Eau Claire, in northwest Wisconsin, is just a little more than an hour away from Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota. But there is no need to take school groups to the Twin Cities for field trips. Eau Claire offers recreational and cultural attractions specifically designed for kids that are equal to those of much larger cities than Eau Claire's 65,000. Its Regional Arts Center, children's museum and children's theater are just a sample of what Eau Claire has to offer. These places not only welcome school groups but also offer them field trip discounts.
The Children's Museum of Eau Claire, which opened with only one floor of exhibits at the end of 2004, has been more successful than its founders expected. Since then, it has expanded to host two more floors of exhibits and its presence in downtown Eau Claire has helped revitalize the city's downtown. Field trippers can travel through the human body at the museum's Body Smart exhibit, pretend to run a business at Bitty City, see how buildings are put together in the Kidstruction exhibit, put on a play at the Show Business exhibit and learn all about water at the Water Works exhibit. Take advantage of the special rates for groups of 10 or more. School groups must call ahead to make reservations.
More than 4,000 school kids every year take field trips to the Paul Bunyan Logging Camp to see what a real Wisconsin logging camp was like in the 1890s. The historic buildings include a barn, cooking building, blacksmith shop, bunkhouse, the foreman's office and heavy equipment shed. Some exhibits in the Tall Tales room are interactive. Spring and summer are the only time to see this museum as it's open from May 1 through Sept. 3
Catch a show at the Eau Claire Children's Theater, which is located on Oxford Avenue near the Chippewa River. Many of the productions are performed at this theater, but several each season are performed at the nearby State Theater. The theater's season runs through July 31, which makes it a good spot for a summer field trip. Kids can see their peers acting on stage, and may decide they want to come back to audition to be in a play themselves. This is a good way to introduce children to live theater who haven't seen it before.
The Metropolis Resort welcomes school groups to its Action City and Chaos Waterpark. Action City offers both indoor and outdoor racing tracks, an adventure maze, miniature golf, rock wall climbing, bumper cars, laser tag, mini bowling and an arcade. Chaos Waterpark includes the Tsunami River, a 40-foot drop slide, twister slide, and an outdoor section that includes a water hose station to keep cool. Call ahead to make reservations.
