SeaWorld: Top Tips For Your Homeschool Field Trip

If you’ve been studying the ocean with your homeschoolers, our SeaWorld field trip is the perfect educational experience to add to your family travel plans this year. The SeaWorld parks are filled with opportunities to learn about our oceans and conservation efforts.

A trip to SeaWorld is also an excellent opportunity to get up close and personal with marine life! During our educational field trip to the parks, we got to spend some one on one time with a walrus. They also offer opportunities to dine with the orcas, see the dolphin nursery, and get close to the manatees in their rehabilitation center. 

There are even virtual field trips you can use to learn more about these amazing marine animals in your homeschool. Plus, you can pair all these great opportunities with my ocean unit study for even more learning this year! Keep reading to discover all our favorite things to see and do on a field trip to SeaWorld with your homeschoolers.

Homeschool Day at SeaWorld

SeaWorld offers homeschool days filled with self-guided programs for homeschooling families to help them make the most of the parks. Homeschool families have exclusive access to SeaWorld on these days to learn about the animals with educational shows, exhibits, and trained educators stationed throughout the parks. 

This is a chance for homeschool families to experience the magic of the parks without all the crowds, giving them more opportunities to learn about the animals, ask questions, and explore. It’s a great way to get some extra time for your little ocean animal lovers to really dive deep into marine science in a whole new way!

SeaWorld Rescue Tour

SeaWorld offers some amazing animal tours! These tours allow homeschoolers to learn a lot more about what goes on behind the scenes at the parks, get up close with some of the animals, and ask the ambassadors questions in a small group setting. The VIP tours at SeaWorld can give your homeschooler a chance to get closer to the penguins, walruses, or dolphins.

The SeaWorld Rescue Tour will show your family all the ways SeaWorld has cared for marine animals over the past 50 years. The tour is 30 minutes long and gives guests the opportunity to see manatees and sea turtles up close while learning about some of the 40,000 animals SeaWorld has helped to rescue through the years. 

An Amazing Walrus Encounter

The behind-the-scenes SeaWorld experience we enjoyed the most was the walrus encounter. If you’ve ever dreamed of interacting with a massive walrus up close, this is your chance!  In addition to getting face to face with a walrus, you’ll get to help feed them, and learn more about what makes these marine mammals so fascinating.

Have you ever heard a walrus bark? Hearing it up close is definitely an experience you’ll remember forever! Feeding a walrus fish and feeling those long whiskers as he takes the fish is another one-of-a-kind feeling you won’t forget. Want to learn even more about walruses?

I’ve included walruses and many other marine mammals in my complete Ocean Unit Study for homeschoolers. This interest-led unit study is perfect for homeschoolers of all ages. It’s a great way to learn more about the amazing animals you’re going to see during your field trip at SeaWorld. 

Want to get your kids excited before the big field trip? Try my Wonderful Under the Sea Homeschool Morning Basket. It’s filled with colorful books, fun games, and sensory activities your kids will love that are all about plants and animals living in the ocean.

Our Favorite Experiences at SeaWorld

During our field trip to SeaWorld Orlando, there were so many wonderful things we got to experience first-hand! Here are our favorites:

Emily’s Favorites

Emily loved the animal shows. SeaWorld has lots of interactive shows where guests get a chance to ask the keepers lots of questions. She loved getting answers to all her questions from the experts and seeing the animals up close!

Kevin’s Favorites

SeaWorld isn’t just a zoo, it’s also an amusement park! Kevin loved all the rides they have for guests to enjoy. His favorites were Manta and Mako, the roller coasters. 

The Manta coaster is named for the Manta Rays and skims the water for a really unique experience. Mako is named after the Mako Shark and it’s the tallest roller coaster in Orlando!

Jessica’s Favorites

My absolute favorite thing at SeaWorld was the shark tube. I loved standing inside the tube, looking around while the sharks swam overhead. There’s something awe-inspiring about being surrounded by these amazing creatures that made me feel like I was actually under the ocean!

Virtual Field Trips to SeaWorld

If you can’t make it to a SeaWorld park this year, don’t worry! There are ways to enjoy the magic of SeaWorld and keep the learning going at home too. SeaWorld offers virtual field trip opportunities to share the magic of the parks in your very own living room this year. 

Virtual field trips are educational, entertaining, and interactive too. Reach out to the SeaWorld Educational Programs department to learn more and schedule a virtual trip for your homeschool family. 

More Marine Learning Opportunities

A field trip to SeaWorld is an excellent way to get your homeschoolers excited to learn about the ocean and the creatures who live there. It’s also the perfect way to engage kids who are really interested in ocean animals. Looking for more fun ocean-related unit studies and activities? Check out some of these other homeschool unit studies and ocean-inspired field trips.

Which marine animals are you most excited to see on your educational field trip to SeaWorld? Tell me all about the animals, shows, and learning opportunities you love the best in the comments. I can’t wait to read all about them!