Homeschool field trips in St. Louis
Museums, nature centres, historic sites and factory tours across the St. Louis metro, on both sides of the river.
39 places · Checked September 11, 2026
What a visit counts toward in Missouri
Time spent here counts toward Missouri's 1,000 required hours a year, and toward the 600 of those that have to be core subjects. It cannot count toward the 400 core hours Missouri requires at your regular home location. Each listing below names which of Missouri's required subjects a visit supports, in the wording the statute uses.
Clearing 1,000 hours but falling short on core
The total is the easy number to hit. Missouri also wants 600 of those hours in reading, language arts, math, social studies, and science, with 400 of the core hours taught at your regular home location. Families who log a lot of co-op and field trip time can pass 1,000 and still be short on core.
Check Missouri's homeschool requirements before you count anything toward them.
39 of 39 places
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Campbell House Museum
1 hrs
St. Louis · Elementary to high · Fee
An 1851 townhouse preserved with its original furnishings, showing fur-trade era wealth in St. Louis.
Counts toward Missouri's required social studies.
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St. Louis · All grades · Free; donation suggested
One of the largest mosaic collections in the world, installed over 76 years across the cathedral interior.
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St. Louis · Elementary to high · Fee
An 1848 Greek Revival house built by a fur trapper and expanded by a French physician, with period rooms.
Counts toward Missouri's required social studies.
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City Museum
4 hrs
St. Louis · Elementary to college · Fee
A warehouse rebuilt into a climbable sculpture of salvaged industrial parts: caves, slides and a rooftop. Physical, loud, and best with a buddy system.
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St. Louis · Elementary to college · Free
Free non-collecting museum in Grand Center showing rotating contemporary exhibitions.
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Endangered Wolf Center
2 hrs
Eureka · Elementary to college · Fee
Conservation breeding centre for Mexican grey and red wolves, seen on guided walking tours.
Counts toward Missouri's required science.
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St. Louis · Elementary to middle · Fee/Free
Birthplace of the children's poet, covering 19th-century St. Louis childhood and a toy collection.
Counts toward Missouri's required reading, social studies, and language arts.
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St. Charles · All grades · Free
The rooms where Missouri's first legislature met from 1821 to 1826, above two restored period shops.
Counts toward Missouri's required social studies.
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Kirkwood · Middle to college · Fee
A 1960 Usonian house by Wright, seen by guided tour only and largely as originally furnished.
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St. Louis · All grades · Free museum; tram ticketed
The Arch museum covers westward expansion and the Louisiana Purchase, free to enter. The Old Courthouse next door was the site of the Dred Scott case.
Counts toward Missouri's required social studies.
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Grant's Farm
3 hrs
St. Louis · All ages · Fee
Tram ride through a deer park to the Clydesdale stables and a small animal collection, on land farmed by Ulysses S. Grant.
Counts toward Missouri's required social studies and science.
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Griot Museum of Black History
1.5 hrs
St. Louis · Elementary to college · Fee
Life-size wax figures and artefacts telling the stories of Black Americans with a regional connection.
Counts toward Missouri's required social studies.
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Historic Daniel Boone Home
3 hrs
Defiance · Elementary to middle · Fee
The Nathan Boone home and a reconstructed 1800s village, covering pioneer life and frontier trades.
Homeschool programme. Runs homeschool-focused events during the school year.
Counts toward Missouri's required social studies.
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Chesterfield · Elementary to middle · Fee
A simulated small town where students run businesses, draw wages and manage a budget for a day.
Counts toward Missouri's required social studies.
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Laumeier Sculpture Park
2 hrs
Sunset Hills · Elementary to college · Free park; programmes ticketed
105 acres of outdoor sculpture on walking trails, free to visit and open year-round.
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Lewis and Clark Boathouse Museum
1.5 hrs
St. Charles · Elementary to high · Fee
Full-size replica keelboat and pirogues with exhibits following the Corps of Discovery from St. Charles.
Counts toward Missouri's required social studies.
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Magic House
2.5 hrs
Kirkwood · Early childhood to elementary · $7.50 per person, $5 members
Three floors of hands-on exhibits covering STEM, early history and imaginative play. Best for under-10s.
Homeschool programme. Homeschool Mornings, 9:30am to noon. 2026-27 dates: Nov 10, Feb 9, Apr 13. Advance reservations required.
Counts toward Missouri's required science.
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Imperial · All grades · Free museum; fee for programmes
The Kimmswick Bone Bed, where mastodon remains were found alongside human artefacts. Museum plus trails.
Counts toward Missouri's required social studies and science.
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St. Louis · Elementary to college · Fee
79 acres of plant collections including the Climatron rainforest dome and a Japanese garden. Strong for botany, ecosystems and conservation.
Counts toward Missouri's required science.
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Missouri Civil War Museum
1.5 hrs
St. Louis · Elementary to high · Fee
Jefferson Barracks museum covering Missouri's divided role in the Civil War, in a restored 1905 post exchange.
