Beyond the Bell: Summer Field Trips to Keep Your Kids Sharp

As schools wrap up for the season and classrooms go quiet, families across Laurens County are facing a challenge familiar to every parent: keeping children intellectually engaged during the long summer months.

Educators often call it the “summer slide” — the drop in academic engagement over June and July that can make the back-to-school transition harder than it needs to be. The good news for local families is that Laurens County and the surrounding region offer a strong lineup of nature preserves, historic sites, creative programs, and hands-on learning opportunities that make education feel like anything but a classroom assignment.

Whether your household leans on traditional schooling, summer camps, or year-round homeschooling, this guide highlights some of the best options for keeping young minds active this summer — starting close to home.

Nature and Outdoor Science: Right in the Backyard

Laurens County’s natural landscape is one of its greatest assets, and summer is the perfect time to put it to use.

The Laurens County Trails Association maintains an impressive network of hiking, walking, paddling, and biking trails across the county, making it one of the most accessible outdoor resources available to local families. Options range from the paved 1.8-mile Prisma Health Swamp Rabbit Loop Trail near Laurens County Hospital to the wooded paths at Charlie Lollis Memorial Park along the Reedy River, the trails at Lake Rabon Park, and a 15-mile stretch of the Palmetto Trail’s Enoree Passage running through the Sumter National Forest. Families can use the interactive trail map at the LCTA website to find routes suited to any age or ability level.

Just off Parkview Drive behind Collyar Park in Laurens, the Joe R. Adair Outdoor Education Center is one of the county’s most distinctive and overlooked destinations for young learners. Set on more than eight acres of mature hardwoods along Scout Creek, the center features nature trails, a restored 1800s log cabin, a man-made waterfall, a bird sanctuary, a Native American village, a butterfly garden, a handicapped accessible garden, a picnic area, an amphitheater, and a state-of-the-art education building. Admission is free, and the center welcomes families outside of regular school hours. Insect repellent is recommended. The Adair Center is located at 110 Scout Creek Court in Laurens; call 864-984-5492 before visiting during school hours.

Musgrove Mill State Historic Site offers families a rare combination of natural beauty and living history. Located along the Enoree River, the park features walking trails through preserved Revolutionary War battlefields, riverbank access, and interpretive programs that bring one of South Carolina’s most significant backcountry battles to life in a setting most children will not soon forget.

Lake Greenwood State Park rounds out the county’s outdoor offerings with guided nature walks, fishing, and water-based activities that introduce children to ecology and environmental stewardship in a setting that feels more like an adventure than a lesson.

History and Heritage: Living Classrooms Downtown

Laurens County is home to history that rarely gets the attention it deserves, and summer 2026 is an especially meaningful time to explore it.

The Laurens County Museum, located in the Witherspoon Building at 116 Public Square in downtown Laurens, is opening a major new Revolutionary War exhibit on Carolina Day, June 28. Funded in part by an $81,154 grant from the South Carolina American Revolution Sestercentennial Commission, the exhibit commemorates Laurens County’s contributions to the fight for independence and features artifacts recovered from archaeological digs at Hammond’s Old Store and Fort Lindley. It will highlight key events, sites, and individuals from the war, including the often-untold stories of African Americans, Native Americans, women, and children alongside the accounts of Patriots and Loyalists. The exhibit opens in time for summer visits and is a natural companion to a stop at Musgrove Mill. The museum is open Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Visit laurenscountymuseum.org for more information.

Downtown Laurens offers additional history within easy walking distance. The historic courthouse square, restored landmarks, and the surrounding streetscape tell the story of a community that has been at the center of Upstate South Carolina life for more than two centuries.

In Clinton, the downtown corridor and Presbyterian College campus offer accessible green space, architectural history, and seasonal programming that make for an easy and enriching family outing.

Arts, Creativity, and Summer Camps: Building Skills Through Expression

Laurens County families have no shortage of options when it comes to structured, hands-on summer programming — and spots are already going fast.

The Artist’s Coop, located at 111 W. Public Square in downtown Laurens, is hosting its Kids Summer Art Camp again this year with four sessions running from early June through mid-July. Sessions are open to children who have completed first grade through age 12, run daily from 1 to 3 p.m., and cover painting, glass art, and glue art. Each session is $80 and registration is in-person only at the studio. As of mid-May, two of the four sessions were already full, with limited spots remaining in Session 1 (June 8-11) and Session 3 (July 6-9). Families are encouraged not to wait.

For families looking for an overnight or multi-day camp experience, Camp Fellowship in Waterloo is Trinity Presbytery’s outdoor ministry site on the shores of Lake Greenwood and has offered Christ-centered summer camps for children in kindergarten through 12th grade since 1948. Summer 2026 programming includes traditional overnight camp, day camp, and a Leadership Camp for middle and high school students focused on character development and faith-based leadership skills. Camp Fellowship is located at 457 Camp Fellowship Road in Waterloo. Visit campfellowship.org or call 864-998-3400 for session dates, rates, and registration.

Local churches across the county also host Vacation Bible School programs throughout June and July, many of them free and open to the broader community. Families are encouraged to check with their home church or a church near them for dates and registration details.

Free and Close to Home: Laurens County Public Library

Keeping young minds sharp over the summer does not have to break the household budget. The Laurens County Public Library System, with branches in Laurens and Clinton and a bookmobile serving the broader county, offers one of the most accessible and underutilized resources available to local families.

This summer, the library’s theme is “Dinos and Discovery,” bringing together reading challenges, hands-on programming, and themed activities for children of all ages. Programs include the Summer Reading Challenge, weekly Storytime sessions for young children, LEGO Build events, Classic Movie Monday screenings, and the statewide “1,000 Books Before Kindergarten” program, which rewards pre-readers with prizes at each 100-book milestone. Teen and adult programming rounds out the calendar, making the library a destination for the whole household.

The Laurens branch is located at 1017 W. Main St. and the Clinton branch is at 304 W. Pitts St. Both are open Monday through Saturday. Visit lcpl.org or call 864-681-READ for the full summer events calendar.

Close to Home and Worth the Drive

For families willing to venture a short distance, the Greenville area offers two of the Upstate’s premier educational destinations.

The Greenville Zoo, open seven days a week from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., is home to more than 90 species and welcomes over 325,000 guests each year. Beyond a standard visit, the zoo offers an impressive lineup of structured programming for young learners, including Zoo Camp for ages 5 to 14, Zoo Tots for toddlers and a parent, Learning Safari for children ages 5 to 7, and Zookeeping Kids for ages 8 to 11 — a hands-on program where students shadow zookeepers, conduct experiments, and get up-close animal encounters. Free “Tell Me About It Tuesdays” education programs rotate through exhibits throughout the summer as well. This summer also marks the completion of the new Phillips Family Farm exhibit, a two-acre farmyard expansion that adds walk-through barns and hands-on education areas focused on domesticated animals and global agriculture. Visit greenvillezoo.com for tickets and program registration.

Roper Mountain Science Center offers one of the most comprehensive educational experiences in the Upstate. Its 62-acre campus features a planetarium, a living rainforest, and a marine ecology lab — the kind of destination that turns a summer afternoon into a lasting memory.

The key is not letting the summer months pass without intention. A single well-planned outing each week can bridge the gap between seasonal fun and academic readiness, ensuring Laurens County students head back to school ahead of the curve rather than scrambling to catch up.

What are your family’s favorite local spots for summer learning? Share your ideas and photos with the Buzz community on Facebook or tag us on Instagram.