Field Trips
Give Your Group the Best Day Ever
For $9 per person (half the regular admission price), your classroom, licensed daycare center, community group, or camp can enjoy:
- Child-sized storybook-themed playsets where kids can act out classic stories or make up their own narratives using their imaginations
- Puppet shows in our acclaimed Storybook Puppet Theater featuring well-known fairytales and folktales from around the world
- An ideal group bonding experience that encourages social skills and cooperative play
- A historically relevant, safe, and easily accessible location in the middle of Oakland
- Optional life science programs to engage children with our animals and gardens
- Optional social emotional learning through puppet engagement for preschools
Note: Our spring field trip calendar is at capacity and we are no longer accepting requests. If you are interested in a summer or fall of 2025 field trip, please see our calendar.
Sponsored Field Trips
If your organization serves under-resourced communities, you may be eligible for a sponsored field trip through our Community Engagement program. Please complete this request form. Please be aware that the processing time for a sponsored field trip application can take up to three weeks..
Field Trip Add-ons
Programmatic add-ons are available for your field trip. Learn more about Fairyland Puppet Players and Flora and Fauna in the accordion below.
Field Trip Add-on #1: Flora and Fauna
A hands-on life science program is available to add to your field trip experience.
Fairyland is proud to offer Flora & Fauna workshops for your next field trip experience. Fairyland Flora & Fauna is a program designed to bring out the inner naturalist in children. Perfect for K to 2nd grade classes, children explore plants and animals through hands-on activities, storytelling and play!
Field trip groups can choose between three Flora & Fauna options:
Germination Station:
Inside every seed is a plant waiting to spring to life! Go on the journey with the seed and learn more about the magical plant life cycle through play and planting.
Pollinators Go!:
Come explore the superheroes of the garden and learn how plants and pollinators depend on each other, and how you too can become a superhero by preserving their habitat and food source!
Senses Lab:
Hands-on exploration using all five senses! Children will explore their senses to make observations and connections through different activities that investigate smell, taste, touch, sight and hearing.
Worms & Dirt:
Just below the surface of the soil lives an entire community of decomposers. Who am I talking about? Well, worms of course! Discover the value of our invertebrate friends and their hard work in the garden, taking organic waste and turning it into nutrient-dense soil!
Program Cost:
Each 30-minute program is $75 for up to 25 children
Each additional class from the same school is $25 more
Group discount offered at half the general admission price. Scholarships and bus transportation are available for under-resourced communities.
Field Trip Add-on #2: Fairyland Puppet Players
A hands-on puppet program is available to add to your field trip experience.
Fairyland Puppet Players for Preschools is a 40-minute storytelling workshop focusing on social-emotional learning through puppet engagement. The program teaches tools for emotional regulation and invites children to work through everyday conflicts together. Children and their adult chaperones will be brought into short 7-minute vignettes and will help the puppet protagonists, Jax and Bo, navigate their “big feelings.” Children and chaperones will get to use hand puppets and props and join the storytelling through dramatic play. Each workshop can accommodate up to 20 children and 8 chaperones.
Upon receipt of your field trip request, your learning community can select up to one to two vignettes below. We recommend choosing one vignette for children ages 2-3 and two vignettes for children 4 and up.
Interactive Puppet Workshop Vignette Menu:
- “Listening to Our Friends”
Jax and Bo need help learning how to speak up and listen to one another in this conflict resolution-themed story. - “Responding to Big Feelings”
Jax and Bo need help identifying their feelings and discovering new tools for emotional regulation. - “First Days of School”
Jax and Bo need help remembering that play is stronger than fear! This is a lovely story about new changes and new settings.
Fairyland Puppet Players will:
- Build on social-emotional skills
- Practice fine motor skills with puppets
- Practice call and response
- Take home an informational sheet that includes a puppet theater kit and resources for caregivers
- Workshops are offered to preschools and parent playgroups during their field trips:
Availability:
Wednesday and Fridays (August, September, October, April, and May)
Fridays only (November, December, February, and March)
10:15 a.m., 11:30 a.m. or 12:15 p.m.
Program Cost:
Each 40-minute program is $75 for up to 20 children
Each additional class from the same school is $25 more
Group discount offered at half the general admission price. Scholarships and bus transportation are available for under-resourced communities.
Accomodations
Programmatic add-ons are available for your field trip. Learn more about Fairyland Puppet Players and Flora and Fauna in the accordion below.
Noise-Reducing Headphones
The front desk has pairs of child-friendly noise-reducing headphones that may be signed out and then returned when you leave the park.
Tactile Tote
If anyone in your party is feeling overwhelmed or overstimulated, they may also borrow our Tactile Tote, which contains several sensory toys.
Booking, Check-in, Payment & More
Booking a field trip
- If your learning community is ready to book a group rate field trip, please visit our calendar and choose your date. Choose your number of attendees, fill out a form, and select any add-ons.
