School and Group Museum Programs

Students will explore Oakville's relationship with the United States in the context of the Underground Railroad. Oakville Harbour played a significant role in the journey to Canada for many freedom seekers. Key figures in the Oakville Underground Railroad story are introduced through the exhibition Freedom, Opportunity and Family: Oakville’s Black History, and the multimedia presentation The Underground Railroad: Next Stop Freedom.

Accessibility

The multimedia presentation for this program is located on the second floor of the museum, accessible by stairs only. 

For groups with mobility issues, please contact us to discuss how we can best accommodate your visit.

Program details

• Grades five to eight
• Subject: Social Studies; History and Geography
• Curriculum strands: History; Heritage and Identity
• Curriculum topic: The Role of Government and Responsible Citizenship (grade five); Communities in Canada, Past and Present (grade six); Canada, 1800-1850: Conflicts and Challenges (grade seven); Creating Canada, 1850-1890 (Grade eight)
• Duration: Two hours
• Available year round
• Cost: $8.54 per participant

We will come to you! Students will examine local historical resources such as maps, photographs, letters and artifacts. Museum Exploratory Boxes containing objects and hands-on activities will actively engage students in exploring aspects of everyday life for the early settler from a local perspective. Each student will make an early settler toy. This program is also offered at the Oakville Museum if your group prefers an on-site visit to Erchless Estate.

Program details

• Grades one to three
• Subject: Social Studies
• Curriculum strands: Heritage and Identity
• Curriculum topic: Relationships, Roles and Responsibilities (grade one); Communities in Canada, 1780-1850 (grade three)
• Duration: Two hours
• Available year round
• Cost: $8.54 per participant

As a port of entry to Canada in the early 1800s, many immigrants arrived and settled in Oakville. These new settlers brought with them many traditions which were recreated in the new land. Through an interactive tour, students will be able to identify community celebrations that reflect their own heritage and/or their Canadian identity. Students will be encouraged to compare and contrast present day traditions with those of the past. An examination of various Christmas decorations, toys and gifts will encourage students to formulate questions and discuss how traditional items are passed down from parents and grandparents. Students will create a one-of-a-kind holiday decoration to take home.

Program details

• Grades one to six
• Subject: Social Studies; The Arts
• Curriculum strands: Heritage and Identity
• Curriculum topic: Changing Family and Community Traditions; Communities in Canada, Past and Present; Visual Arts
• Duration: 1.5 hours
• Available: December
• Cost: $7.63 per participant

Students explore the comparisons between their lives and those of the past while giving them an appreciation of the role a museum plays in a community. As an introduction to history, this program is designed to encourage learning through inquiry and play. An interactive hands-on tour of the Chisholm family home, will emphasise numbers, shapes and functions of common objects, familiar games and nursery rhymes. 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.

Program details

• Grades: JK, SK, grade one
• Subject: Social Studies (grade one)
• Curriculum strands: Heritage and Identity
• Curriculum topic: Language; Mathematics; The Arts (JK, SK), Our Changing Roles and Responsibilities (grade one)
• Duration: 1.5 hours
• Available year round
• Cost: $7.63 per participant

Imagine living in a home without electricity, telephones or indoor plumbing and then having these items installed for the very first time. An interactive house tour will allow students to compare and contrast their own homes and lifestyles with the life experiences of the Chisholm family. Many of the labour saving devices and entertainments that we take for granted were, for them, brand new luxuries. Developments in Canadian society such as urbanization and industrialization, as well as technical innovations, all changed family life.

Program details

• Grades two, three, four, six and eight
• Subject: Science and Technology; Social Studies
• Curriculum strands: Understanding Structures and Mechanisms; Heritage and Identity; Understanding Matter and Energy; Canada, 1890-1914
• Curriculum topics: Movement (grade two); Forces Causing Movement (grade three); Pulleys and Gears (grade four); Communities in Canada: Past and Present (grade six); A Changing Society (grade eight)
• Duration: Two hours
• Available year round
• Cost: $8.54 per participant

Through various hands-on activities students will explore the natural world around them in the historic gardens of Oakville's 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. They will plant a Scarlett runner bean seed in an earth friendly pot to take home with them. Students will see a crop of picked beans ready for a bean recipe!

Program details

• Grades: JK and SK
• Subject: Language; Science and Technology; Personal and Social Development;
• Health and Physical Activity
• Curriculum Topic: Oral, Reading; Exploration and Experimentation; Use of Technology; Social Relationships; Awareness of Surroundings; Health and Wellbeing
• Duration: 1.5 hours
• Available May to June, September to October
• Cost: $7.63 per participant