased by the teachers and sent home with the children, the next day, after the field trip.

There are always plenty of sponsors for this trip, so that no child goes without and all receives the same gift items. Seems to work.
Joyce

[Jazzmatazz49]

After the last field trip, when one child from a rather poor home lost a ten dollar bill, and another one lost the junk he bought, I will outlaw any visits to gift shops. It always surprises me that parents send more than a couple of bucks with second graders, but some have as much as twenty.

[schuh]

At our school's field trips, the kids don't go in the gift shops. I've never sent money with my kids to a field trip.

This seems to be the most reasonable approach to me. The kids are there to learn, not shop.

[AndreaU]

We just happen to go on field trips where there are no gift shops!

[Chefzhat]

Sarah, dare I ask what school district these kids are from?:D

We have field trips where kids send money, some kids bring a lot, some bring a couple of bucks, some don't bring anything at all. Each kid has a choice to bring/not bring money.

For whatever reason, the parents in our school have decided to not sweat this issue. If the kid brings and spends all his money - oh well. If the kid doesn't bring money at all - oh well.

At one point, the school decided to stop all gift shop stops on field trips - and all the parents freaked. The school backed off that policy and decided to let each kid "deal" with their money, or lack of money issues themselves.

Debie

[rosie_one]

Hm, I've just been sending DD with $5 and not thinking much about it. I think small grab bags of appropriate souveniers would be nice. Maybe labeled by age group. Not too much candy would be good.

That said, as a parent I'm continually amazed at the onslaught of STUFF that comes home in my kid's backpack. These field trip gift shops just add to that. Souveniers are nice but, it gets to be too much pretty quickly. I'd keep it cheap and minimal.