My kids love to watch the show “How It's Made” on the Discovery Channel, and so we thought it might be fun to look around for factory tours for kids within driving distance of where we live! We knew it would be a great idea for a field trip for our DIY summer camp at home!
If you are looking for some don't-miss factory tours across the US- check out this list or this one. But if you would like a more complete list of what factory tours are available around where you live, check out this list of factory tours by state!
A Few Things to Know About Factory Tours for Kids…
You have to check carefully into the factory tours that you sign up for- some of them are more of a “show” than a tour!
One summer we traveled to Easton, PA to visit the Crayola Factory– only it is not a factory at all. It's really more of an interactive Crayola experience (picture thousands of crayons set up at various stations with ideas for craft projects). But it bored my kids over the age of 7.
We also made a trip to Hershey's Chocolate World to take their chocolate factory tour- which was a huge hit for my kids- but this was more of a Disney-esque show than a true tour of a factory watching how chocolate is made.
The true factory tours that we have taken that show us how things are actually made, but are also engaging enough for kids to love all seem to center around food! We've done the Cape Cod Potato Chip factory tour, the Utz Snacks Factory Tour, and the Angell & Phelps Chocolate Factory Tour. And we would recommend all of these!
So my best suggestion that a good place to start with factory tours for kids is to pick ones that feature food production!
A Glass Factory Tour
Another experience we loved was during a visit to the town of Corning, NY at the Corning Museum of Glass where we learned how glass is made. And boy were we impressed!
We spent time at the glass blowing demonstration where we watched artisans remove a disc of molten glass from a kiln and shape it using a long pipe used to blow air into the molten glass.
We also enjoyed the exhibits where we learned all about the many ways that glass is manufactured and then used in everything from light bulbs to dishes!
You can read more about our experience at the Corning Museum of Glass here!
Here are some more great summer ideas for you:
Please check out my DIY Summer Camp page for lots of ideas on how to host your own kids summer camp at home!
- Free Family Summer Bucket List Printable
- Free Printable Summer Schedule
- 50 Fun Summer Activities, Crafts, and Field Trips (From Pre-K to Teens!)
- How to Build a Backyard Zipline!
- Make Your Own Lava Lamp
Do you think your family would enjoy a factory tour for kids?
Christine@TheAums says
What a cool field trip, but seriously, did no one working with hot molten glass wear gloves in the factory?! We are planning an upcoming trip to the Jelly Belly Factory!
Sharon says
I think the reason they don’t wear gloves is the pole doesn’t get too hot, and they need to keep a constant feel for spinning the pole to keep the glass symmetrical. But that would have been a good question to ask! Our ornaments arrived yesterday and they are beautiful! I am trying to figure out how to display them year-round…. I don’t want to wait for the holidays!
We would love to visit the Jelly Belly Factory! Can’t wait to hear about it!