Summer Field Trips:
Details & Resources

To request a Thinkery Field Trip:

• Please submit a Field Trip Request Form. Visits must be requested at least one month in advance.
• Dates are scheduled on a first-come, first-served basis; it is helpful to have alternate dates in mind when submitting your request.
• Thinkery will contact you to schedule your visit and collect a $25 reservation fee (non-refundable) to secure the date and time.
• Full payment is due no later than 15 days prior to your scheduled visit. An invoice for the total amount will be emailed once the reservation fee is processed.
• You will be sent a reminder to pay two week before your invoice is due.
• One week prior to your visit, you will recieve an email with pre-visit information. You can also explore the resources section below.
• All sales are final; no refunds will be available for cancelled Field Trips or reservation fees. Refunds will only be given in the form of Admit One passes for a later visit to Thinkery.

Dates: Tuesday through Friday, June 4, 2024 – August 9, 2024

Times: 9:30 am – 11:00 am, 10:30 am – 12:00 pm, 11:30 am – 1:00 pm; we will not be able to extend your time at the museum in the event of late arrival.

Capacity: 60 tickets available per time slot

Dates are scheduled on a first-come, first-served basis; it is helpful to have alternate dates in mind when submitting your request. 

Reservation Fee: $25 non-refundable reservation fee secures the field trip date and time.

Students: Sliding scale of $3-$9 per student. Scholarships are available for organizations and schools offering scholarships to their students and must be applied for on the initial request form.

Chaperones: For a safe and comfortable experience, Thinkery Field Trips require one (1) adult chaperone for every eight (8) students.

Chaperones must be teachers, school or organization staff with valid identification, parents, guardians, or other adults over the age of 18 accompanying the group. 

Teachers, teaching assistants, and other school or organization staff with valid identification count toward the 1:8 ratio and receive complimentary admission. 

Additional chaperones that are not school staff will need to reserve a ticket through General Admission.  Price per ticket for General Admission is $18.00 for anyone 2 years old and over.  

Thinkery Members: Current Thinkery Members receive waived field trip admission, limited to the adult Members named on the membership card.

All reservations are tentative until the non-refundable reservation fee has been received immediately upon confirming your date and time. If the fee is not received, we will release the date and time reservation after 5 business days.

Full payment is due no later than 15 days prior to your scheduled field trip.

To reschedule a Summer Field Trip cancelled for non-payment, please submit a new online request form (a new reservation fee will be required). Reservation fees are date-specific, non-refundable, and non-transferable. The Reservation Fee does apply toward the group admission total. Thinkery accepts payment via check or credit card (Visa, MasterCard, Discover, American Express). If you have a Purchase Order, please email proof of PO to schoolprograms@thinkeryaustin.org. 

Payments can be made via phone at 512-469-6233, on Tuesday – Friday, from 9 am – 5 pm.

If you need to cancel your visit, please contact us as soon as possible at schoolprograms@thinkeryaustin.org or 512-469-6233.  All sales are final, no refunds for cancelled visits or reservation fees.  Refunds will only be given in the form of Admit One passes to Thinkery.

Chaperone Planner
Pre-Visit Information
Bus Driver Handout

• Scavenger Hunt Pre-K-1st
• Scavenger Hunt 2nd-5th

• Thinkery Student Review
• Thinkery Postcard
• Light Lab Coloring Sheet

We have a max capacity of 60 students per time slot.

(9:30 am – 11 am, 10:30 am – 12 pm, and 11:30 am – 1 pm)

Thinkery Field Trips require one (1) adult chaperone for every eight (8) students; Chaperones must be teachers, school or organization staff with valid identification, parents, guardians, or other adults over the age of 18 accompanying the group. 

Additional chaperones that are not school or organization staff will need to reserve a ticket through General Admission.  Price per ticket for General Admission is $18.00 for anyone 2 years old and over. 

Thinkery invites all families with Texas Electronic Benefits Transfer Cards (Lone Star Cards/SNAP), WIC cards, STAR cards, CHIP cards, Medicaid cards, and MAP/MAP BASIC identification cards to show their card(s) to receive FREE General Admission tickets. 

Our requirements around masking at Thinkery change based on the levels of community spread in Austin and Travis County. We encourage you to review our current health and safety guidelines before your visit for the most up-to-date information on community levels and masking at Thinkery.

You will be greeted by our staff at Group Entry, where you will check-in and receive a brief orientation for students, teachers, and chaperones. Groups arriving by bus should remain on the bus until they have received the orientation. The lead teacher will communicate the departure time to bus drivers and chaperones. Departure times are as follow: 9:30 am – 11 am, 10:30 am – 12 pm, and 11:30 am – 1 pm.  We will not be able to extend your time at the museum in the event of a late arrival.

During orientation, the lead teacher will receive: stickers to place on each student, a handy chaperone museum planner available in English and Spanish, and chaperone badges for teachers and school/organization staff.

Once students are grouped with their designated chaperones and have their stickers – come on in and let the fun begin!

Once your field trip has come to an end, please make your way to Group Entry. A Thinkery staff member will lead your group outside of Group Entry upon the completion of your visit.

Also, please be mindful of other groups that might be entering or leaving the museum. Be prepared to share the space with other groups and plan your departure accordingly. Please take care to leave the non-carpeted area by the lockers clear for safety reasons.

Thinkery receives a high volume of requests for group visits during the summer. To ensure a fair and equitable process, changes to field trip dates and time reservations are limited. If you must make changes to your reserved date and time, first contact schoolprograms@thinkeryaustin.org to cancel your existing reservation and book a new date and time. Once availability is confirmed, a new $25 reservation fee will secure the new date and time. Only one $25 reservation fee will be applied toward the admission total.

Changes can be made to the group size up to 15 days before the invoice due date by contacting schoolprograms@thinkeryaustin.org. A new invoice will be sent with the updated amount due. Changes cannot be made after the final payment has been received or after the 15 day mark.

Groups arriving with fewer students than anticipated will receive Admit One pass to Thinkery (one pass for each student that is paid for, but not in attendance). Groups arriving with additional students will be charged for their admission.

Yes! The reservation fee applies toward the group admission total. If a group cancels, the fee is non-refundable.

As a non-profit organization, Thinkery values all donations that come through admission, including field trip admission. Your admission helps to cover other schools and organizations that visit through our Open Door Initiative. We appreciate your understanding regarding our refund and exchange policies.

Our museum staff is available to assist you in reuniting with a missing child or adult. Please provide Thinkery staff with a detailed description of the person. In the case of a missing child, our museum protocol includes monitoring our main entrance and scanning all galleries and program spaces.

We do not allow re-entry for large groups once they depart the building.

Yes! We encourage your and your chaperones to explore the store during the trip to avoid long lines at the end of your visit. We also ask that you visit in your groups of 1:8.

Thinkery does not offer a space onsite for lunch. We recommend using one of the nearby parks in the Mueller Neighborhood.

• Patterson Park located off of Airport Blvd
• Bartholomew Park located off of 51st St.
• Mueller Lake Park, located directly across the street from Thinkery, is a neighborhood park overseen by the Mueller development. Inquiries should be sent to the Mueller Central office (contactus@muelleraustin.com)
• Branch Park, at the end of Aldrich Street and Philomena (across from Texas Mutual) features an open lawn area suitable for picnics, children’s playground, sensory and rain gardens.
• Northwest Greenway, on Philomena Street near Dell Children’s Hospital, features an accessible playscape and shaded picnic area.

Time slot extensions and refunds are not available. We will make every effort to ensure your experience is as positive as possible. However, adherence to your time slot is required to ensure other guests are receiving equitable time.