Excited classmates clamor onto a bus as they leave school grounds for a field trip. Students may be headed for a museum, historic mansion, planetarium or woodland marsh. But anxiety often goes along for the ride for the students with food allergies and their parents.
The change in routine can heighten concerns about how students will be kept safe while still being included in the field trip activities. Those worries can cloud the eagerness to take part in a novel class experience.
“A child can feel excited about the field trip and nervous at the same time,” says Amanda Whitehouse, PhD. The psychologist works with children and adults on managing food allergy anxiety.
Questions about who will be carrying epinephrine and monitoring their child, what is the food situation, and will hand-washing be enforced drive parental concerns. Student worries often lean more toward whether they will miss out on an activity or need to advocate in an unfamiliar situation, Whitehouse finds.
“The uncertainty is typically what parents and children are struggling with more than the actual risk,” she tells Allergic Living.
There are ways parents and students can prepare that will both help ensure safety and reduce field trip anxiety. Whitehouse advises acknowledging the anxious emotions and then focusing on aspects of the field trip that can be controlled. Then preparation, combined with communication among all parties involved, will be keys to success.
“For both parents and kids, knowing what to expect, who will be there, and how situations will be handled can go a long way toward reducing anxiety,” she says.
Validating Kids’ Emotions
Feeling nervous is a normal response to a new environment or situation inherent in field trips, explains Dr. Kelly Cleary of the nonprofit FARE. “The first step in easing anxiety is to have open communication with your child,” says Cleary, FARE’s medical director and vice president of health and education. “Validate the way they are feeling.”
Communication about kids’ worries provides “the opportunity to understand their perspective,” Whitehouse says. Then the parent and child can work together on practical solutions.
Such solutions go much further than reassurance alone. She says that creating a plan together for how to navigate field trip situations that might arise will help to ease concerns.
“That predictability and increased confidence is much more effective at easing their anxiety than reassurance,” says Whitehouse. The psychologist specializes in food allergy counseling and recently authored a guidebook on navigating oral immunotherapy called “From Fear to Freedom.”
Once a plan is in place, Cleary says parents can help to reduce their child’s anxiety by showing “a calm, confident attitude.” Reminding students of past success also helps to build confidence.
For example, before a field trip, Cleary reminded her food-allergic son about how nervous he was for his first overnight school trip. “You were prepared and had a plan, and had the most fun time,” she told him.
When she picked up her content middle-schooler after the trip, she congratulated him for successfully navigating the situation.
Field Trip Prep & Anxiety Control
Both these experts say to plan as much as possible for field trips, since they may include new and unexpected situations.
Cleary remembers when her son, who had a dairy allergy at the time, went on a farm field trip where students were milking cows. “That definitely wasn’t something we ever had to think about in the classroom,” she says.
Planning ahead can help students manage the unexpected – even cows. Cleary’s son couldn’t milk the cow, but he could pet her. Then the kids who milked thoroughly washed their hands.
Cleary says that at FARE, “the biggest concern we hear from parents is making sure the safety measures that are in place at school carry over to the field trip.”
Whitehouse also has personal experience navigating field trips with her food-allergic son. She encourages parents not to focus on worst-case scenarios. Instead, focus on skills and how to be flexible when plans change.
“We’re preparing because confident preparation gives them the freedom to have fun, which is the purpose of field trips,” Whitehouse says.
Food Allergy Field Trip Tips
Helping students with food allergies feel confident on field trips through preparation works for kids of all ages.
For younger kids, practicing simple routines with trusted adults instills confidence. “Books, pretend play, and role-playing can make these skills feel fun and playful rather than intimidating,” Whitehouse says.
For older students, preparation is more about autonomy. “They are far more likely to utilize solutions that they identified than do what their parents told them to do,” she notes.
Cleary and Whitehouse offer preparation tips.
- Practice is especially helpful for younger kids. Role-play common situations, such as saying, “no thank you” to a snack or an activity that doesn’t feel safe. Practice carrying medication and what to say to ask for help.
- For older students, ask them what they are excited about, and what would help them to feel prepared. For example, how they want to carry epinephrine and other medication, and what they want to eat. Then encourage them to think through the possible situations and identify solutions.
- Pack familiar, allergy-safe foods and snacks.
- Review the safety plan ahead of time, so kids know what to expect and which supervising adults have the food allergy training to help.
- Communicate with school staff to find out details such as, trip activities, plans for food and access to epinephrine. Also review your child’s emergency care plan with staff and let them know your child’s specific needs related to the field trip.
- Allergic Living additionally recommends ensuring field trips are addressed in your child’s Section 504 plan or other individualized health plan.
Role of School Staff
Collaboration with school staff can foster a smoother field trip. Clear communication about the day’s plans and allergy-specific protocols are essential. That gives parents and students time to prepare what is needed.
“When teachers communicate calmly, confidently, and matter-of-factly about food allergies, students often feel safer too,” Whitehouse says.
Ensuring a safe environment for students with food allergies is central to the Food Allergy Management in Schools (FAMS) report that FARE released in November 2024. The guidance gives schools practical strategies to implement, along with free training and recommended best practices.
Cleary hopes the recommendations, written by allergy nonprofit leaders and medical experts, become standard across the country.
On field trips, FAMS stresses the need for protocols to reduce allergen exposure and ensure access to epinephrine.
“Students with food allergies should be able to fully participate in field trips,” the report states. “Schools are responsible for making sure that these activities are safe for all students, including those with food allergies.”
While safety is a priority, inclusion in field trips is just as important, Cleary notes. If students with food allergies are left out of field trips, “they are missing out on experiences that are an important part of growing up,” she says.
Whitehouse agrees, noting that feeling included also helps reduce students’ anxiety about taking part in field trips.
“The goal isn’t simply preventing reactions,” Whitehouse says. “It’s helping every child participate fully, feel included, and make the same joyful memories as their classmates.”
Related Reading:
Megan’s Video: My Food Allergy Son Takes 3-Day Wilderness Trek
Back-to-School with Food Allergies: 8 Tools for Success
