Field Trips.
MOXI is now accepting Field Trip and Engineering Exploration Lab reservations for the 2024 – 2025 school year.
Please remember that we have limited availability and our morning time slots fill up quickly. Your field trip is not confirmed until you receive a confirmation email from our reservations coordinator.
Self-guided Field Trips are available for grades Pre-K through 12 and include access to all three museum floors. MOXI’s playful exhibits focus on physical science, engineering design, and technology and align with Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). During a field trip visit, students creatively engage in the practices of scientists and engineers as they make observations, ask questions, carry out investigations, construct explanations, define problems, and design solutions.
Request a Field Trip Reservation
”"This trip helped my students engage in science opportunities that they might not have in the classroom. Many students have been to MOXI before, but there were several who had never had the opportunity to experience the museum."
- Third grade teacher at Laguna Blanca School
Engineering Explorations.
Add on a facilitated, hands-on engineering program to your field trip! Led by trained MOXI staff, these 50-minute NGSS–aligned engineering programs get students defining problems, designing and building solutions, testing their own creative ideas, and iterating on their build. This program can be added to any self-guided field trip. Engineering Exploration Labs are available for groups of up to 23 students and 2 adults at a time in grades K-8. Program themes change seasonally.
Engineering Exploration add-ons not available during summer field trips.
New!
Home, Tweet Home (K-2)
K-2-ETS1-1, K-2-ETS1-2, K-LS1-1
Home is where the nest is. Engage in some social nestworking as students determine the special needs our feathered friends have and work together to design and test a new nest. Start your students on a pathway of Climate Change education in a developmentally-appropriate way through this engineering challenge designed to lead students to care for and about living things.
Riding the Rising Air (K-2)
K-2-ETS1-1, K-2-ETS1-2, K-PS2-2.
Think penguins can’t fly? Think again! Students will use the engineering design process to design and build an apparatus to help a (toy) penguin fly in one of MOXI’s favorite exhibits: The Wind Columns. Students test their craft in MOXI’s exhibit and revise their designs to improve its performance.
Harnessing the Wind (3-5)
3-5-ETS1-1, 3-5-ETS1-3, 4-PS3-4.
Craft a vehicle that can drive across the varied terrain in Santa Barbara that uses the wind as its only power source. Sand, grasslands, mountains, or hills can be found at every corner. Using the engineering design process, students will test materials and designs to make a working model vehicle to blow through town.
Drop It! (6-8)
MS-ETS1-1, MS-ETS1-3.
In this engineering challenge, students will design and build a device that can deliver emergency supplies to a remote drop zone. But this is no ordinary drop-from-a-ladder challenge. These fabrications must survive a fall from MOXI’s third story rooftop! Using the engineering design process, students will collaboratively test and iterate their way to a safe touchdown.
Capacity: 23 students per lab
Length: 50 minutes
Schedule:
- 10 AM + 11:30 AM*
- *Exceptions available for single schools booking 3 groups of the same grade band. Labs scheduled at 10 AM, 11 AM, and 12 PM.
Please specify on the Field Trip Reservation Request Form if you are interested in adding one of the Engineering Explorations programs.
Availability.
Field trip visits and Engineering labs are available Monday – Friday 10 AM – 5 PM, except for Tuesday mornings, through June 2025.
Field Trip Blackout dates 2024 – 2025:
- September 2 (Labor Day)
- September 24 – 25
- November 11 (Veteran’s Day)
- November 25 – 28 (Thanksgiving Week)
- December 16 – January 3 (Winter Break)
- January 20 (MLK Day)
- February 17 (Presidents’ Day)
- March 24 – 28
- April 14 – 18
- May 26 (Memorial Day)
No Engineering Exploration Labs:
- March 24 – 28
- November 21 – 22
- December 12 – 13
- March 20 – 21
- May 26 – June 12
We have been included in the most recent article on the best field trip locations to visit by the international educational publisher Twinkl – you can read more here.
