Running challenges and competitions throughout the trip is a fantastic way to keep students engaged and entertained, turning idle time into something exciting. Not only will these activities keep students motivated, but they can also enhance learning outcomes by encouraging teamwork, problem-solving, and cultural exploration. Plus, with the TripPA Moments feature, you can easily share some of the highlights and results of these activities with parents, keeping them involved in the trip from wherever you are!
In this post, we’ve compiled a list of 10 fun and creative school trip competitions and challenges you can run during your next educational visit. Don’t forget to provide some prizes for your students if you are running competitions, of course! Let us know how these ideas work for you, and please share any other activities you know and love with us on our social media channels.
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- “Best Photo” Competition: Simply task your students to take the best photo they can of their environment. Depending on their age, you could share tips on great photo content and composition, before judging the winners at the end of the trip! You could also set a theme for their photos (e.g., nature, architecture, or funny moments).
- Scavenger Hunt Photo Challenge: Create a list of things students need to capture in their photos (e.g., specific landmarks, animals, geographical features). The first team to take pictures of everything wins a prize – this works really well when pupils are exploring a new area in small groups!
- “A Day in the Life” Photo Story: Encourage students to document their day/s with photos, creating a visual story of their experiences. At the end of the trip, you could allow students to present their photo stories creatively to the group.
- Trip Bingo Cards: Create bingo cards with travel-related items or experiences particular to your trip. Students mark off items as they encounter them. The first student to get a full row or column wins!
- Fun Fact Contest: Have students find the most interesting fact about your destination each hour or each day. At the end of the trip, award points for the most fascinating or unique fact.
- Treasure Hunt: Organise a treasure hunt by hiding clues that lead students to different landmarks or locations. Students or teams work together to solve clues and find the hidden treasure. This one requires the most preparation but can be the most rewarding school trip competition!
- Student of the Day: At the end of each day, give out a “Student of the Day” award to a student who showed exceptional effort, kindness, or enthusiasm. It could be based on contributions, attitude, or creativity. You could even have different prizes for the different categories.
- Word/Phrase of the Day: Teach students a new word or phrase related to your trip’s location or theme each day and encourage them to use it. At the end of the trip, award prizes for the most creative use of the word or phrase. Of course, this can be done in English, but it works particularly well for language trips and exchanges!
- Eco-friendly Challenge: Challenge students to minimise their environmental impact by doing things like picking up litter (hygienically, of course!). Encourage students to work together as a team and reward those who make the most effort to be eco-conscious.
- Riddle Challenge: At the start of the day, present a fun riddle for students to solve. Award points for the correct answer, and keep track of who answers the most riddles correctly over the course of the trip.
