School and Group Museum Programs

Coming in spring 2025!

“Debwewin” refers to the Anishinaabe Seven Grandfather Teaching for “truth.” This traveling exhibition and education resource kit will help to advance our shared understanding of Indigenous culture in Oakville and to support local Truth and Reconciliation.

Through various hands-on activities, students from kindergarten to Grade 8 will develop an overview of what treaties are, and explore the traditional land and territory of the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation (MCFN). They will better understand the shared history of the MCFN and Oakville community, as well as the treaty relationship, including our shared responsibilities to fulfill treaty promises.

Education resource kits are being provided with support from the Oakville Community Foundation.

This project has been made possible in part by the Government of Canada’s Museums Assistance Program Grant.

We visit your school! Through this in-school program, students examine local history resources, including maps, photographs, letters and artifacts. We bring lessons to life with artifacts from the Oakville Museum collection and hands-on activities. Explore aspects of early settler life from a local perspective. Students will also make a simple early settler toy.

Curriculum connections

• Social Studies, Heritage and Identity, Communities in Canada, 1780-1850 (Grade 3)

Program details

• Duration: 2 hours
• Fee: $8.54 per student
• Available: Year-round

Students explore the comparisons between their lives and those of the past while gaining an appreciation of the role a museum plays in a community. As an introduction to history, this program encourages learning through inquiry and play. Through an interactive hands-on tour of the Chisholm family home, there will be an emphasis on numbers, shapes and functions of common objects, and familiar games. By playing with reproduction 19th century toys, students will discover the function of objects as well as the energy sources used for toys. Students will make a reproduction toy to take back to class.

Curriculum connections

• Language, Mathematics, The Arts Kindergarten (JK and SK)
• Social Studies, Our Changing Roles and Responsibilities, Heritage and Identity (Grade 1)

Program details

• This program can be adapted for any age group. 
• Duration: 1.5 hours
• Fee: $7.63 per student
• Available: Year-round

Imagine living in a home without electricity, telephones or indoor plumbing, and then having these items installed for the very first time! Through an interactive house tour, students can compare their own homes and lifestyles with the life experiences of the Chisholm family in the 19th and 20th centuries. Many of the labour-saving devices and entertainments that we take for granted were, for them, brand new luxuries. While examining primary and secondary source documents and/or artifacts, discover how urbanization, industrialization, and technical innovations changed family life and Canadian society.

Curriculum connections

• Science and Technology, Social Studies (Grades 2, 3, 4, 6 and 8)
• Understanding Structures and Mechanisms, Heritage and Identity; Understanding Matter and Energy, Canada, 1890–1914
• Movement (Grade 2); Forces Causing Movement (Grade 3); Pulleys and Gears (Grade 4)
• Communities in Canada: Past and Present (Grade 6), A Changing Society (Grade 8)

Program details

• Duration: 2 hours
• Fee: $8.54 per student
• Available: Year-round

Established in 1827, Oakville became a legal Port of Entry in 1834, creating vital shipping connections with US harbours – many of which were key transit points for the Underground Railroad. Students will explore Oakville’s historical relationship with the United States in the context of the Underground Railroad. 

Through the exhibition Freedom, Opportunity and Family and the multimedia presentation The Underground Railroad: Next Stop Freedom, key figures from Oakville’s Underground Railroad story come to life. Learn how individuals seeking liberty passed through Oakville’s harbour, settled in the area, and became integral to the town’s development. As a part of their visit, students will also take an outdoor walking tour of Old Oakville and work with primary source documents.

Curriculum connections

• The Role of Government and Responsible Citizenship (Grade 5)
• Communities in Canada, Past and Present (Grade 6)
• Canada, 1800-1850: Conflicts and Challenge (Grade 7)
• Creating Canada, 1850-1890 (Grade 8)
• Canadian History since World War I: Identity, Citizenship and Heritage (Grade 10)

Program details

• Duration: 2 hours
• Fee: $8.54 per student
• Available year round

Through a hands-on activity, young students will explore the natural world around them in the historic gardens of the founding family. Using all five senses students will apply communication skills to listen, answer questions and identify plants and trees in the garden through a scavenger hunt and tour.

Curriculum connections

• Language, Oral Communication, Reading, Exploration and Experimentation, Science and Technology, Personal and Social Development, Social Relationships, Awareness of Surroundings, Health and Well-being, Physical Activity (Kindergarten)

Program details

• Duration: 1.5 hours
• Fee: $7.63 per student
• Available: September, May and June
• Morning and afternoon sessions available.

As an official port of entry into Canada in the early 1800s, Oakville welcomed many immigrants who settled in the area. These new settlers brought with them a rich tapestry of traditions, which they celebrated in their new homeland.

While touring through the Chisholm Family home decorated for an early Canadian Christmas, students will follow Baba, the curious family cat, as it guides them through the museum to uncover how some traditions began and have changed (or stayed the same!) over time. As they explore diverse winter celebrations from around the world, students can reflect upon their own heritage and/or their Canadian identity. Students will make a unique decoration to take home.

Curriculum connections

• Social Studies, The Arts, Heritage and Identity (Grades 1 to 6)
• Changing Family and Community Traditions, Communities in Canada, Past and Present, Visual Arts (Grades 1 to 6)

Program details

• Duration: 2 hours
• Fee: $8.54 per student
• Available: November and December