School Tours
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Are you looking for a great educational pumpkin patch field trip for this upcoming school year? If so French Prairie Gardens in St. Paul, Oregon has just the experience you are looking for! We offer several guided school tours over the month of October. Our guided school tours are developed for early childhood education thru 4th grade students and each tour option is developed for specific age groups. During our school tours students learn about Oregon Agriculture through hands-on inquiry based lessons, a guided tour and good old fashion fun on the farm.
We began offering school tours in 1995. Each year our school tours improve by adding tour options and stops, get more organized and reflect the current Oregon State Standards. French Prairie Gardens is a family owned and operated business. Each member takes an active role in the school tour experience.
We offer the following school tours:
The Standard Guided Tour for kindergarten thru 4th grade students.
Extended Guided Tour for kindergarten thru 4th grade students.
Mommy and Me Guide Tours for ages 2 to 5 & daycare & pre-school groups.
Walking Tours for 5th grade – high school students.
Below you will find the descriptions of the tour options we offer at French Prairie Gardens, the specific age group that each tour is developed for, the price per person, the length of each tour and the day of the week the tour is available.
The Standard Guided Tour for kindergarten thru 4th grade students includes the following:
- A narrated tour of our 500-acre farm of fruit, vegetables and grass seed on a tractor-drawn hay wagon.
- A lesson on the life cycle of a pumpkin and how farm grown wheat is made into bread. This lesson was developed around the 2009 Oregon Science State Standards.
- A trip through the kids hay maze that features a slide at the finish for a little fun and exercise.
- A trip to see and learn about the farm animals.
- A trip to the pumpkin patch where students pick their favorite pumpkin.
- A trip to our Pigtucky Derby pig races.
- All of the tour spots above are guided by one of our friendly and helpful French Prairie Gardens staff, ensuring that you make it from one stage to another as smoothly as possible.
Tour price will be $5.00 per person and applies to any student, sibling, parent, or person that goes on the tour. Each student will receive a pumpkin from the patch in addition to good old fashion fun on the farm. Classroom teachers will be free and will receive a large pumpkin for the classroom, a packet of follow up material that can be used in the classroom and a French Prairie Gardens Re-usable Bag.
Tour Dates Available: Oct. 4-Oct 28
Tours will begin each hour on the quarter hour from 9:15 a.m. - 2:15 p.m. Wednesday through Friday. Each tour will last one hour for your class.
A covered lunch facility is available for use before or after your tour for one half hour. This area must be reserved prior to the day of your school tour.
Extended Guided Tour for kindergarten thru 4th grade students.
- This tour begins with the standard guided tour and includes all of the tour stops listed above.
- At the end of the standard tour your group receives 30 – 45 minutes of playtime on the giant pyramid slide and obstacle course.
The price for this tour is $7.00 per person and applies to any student, sibling, parent or person that goes on the tour.
Tour Dates Available: Tuesdays Oct. 4 – 28 and Wednesday, Thursday and Friday from 12:15 to 2:15, Oct. 4 - 28. This tour is 2 hours in length and begins on the quarter hour. Tour times on Tuesdays are 9:15 to 11:15, 10:15 to 12:15 and 12:15 to 2:15. Please plan on arriving 10 minutes before your scheduled tour.
The covered lunch area can be reserved on Tuesdays from 11:15 to 11:45, 12:15 to 12:45 or 11:45 to 12:15. This area must be reserved prior to the day of your school tour.
Mommy & Me Guided Tours ** New this Year **
For ages 2 to 5 & daycare & pre-school groups.
- A narrated tour of our 500-acre farm of fruit, vegetables and grass seed farm on a tractor-drawn hay wagon
- A hands on sensory activity where the students learn to make observations using their five senses.
- A trip to see and learn about the farm animals in our animal barn.
- A trip to the pumpkin patch where students pick their favorite pumpkin.
- A trip to our Pigtucky Derby pig races.
- At the end of the guided tour your group receives 30 – 45 minutes of playtime on the small tube slide and our toddler play area
The price for this tour is $7.00 per person and applies to any student, sibling, parent or mommy that goes on the tour.
Tour Dates Available: Tuesdays Oct. 4 – 28 and Wednesday, Thursday and Friday from 12:15 to 2:15, Oct. 4 - 28.
This tour is 2 hours in length and begins on the quarter hour. Tour times on Tuesdays are 9:15 to 11:15, 10:15 to 12:15 and 12:15 to 2:15. Please plan on arriving 10 minutes before your scheduled tour.
Walking Tours for 5th grade – High School
- This tour is a self-guided tour. Your group will be given a map at the beginning of your tour to indicate where the following items are located.
- Tours are two hours in length.
- The tour includes the hay maze, corn maze, obstacle course, hay slide, and the animal barn.
The Cost of the tour is $6.00 per person.
Tour Dates Available: Oct. 4 – 28, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.
General Information:
In order for our tours to run smoothly timing is essential; we ask that each group arrive 10 minutes before their scheduled tour. There will be an area set aside for your class where you can take individual and class photos. In order for our tours to run smoothly we ask that parents and teachers take action shots during the tour and utilize the area set aside for you to take posed and class photos.
Please note that if you have reserved the lunch area we ask that you bring garbage sacks to remove your garbage as we are trying to be a sustainable business and it requires us to sort our garbage.
Our country store will be open during the day of your tour. Parents and teachers are welcome to come in and do some shopping before or after your tour. The country store will have espresso, fresh baked scones, muffins, doughnuts, cookies and fruit pies each morning. We also have fresh picked seasonal produce, jams and syrups made from our fruit, gourmet pastas and pesto, and a variety of other gift items available for purchase.
We begin booking school tours in August. In order to receive the time slot that works best with your schedule we suggest you sign up early, as popular slots fill up fast. Reservations are needed and can be placed via our online registration or by calling Katey at (503) 884-4347. Please note there is a 20 person, or $100 minimum, and that groups of less than 30 people will be combined with another group.
Now, you can register online. For more information, please use our contact form.
