Plan a field trip with your class to the Museum. For some lessons, we provide pre-visit and post-visit materials for you to use in the classroom.
Cost: Onsite programs are $5 per student, with a minimum charge of $50. One adult per 10 children is required; additional adults are $10 per person.
Payment is due the day of your visit. Scholarships are available to qualifying groups thanks to the generosity of the corporate, foundation, and individual sponsors. Please contact the Education Department for eligibility and availability information.
Education program scholarships are generously funded by the Swedish Council of America.
The adventures of Sweden’s favorite storybook hero, Pippi Longstocking, come alive at the Museum. Enjoy tales from this beloved children’s series while traveling through the Museum galleries as a “thing-finder”, creating a Dala horse craft, and tasting Pippi’s favorite cookies – pepparkakor.
Participate in a Swedish holiday tradition – the Lucia festival. Lucia, the saint of light, has long been honored on December 13th, the longest night of the year. Children will learn the legend of Lucia, explore Swedish Christmas traditions, and experience the magic of a traditional Lucia procession. Don’t forget your camera!
Celebrate holidays the Swedish way! Even though we may celebrate some of the same holidays in the United States, Swedes have many unique traditions. From Midsommarfest, to Easter, to the Lucia festival before Christmas, children will participate in and discover how Swedish holidays differ from our own.
Did you know that the Swedes were the first Europeans to settle the Delaware Valley? This program focuses on the founding and legacy of the New Sweden Colony, established in 1638 along the Delaware River. Using Museum collections and hands-on artifacts, children will explore how and why the settlement began, learn more about Swedish relations with local Native Americans, and experience elements of colonial daily life, like making real butter!
Learn about Carl Linnaeus and the taxonomic system he created to classify animals and plants. This 90-minute guided program explores how Linnaeus’s work is still used in science today. This indoor/outdoor program utilizes ASHM’s location in FDR park to explore the nature around us, just like explorer Pehr Kalm when he came to North America.
Art connects cultures around the world and the American Swedish Historical Museum is the perfect place to introduce students to the world of art. The museum was built in 1926 and features 12 galleries highlighting traditional and modern artistic Scandinavian styles. Our Art at the Museum program introduces children to the foundational concepts of art and then leads them through each gallery to find unique examples. At the conclusion of the program children will get to make their own traditional Swedish folk art to take home!
Take a journey back in time to the age of the Vikings (800-1100 AD). Children will examine a 1,000 year-old sword, dress up in Viking armor, and use hands-on artifacts to discover more about this often misunderstood culture, and how we are still impacted by it today. Highlights include making rune stones and playing Viking chess (hnefatafl).
Challenge your navigational skills as you get to know this popular Swedish sport. Participate in an environmental education activity that teaches children how to use a compass and map. Children will take part in a scavenger hunt and record findings in a field journal.
This is an indoor/outdoor program that takes place in the museum and the surrounding Franklin Delano Roosevelt Park.