Counts toward Missouri's required social studies.
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Missouri History Museum
3 hrs
St. Louis · All ages · Free
Free museum in Forest Park covering westward expansion, Lewis and Clark, and St. Louis history, with rotating exhibits.
Homeschool programme. History Exploration Days: one Friday a month, September to May. Guided gallery tours, hands-on workshops and performances on a monthly theme, with activities banded by grade. Storytelling in the morning.
Counts toward Missouri's required social studies.
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Museum of Transportation
2.5 hrs
Kirkwood · Early childhood to middle · Fee
One of the largest collections of rail equipment in the country, plus aircraft and cars, with a Creation Station play area for under-5s.
Counts toward Missouri's required social studies.
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Myseum
2 hrs
Town and Country · Early childhood to elementary · Fee
Indoor play museum with around 30 hands-on stations: a dinosaur dig, a pretend vet clinic and light walls.
Counts toward Missouri's required science.
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National Blues Museum
1.5 hrs
St. Louis · Elementary to college · Fee
Downtown museum tracing the blues from the Delta north, with interactive recording and rhythm stations.
Counts toward Missouri's required social studies.
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National Great Rivers Museum
1.5 hrs
Alton · All grades · Free
Free museum at the Melvin Price Locks and Dam explaining how the Mississippi is engineered for navigation, with a lock overlook.
Counts toward Missouri's required social studies and science.
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Purina Farms
2.5 hrs
Gray Summit · Early childhood to elementary · Fee/Free
Working demonstration farm with dog and cat exhibits, livestock barns and animal performance arenas.
Counts toward Missouri's required science.
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Saint Louis Art Museum
2 hrs
St. Louis · Elementary to college · Free general admission
Free encyclopaedic collection in Forest Park, ancient through contemporary, with educator guides and self-guided or docent-led routes.
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Saint Louis Chess Club
1.5 hrs
St. Louis · All grades · Fee/Free
Tournament venue and teaching club running scholastic sessions and open play.
Counts toward Missouri's required math.
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St. Louis · All grades · Free general admission; Omnimax and Planetarium ticketed
Free hands-on science across space, physics, agriculture and engineering, with an Omnimax theatre and the McDonnell Planetarium as ticketed add-ons.
Counts toward Missouri's required science.
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Saint Louis Zoo
4 hrs
St. Louis · All ages, programmes age-banded · Free entry; programmes fee-based
Free-entry zoo with habitats grouped by region. Classroom programmes and docent-led tours run year-round for small groups, with virtual expert sessions available.
Homeschool programme. Classroom Programs and Educational Zoo Tours, year-round. Docent tours for small groups.
Counts toward Missouri's required science.
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Sammysoap
1 hrs
Kirkwood · Elementary to middle · Fee
A soap factory staffed largely by adults with disabilities, offering tours of the production line.
Counts toward Missouri's required science.
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St. Louis · Elementary to college · Fee/Free
The flat where Joplin wrote several rags, restored to the period, with ragtime history and a player piano.
Counts toward Missouri's required social studies.
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Shaw Nature Reserve
3 hrs
Gray Summit · All grades · Fee
2400 acres of restored prairie, woodland and wetland with trails and inquiry-based education programmes.
Counts toward Missouri's required science.
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Sophia M. Sachs Butterfly House
1.5 hrs
Chesterfield · All grades · Fee
A tropical conservatory with free-flying butterflies, plus outdoor native gardens. Built around life cycles and pollination.
Counts toward Missouri's required science.
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St. Louis Aquarium
3 hrs
St. Louis · 5+ in-house; all ages offsite · $20 per participant, 15% member discount
River and ocean ecosystems at Union Station, built around touch tanks and the Mississippi watershed.
Homeschool programme. Homeschool Days, roughly fortnightly Aug-Dec. 1:00-4:00pm: a 1.5hr classroom programme then a guided tour. Drop-off available in-house for ages 5+. Advance registration required.
Counts toward Missouri's required science.
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St. Louis · Elementary to college · Free
White Haven, the Dent family home where Grant lived before the Civil War, with a museum on slavery and his presidency.
Counts toward Missouri's required social studies.
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West County Safety House
1 hrs
Manchester · Early childhood to elementary · Free
A fire district training house teaching home fire safety and escape planning to young children.
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World Bird Sanctuary
2.5 hrs
Valley Park · Elementary to college · Fee
Raptor and endangered-species centre with flight demonstrations and resident birds that cannot be released.
Counts toward Missouri's required science.
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World Chess Hall of Fame
1 hrs
St. Louis · All grades · Fee/Free
Rotating exhibitions on chess in art and culture, opposite the Saint Louis Chess Club.
Counts toward Missouri's required social studies.
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Opening times, prices and homeschool dates change. Every listing links to the venue's own site — check there before you go. Somewhere missing, or a detail wrong? Tell us.