- If you will require a scholarship to support your field trip please fill out this form and allow up to three weeks of processing time. .
- Your trip is not confirmed until you receive a confirmation email from us.
- Your final headcount on the day of the visit will be updated and the amount due will be adjusted, if it is different from the reservation.
- If classes want to pay separately, the teachers must sign up separately for trips.
- The child-to-adult ratio is five children to every one adult.
Check-in
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Everyone in your group should wear a visible label with your school’s name and phone number. For safety reasons, please do not include children’s names on the labels.
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The group should meet in one of the grassy or dirt areas near the oak trees in front of the Big Shoe.
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An adult should alert the ticket window when everyone has arrived so that a Fairyland representative can welcome your group, give a safety talk, and handle your payment. Please provide an accurate head count for your group.
Payment
- The entire group must be here to receive the field trip price and must pay in a lump sum.
- Entrance is $9 for all ages, except for infants under one, who are free. Anyone who arrives after the group enters must pay the regular price of $17 per child (ages 1-17) and $19 per adult (ages 18+).
- We accept cash, Visa, Mastercard, Discover, and school checks but do not accept American Express, purchase orders, or personal checks. Our preferred method of payment is credit card.
- Magic Keys cost an additional $4 each. They unlock the storybook boxes in the park, and everyone can keep theirs forever!
- In case of inclement weather, a decision is made whether or not to close the park by 8:30 a.m. You can always cancel ahead of time if it looks like rain.
- No trip, no charge! For weather inclement closure and we aren’t able to find an alternative date, we will process a refund on the transaction..
Supervision
- We require one adult chaperone (18 or older) for every five children on a field trip.
- Children on field trips must stay with their adults the entire time they are at Fairyland.
- Chaperones are responsible for the children’s behavior in the park. This includes littering, removing things from the premises, harassing animals and wildlife, picking plants, etc. We reserve the right to expel people from the park if they do not comply with these rules.
While in the Park
- There is no storage for guests in the park, and bikes or skate equipment are not allowed.
- Food can be brought or purchased at the Johnny Appleseed Café.
- The Gift Shop allows only five students with one chaperone at a time.
- Please let us know if anyone in your group has special needs which require accommodation.
- The puppet show airs at 11 a.m., 2 p.m., and 4 p.m. every day that we are open. It is first come, first seated, and we request that adults sit in the back or on the sides so children can see.
Transportation & Parking
- If the group is arriving by cars, parking is managed by the city of Oakland. Parking on Bellevue is $3 for every two hours or $10 per day.
- Buses may drop off groups for free. But if you need to park, the cost is $15 per bus. Our preferred bus provider is Michael’s Transportation, which has shown exemplary customer service.
Michael’s Transportation Services, Inc.
2029 Bennington Drive
Vallejo, CA 94591
707-643-2099
- Field trips for Special Education classes may use the drop-off zone on Bellevue Avenue. A Fairyland staff member will meet you outside the gate and go over our safety protocols.
Field Trip FAQ
When can I come on a field trip?
We accept field trips year-round but only on weekdays. Our seasonal calendar means that we have different open schedules at different times of the year. Please visit our calendar or call us at (510) 452-2259 for more information. Please see our PDF field trip calendar for field trip days.
What if I end up with more or less people than I listed on the registration?
That’s fine, as long as you have at least one adult (18 or older) for every five children. We settle invoices on the day of your field trip. Please arrive with an accurate head count.
If I don’t make a reservation and simply show up with my group, can we still receive the discount?
If you don’t book in advance, our walkup group rate for 10 or more people with a recommended 1:5 parent-to-student ratio is $3 off the regular admission cost of $17 per child (ages 1-17) and $19 per adult (ages 18+).
What if it rains?
We determine all park closures based on safety conditions. If we decide to close the park, we will call the school to notify you, and reschedule your field trip. You may also call our office at (510) 452-2259 to check about park closures, and are free to cancel ahead of time if it looks like rain. No trip, no charge!
What if I have chaperones who want to bring siblings of children in the class?
That’s fine as well, as long as you have at least one adult (18 or older) for every five children. We will honor the field trip rate for additional visitors, and there is no admission fee for children under the age of one.
More than one group from our school will be arriving on the same bus. Will we need separate reservations?
The teacher who made the reservation must pay for the whole group to enter the park with one payment. If classes want to pay separately, then each teacher should make his or her own reservation.
How can I speed up check-in?
There are several ways to speed up check-in:
- Have your whole group together by the oak trees before telling the ticket window that you are here.
- Have all your money together if you are paying cash.
- Know the total number of children, adults, and infants under one in your group.
Where can we eat?
You can choose from a variety of eating options:
- Bring bag lunches and eat at picnic tables or on the grass in the Teddy Bear Picnic Area.
- Reserve the Cinderella party area if you want a private space ($75).
- Buy lunch at the Johnny Apple Seeds Café by Bean Sprouts (remember that there may be a line).