Price.
| Field Trips (90 min; self-guided) |
Engineering Exploration Add-On (50 min) |
Total Cost (FT + EE) |
|
| All Schools | $8 | $8 | $16/student |
| Title I Schools | $6 | $6 | $12/student |
Field trip guests* enjoy a discounted rate on admission to MOXI.
Teachers + Chaperones: Free up to a 1:5 ratio (1:7 ratio required)
Extra Chaperones: $16
*In order to qualify for our discounted group rate, your group must have no less than 10 students and no more than 120. MOXI Memberships, teacher educator discounts, and other promotions do not apply to this special program.
Request a Field Trip Reservation
Field Trip Policies/FAQ.
General Policies
- Reservations must be made in advance (minimum of 2 weeks).
- If a group is running late, please contact the Reservations Coordinator at 805.770.5012. Failure to communicate may result in the group having to be rescheduled.
- MOXI cannot guarantee that there will be availability beyond the times of scheduled field trips. If a group plans to stay longer, they must communicate with the Reservations Coordinator.
- There must be a chaperone for every 7 children; chaperones are free up to a 1:5 chaperone-to-student ratio. Any additional adults in the group pay the applicable group rate.
- No special discounts can be applied for those visiting as part of a group visit or Field Trip. Special discounts include MOXI Membership, Educator discount, and/or promotional free passes.
What does a MOXI field trip include?
Field trips include admission and access to all three floors of the museum, except for the Innovation Workshop. Field trips typically last about 90 minutes. (approx. 30 minutes per floor).
Who can book a field trip?
Field trip rates are available to all schools and students Pre-K to 12th grade. One chaperone is required for every seven students.
How do I reserve my field trip?
To make a field trip reservation, please complete the Field Trip Reservation Request Form. Once submitted, you will be contacted via email to confirm. Field trips are available Monday through Friday, except for Tuesday mornings during the school year. Engineering Exploration program add-ons are available on Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays at 10:00 AM and 11:30 AM, September – May.
As a teacher or member can I come for free with a field trip?
All free adults are included in the free chaperones up to a 1:5 chaperone to student ratio. Additional special discounts do not apply to this already discounted program. This includes MOXI Memberships, Educator discounts, and/or promotional free passes.
Can we eat lunch at MOXI?
Unfortunately, we do not allow food or beverages in MOXI and we do not have an area within the museum for field trips to eat lunch. Most of our field trips that bring lunches eat at the grassy area right next to MOXI or walk down to the grass area or sitting wall at the beach. If you are planning to bring lunches, please leave them on the bus as we do not have refrigeration.
When do I need to pay for my field trip?
We require a $50.00 non-refundable deposit to save your reservation, due within 7 days of booking. The deposit amount will be applied to the balance due. We also accept a P.O. in place of a deposit. The remaining balance is due no later than the visit date. To pay by check please send it to 125 State Street, Santa Barbara, CA, 93101 made out to “MOXI”. To pay by credit card, please call the front desk between the hours of 10:00 AM and 5:00 PM at 805.770.5000.
Where can we park?
Buses: Please drop off on Kimberly Avenue right behind MOXI (white curb – 3-minute parking). There is free bus parking on W. Montecito Street, parallel to the 101 freeway. Buses are not permitted to stop on State Street in front of the museum. Cars: Parking is available at the train station parking lot (City Lot #3, right next to MOXI). The first 75 minutes are free and every additional hour is $3.00. There is
limited free street parking nearby. Additional parking can be found in any of the nearby Santa Barbara city lots.
What is your cancellation and refund policy?
Deposits are non-refundable. Refunds are available for cancellations two weeks prior to the Field Trip date. Cancellations made less than two weeks in advance are non-refundable.
Still have questions?
Contact us at sales@moxi.org or call 805.770.5012. Phone reservations and assistance are typically available during the following hours: Mondays – Fridays, 9 AM – 5 PM.
