DANVILLE — It would take more than 25 hours to take a field trip to Louisiana, but a group of kindergartners got a firsthand look at what it's like to live in the Southern state during a video conference yesterday morning.

It was the first time the 13 Danville Elementary School students contacted the Metairie, La., students to talk about football, the weather and their favorite foods. They used a video camera and microphone that connected the two classrooms.

To help show what it means to be more than 1,500 miles apart, students in Danville showed their Southern counterparts the snowsuits they wear during recess, pictures of students snowshoeing during gym class, and custodians clearing snow off the school roof.

The Harold Parker Elementary School students were surprised to see how much snow has fallen in New Hampshire so far this year and laughed when they found out you can't play miniature golf year round.

"You must have big classrooms to hold all that stuff," said one Louisiana teacher when seeing pictures of all the Danville students dressed for the snowy weather.

Metairie is adjacent to New Orleans, Louisiana's largest city.

Dr. Seuss' Cat in the Hat also made an appearance in Danville to read to the children.

In similar Seuss fashion, the Louisiana students acted a skit titled "One Fish, Two Fish, Catfish, Crawfish" to illustrate life in Louisiana.

Christy Hubley, a former classroom teacher at the Danville school, is the Timberlane Regional School District's technology specialist and spends part of her day organizing video conferences between different classrooms in the district and other schools, museums and zoos. All seven schools in the district have the video equipment.

Yesterday's connection to Louisiana was that school's first video event since Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Students in that district traveled from their elementary school to a nearby high school to talk with the Danville students.

"They made it a field trip for their students on their end," Hubley said.

Some of the conferences are just a one-time connection, but some are ongoing projects. Last year, a Sanborn Regional Middle School Spanish classroom connected with a school in New York, where students there read a book and local students translated it into English.

Elementary schools frequently connect with scientists from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and high school students talk a couple of times a year with students from Hawaii.

"They each share the history around them and even make trips to visit each other," Hubley said.

The equipment is also educational for parents.

Last month, Sandown Central School held a video conference with the Baseball Hall of Fame in which families learned about the history of baseball fields and how they have changed through the years.