Over 50 Community Based Instruction Outing Ideas

Sometimes, you just need a long list of community based instruction outing ideas!

“Here at the Transition Center our young adults are out in the community the large majority of the time.” That’s one of my most frequently used opening lines when people ask me, “What is the Transition Center?” or “What do you do?” Let me break that down a little. The Transition Center is a post high school program for students with disabilities who are 18-22 years old. My staff and I refer to our ‘students’ as young adults as we like to distinguish the difference between school and the ‘real life experience’ they have at our program.

So, what do we do when we are ‘out in the community?’ you ask? Well, we do a plethora of things. Below is a list of 50+ community based instruction outing activities we do, some are daily outings and others are once a year type activities. Either way, I hope this gets your creative juices flowing!

50+ Community Based Instruction Outing Ideas

1. Grocery store

2. Bank

3. Bulk grocery store

4. Fitness center (YMCA)

5. Craft store (check out their group classes too)

6. Toy store

7. Mall

8. Museum

9. Zoo

10. Park

11. Adaptive equipment park

12. Water park

13. Driving range

14. Mini golf

15. Pumpkin patch/apple orchard

16. Trampoline park

17. Community college- vocational or continuing education classes, free concerts

18. Bowling

19. Bocce

20. Bags/corn hole

21. Medieval times

22. Arcade

23. Roller rink

24. Art gallery (extra points for galleries that have artists with special needs- yes, they do exist)

25. Decorate cookies/cupcakes

26. Lowes/Home Depot (or local hardware store) classes

27. Gardening store

28. Volunteer for local senior citizens (raking leaves, for example)

29. Paint ceramics

30. Take public transportation (bus, train, etc)

31. Calculate tip at sit-down restaurants

32. Arcade

33. Horseback riding

34. Adaptive sailing

35. Arboretums

36. Conservatories and botanical gardens

37. Tour local businesses to learn about different job opportunities

38. Make pizza at local pizza restaurants

39. Taken clothes to the dry cleaners

40. Class at the Apple store (learned about different apps and technologies)

41. Yoga

42. Visit a sensory room or snoezelen room

43. Assist at an animal rescue center

44. Tie dye shirts/pillow cases/socks

45. Set up an obstacle course at a local park

46. Frisbee golf

47. Check out a movie from a library or RedBox/Movie Rental store

48. Visit a therapy dog

49. Get a Clean-Up manicure or pedicure (parents usually take care of this task and might appreciate a week off)

50. Flower arranging class

51. Guided painting class

52. Watch a play at a local theatre

53. Make-up lesson (for ladies who might be going on interviews in the future)

54. Dance class

55. Thrift store shopping

56. (I’ll add more as I discover more!)

Sensory Room

There you have it! Taking community based instruction outing is the only way for your students to access their local community and learn the skills in the actual environment, so go- get out there!

50 Community Ideas