Programs and Workshops

Students learn the alphabet and, depending on the age of students, practice writing with chalk and slate or quill pen.

This special version of our popular "People of the Dawn" program is especially for early learners. It features Wampanoag/Algonquian traditions passed down for generations, and explores Wampanoag life through reproduction artifacts and animal furs.

Experience the 1621 harvest feast through play! First, hear the story, then play the story by rotating through centers with reproduction Wampanoag and Colonial objects.

How did Wampanoag and colonial English children work, learn, and play? Try your hand at children's chores, write the 17th-century alphabet, then play a 17th-century game!

Discover how archaeology and oral tradition helps us better understand how Wampanoag People lived in the 1600s and how they carry on traditions today. Students will learn about the importance of pottery to Wampanoag families and make and take their own pot using traditional methods.

Mayflower is preparing to leave England. Is your family ready? In this team building activity, you'll race against the clock to make sure all your supplies are safely stowed away in the hold. But watch out! New arrivals may mean you need to make difficult decisions about what goes and what will stay behind.

Did you know the Pilgrims saw themselves as "very expert in music?" After learning about the role of music and dance in 17th-century English communities, students learn popular songs from the 1600s and try a traditional English country dance.

Students discuss the many different ways 17th-century children were educated, whether in a classroom, through an apprenticeship, or at home. Try writing with a quill pen and ink and compare it to today's writing tools. Create a unique 17th-century signature to take home.

Young citizen-students explore the Mayflower Compact as a founding document of our democracy and create their own 17th-century signature with quill and ink.

Learn about early Plymouth Colony from an actual Pilgrim in your classroom! Our museum educator will use a real person's life story to frame the one-hour program. Using reproduction artifacts to enhance your classroom's experience, your visitor will share the Pilgrim story-from leaving England and Mayflower's journey to the first winter in New England and the 1621 harvest feast known today as Thanksgiving.

An Indigenous museum educator will discuss Wampanoag People's relationship to the land, respect for all living beings, and seasonal ways of life. Students will handle traditional artifacts and animal furs and may also play a traditional game.

Students work in teams and use clues hidden in historic art to discover the identity of a mysterious artifact.

Wampanoag children learned through stories and play. Students enjoy a retelling of the classic story "The No Faced Doll," and make their own corn husk doll to take home.

Students investigate a range of images that reveal different ways of mapping historic landscapes to discover how maps tell stories about people and places in the past. In small groups, students practice reading and interpreting maps then make a map of their own.

Mayflower is preparing to leave England. Is your family ready? In this team building activity, you'll race against the clock to make sure all your supplies are safely stowed away in the hold. But watch out! New arrivals may mean you need to make difficult decisions about what goes and what will stay behind.

Did you know the Pilgrims saw themselves as "very expert in music?" After learning about the role of music and dance in 17th-century English communities, students learn popular songs from the 1600s and try a traditional English country dance.

What really happened at the First Thanksgiving? Who was at the table and why? Students explore the history behind the legend by comparing written and oral accounts of the harvest feast and examining colonial and Indigenous artifacts.

Explore the 1621 alliance between Plymouth Colony and the 17th-century Wampanoag community of Pokanoket. Students will become leadership consultants to the Pokanoket sachem Ousamequin and Plymouth Colony Governor John Carver, and use primary sources to decide how to advise these leaders. Should they agree to this alliance?

Discover the Mayflower Compact-and those individuals who crafted it-as inspiration for the democratic vision of our nation's founders. Students engage with the original language of the document to better understand the Mayflower Compact as an example of government by the consent of the governed before drafting their own class compact.

Join an Indigenous Museum Educator for a unique conversation that explores 12,000 years of Wampanoag history. Discover how communities past and present have adapted and sustained their way of life amid changing natural, social, and political landscapes.

"Aren't you hot in those clothes" Join a museum educator for a fun, interactive sneak-peek into a 17th-century wardrobe and discover how the English colonists dressed for success in Plymouth Colony.

In Plymouth Colony and Patuxet, children and adults played games and sports. Students will learn about the role of play in 17th-century communities then try out some popular pastimes such as Wampanoag football, stoolball, bowling for nine-pins, hoop-rolling, toss and catch, board games, and telling riddles. Workshop options can include a focus on Wampanoag or colonial games...or both! Subject to availability.

Explore Plimoth Patuxet's main living history exhibits with a Museum Educator and discover the powerful stories of people who actually lived along these shores of change 400 years ago.This 2-hour program is best suited to grades 3+ and can be adapted to fit grade, unit, or curricular goals.

Be a History Detective! Teams search for clues and discover how indigenous and colonial communities overcame unique challenges in the past and still shape our communities today. This 2-hour program is best suited to grades 3-5.

Landscapes tell important stories about "community" on this guided tour of the original Patuxet and Plimoth - now Plymouth's thriving downtown cultural district. This 1-hour tour includes key sites such as Burial Hill (the site of the original settlement), Town Brook (where Patuxet got its name), and the Plimoth Grist Mill (originally built in 1636). This 1-hour program is best suited to grades 3+ and can be adapted to fit grade, unit, or curricular goals.

An express 30-minute guided tour explores the original Patuxet and Plimoth - now Plymouth's thriving downtown cultural district - and asks why people have chosen to live on this spot for over 12,000 years. This program is best suited to grades 3+ and can be adapted to fit grade, unit, or curricular goals.