PBIS Sort It! Aha or Oops? – Field Trip Edition

PBIS Sort It! Aha or Oops? – Field Trip Edition

Prepare students to represent your school with safe, respectful, and responsible behavior wherever learning takes them with PBIS Sort It! Aha or Oops? – Field Trip Edition!

Field trips are exciting opportunities for students, but they also require students to follow expectations in unfamiliar places. This interactive PBIS sorting game helps students think through realistic field trip situations before they happen and decide:

Is this an “Aha!” choice that demonstrates safe, respectful, and responsible behavior—or an “Oops!” choice that needs to change?

Students sort each behavior card onto the colorful Aha! / Oops! board, explain their reasoning, and discuss the better choice when an inappropriate behavior appears.

The set reinforces essential field trip expectations such as staying with an assigned chaperone or buddy, listening quietly to guides and staff, wearing identifying school materials when required, using an appropriate “museum voice,” and representing the school as a polite guest. PBIS Sort It- Field Trips-Final

What’s Included

This Field Trip Edition includes:

• Full-color PBIS Sort It! materials
• Large Aha! / Oops! sorting board
• 27 field trip behavior cards
• Positive “Aha!” choices and inappropriate “Oops!” choices
• Kid-friendly field trip, museum, zoo, and transportation graphics
• PBIS connections to being Safe, Respectful, and Responsible
• Realistic situations involving chaperones, public spaces, museums, zoos, exhibits, lunch areas, sidewalks, transportation, and interacting with staff and visitors

Students practice recognizing behaviors such as following venue safety rules, keeping hands away from fragile displays, cleaning up lunch areas, and walking safely on sidewalks and in crosswalks. PBIS Sort It- Field Trips-Final

The cards also address inappropriate behaviors such as running through exhibits, touching items marked “Do Not Touch,” ignoring posted rules, littering, or running across a street without waiting for the teacher. PBIS Sort It- Field Trips-Final

How to Play

Print, cut, and laminate the materials for repeated use.

Place the Aha! / Oops! sorting board where students can easily see it.

Choose one behavior card at a time and read it aloud.

Students decide whether the behavior belongs on:

Aha! – Great Choice

or

Oops! – A Choice That Needs to Change

After sorting the card, ask students to explain why they made that choice.

For every Oops! card, ask:

“How could we turn this Oops into an Aha?”

For example:

“Wander away from the group to look at something else” becomes
“Stay with your assigned chaperone or buddy at all times.”

This simple additional step helps students identify the positive replacement behavior rather than simply labeling something as wrong.

Ways to Use PBIS Sort It!

Before a Field Trip
Use the complete game in the days leading up to a trip so expectations are fresh in students’ minds.

Morning-of-the-Trip Review
Choose several key cards for a quick refresher before leaving school.

Whole-Class PBIS Lesson
Display the sorting board and have students vote Aha or Oops before discussing each situation.

Small-Group Game
Students take turns reading, sorting, and explaining behavior cards.

Partner Practice
One student sorts a card while the partner explains whether they agree and why.

Morning Meeting
Use a few cards each day during the week before a scheduled field trip.

Field Trip Safety Lesson
Use the resource as part of explicit instruction about traveling safely and behaving appropriately in public.

After-the-Trip Reflection
Select several cards after returning to school and ask students which positive behaviors they demonstrated during the trip.

Center or Station Activity
Laminate the materials and use them in a PBIS, SEL, social skills, or classroom management center.

Game Variations

Aha or Oops? Quick Sort
Students sort all 27 cards into the two categories.

Prove It!
Students only earn the card if they correctly sort it and explain the reasoning behind their answer.

Fix the Oops!
Students draw an Oops! card and transform the behavior into an appropriate Aha! choice.

Act It Out
Students silently act out a field trip situation while classmates identify whether it represents an Aha or Oops behavior.

What Could Happen?
Students describe a possible consequence of the behavior.

For example:

“What could happen if someone wanders away from their group?”

“Why is walking in crosswalks important?”

Safe, Respectful, or Responsible?
After sorting a behavior, students determine which PBIS expectation it demonstrates. Some behaviors may represent more than one.

Team Challenge
Divide students into teams and award:

• 1 point for correctly sorting the card
• 1 point for explaining why
• 1 bonus point for turning an Oops into an Aha

Field Trip Role-Play
Create pretend stations around the classroom such as:

Museum
Zoo
Bus
Lunch Area
Gift Shop
Exhibit
Walking Route

Students practice the appropriate behaviors for each setting.

Field Trip Sequence Challenge
Have students describe what successful field trip behavior looks like from beginning to end:

Stay with your group → Listen to adults → Follow venue rules → Use respectful voices → Walk safely → Take care of belongings → Wait your turn → Thank staff → Return with your group.

Create-a-Card
Students create additional Aha and Oops situations based on the expectations for your specific upcoming field trip.

Skills Reinforced

This activity supports:

• PBIS expectations
• Field trip safety
• Following directions
• Staying with a group
• Respectful communication
• Appropriate public behavior
• Self-control
• Personal responsibility
• Safety awareness
• Respect for property
• Waiting patiently
• Decision-making
• Understanding consequences
• Social awareness
• Positive representation of the school

The cards also encourage students to show gratitude to staff and bus drivers, keep track of personal belongings, ask thoughtful questions, wait their turn at exhibits, and use technology only when and where it is permitted. PBIS Sort It- Field Trips-Final

Perfect For

Field trip preparation, PBIS lessons, beginning-of-year procedures, school safety instruction, museum trips, zoo trips, community outings, walking field trips, morning meetings, SEL lessons, social skills instruction, small groups, centers, substitute plans, and school-wide PBIS programs.

Why Teachers Will Love It

Field trip rules are often reviewed quickly just before students leave school. PBIS Sort It! Field Trip Edition gives students time to actively think through those expectations before they are placed in an unfamiliar environment.

Instead of simply hearing a list of rules, students are asked to identify, sort, explain, correct, and reflect on realistic behavior choices.

The simple Aha! versus Oops! format makes expectations easy for elementary students to understand while opening the door for deeper conversations about safety, public behavior, responsibility, respect for others, and representing their school positively.

Print it, laminate it, and use it before every trip to help students remember:

Stay together. Listen carefully. Be respectful. Make great choices wherever you go!