Small Group Hands-on-History Workshops

Small school groups, home school groups, scouts and others,  schedule a class that works for you. Offered to small groups from 8 to 16 students. Cost is $17 per participant. All materials are provided. Workshops are booked at least one month in advance. A $170 non-refundable deposit is required to reserve your workshop. Ages: 7 and up

Learn through “doing” in these active classes. Dress in period clothing and join us as we experience life and activities from the mid-19th century.

Choose one of the following for each 2 hour workshop

• Children’s Chores– Carry water with a yoke, wash clothes and experience other chores that were part of the day to day life of children.
• Wool Workshop– Clean and card wool, learn to use a drop spindle and make a wool felt project.
• Playing in the Past– Make a 19th century toy and play the games and activities that have delighted children for ages.
• Food and Fire– Help build and start a fire, churn butter and make biscuits on a stick.
• Light the Night– Make your own candle and learn how they lit the dark in the mid 1800s.

Homeschool Tours

Visit our Group Tours page for details

A time traveler dressed in period clothing from the 1850s will come to your classroom and tell the story of Fort Nisqually, the first globally connected settlement on Puget Sound.

The presentation begins with the history of the Hudson’s Bay Company, followed by a look at the contents of the trunk that the time traveler has brought from the mid-19th century. It can be geared for grades 1-9 and lasts approximately 45 minutes. Because of the participatory nature of the presentation, it is designed for a classroom rather than an auditorium.

Fees: $90 for the first presentation. Please call for additional presentations and for distances beyond 15 miles of Fort Nisqually.

Scholarships are available.

Bring this educational kit to your classroom

Here’s the scene: a laborer for the Hudson’s Bay Company is traveling down the Columbia River by canoe. He is en route to Fort Nisqually, the Company’s trading post on the Puget Sound. Our traveler has with him a small wooden carrying case called a cassette that contains his personal belongings. Look inside this cassette and unlock the story of the Fur Trade in the Northwest.

Educational Kit Includes:

• Pictures and DVD to introduce the student to the Fur Trade
• Cassette containing items from the material culture of the Fur Trade
• Beaver felt hat
• Period “dress-up” clothing
• Teacher input and student activity materials

Check Out Procedure

• Call Fort Nisqually Living History Museum at (253) 404-3970 to reserve a kit
• Kits are picked up/returned to Fort Nisqually Living History Museum, Point Defiance Park
• Kits can be kept for 1 week (7 days) and can be used by all interested teachers at the school.

Fees
$35 per week. Payable by cash, check, or purchase order. Scholarships are available.

This educational outreach program of Fort Nisqually Living History Museum is made possible by a grant from Washington Commission for the Humanities.

Questions? Contact us!
(253) 404-3970
[email protected]