The Museum is closed for the season and will reopen for Winter Lights on November 21.
Learn
There is a reason why Shelburne Museum welcomes thousands of school children each year—it is an incredibly rich resource for learning about American history, industry, culture, and art.
Shelburne Museum’s educational programs are all about close looking, critical thinking, and nurturing creativity and art appreciation. As you explore, you will discover how our collections become tools for learning, exploration, and self-expression. Educators who connect with Shelburne Museum will have the opportunity to expand their own understanding of the stories our collections have to tell and the ways that art and material culture can support standards-based classroom learning. We welcome public, private, and homeschool students in grades pre-K to 12 and beyond.
All groups must make advance reservations. After reading the information below, please complete our Field Trip Inquiry Form if you would like to schedule a visit. Please contact our School and Youth Programs Educator, Sara Wolfson, at education@shelburnemuseum.org or (802) 985-0922 with any additional questions.
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School Programs are generously supported by the Marie and John Zimmermann Fund and the George W. Mergens Foundation, with additional support from the MGN Family Foundation. Shelburne Museum programs are also made possible by our Members and donors to the Annual Fund.
Available during our open season from May 11th – closing
Self-Guided visits are a great way for groups of all kinds to experience Shelburne Museum, and are especially popular with school, homeschool, and college groups along with summer camps and service organizations. Self-Guided visits allow you to explore the Museum at your own pace and visit the exhibits and buildings
your group is most excited to see.
Pricing:
Admission fees are $5 per student. Teachers and school/camp staff are admitted free.
Chaperones admitted free up to a ratio of 1 chaperone per 10 students ($5 per chaperone above 1:10 ratio)
Homeschool visitors: Admission fees are $5 per student. One adult per family/group is admitted free. Additional adults per family/group are $5 each. Pre-registration
is not required for individual families. You can let the Admissions team know that you are a homeschooling family/group upon arrival. If you are a homeschool
cooperative and would like to book a visit for a larger group, please complete the inquiry form above. Discounted admission rates for homeschool visitors are honored daily during the time that most schools are in session: from Monday, May 11 to Friday, June 19 and Monday, August 31 to closing.
We are committed to making Shelburne Museum learning experiences accessible to all. Please reach out if you need assistance covering admission fees. We also welcome inquiries about accessing limited funding available to help defray transportation costs (applicable only to groups traveling by school bus).
Guarantee your spot by signing up early! Please complete the inquiry form above, and we will get back to you as soon as possible. You may also reach out to Sara
Wolfson, School and Youth Programs Educator, at education@shelburnemuseum.org or 802-985-0922 with any questions.
In this visual arts and arts integration-focused workshop, students will practice close looking and deeper thinking by using Thinking Routines to engage with artwork at the Museum. During a tour led by Shelburne Museum staff, students will make connections between the exhibition they are viewing and the role that museum curators play in creating an exhibition. Using their new knowledge and understanding of their selected exhibition, students will be challenged to tap into their own creativity to create an artwork they believe would fit well in the exhibition they viewed.
What do maps tell us? How do they share that information with us? Why would people use maps? In this workshop, students will explore the answers to those questions by studying a variety of historical and current maps. Students will then practice map-making by creating a map of a space at the Museum. The location that students focus on will be dependent on factors such as grade level, group size, and weather. This hands-on activity will teach them about spatial relationships and symbols and encourage them to slow down and notice the details of their surroundings.
Experience Shelburne Museum through the eyes of an engineer/scientist! In our new STEM Explorers program, students take part in three collaborative and hands-on mini workshops where they will be challenged to build bridges, sculpt boats that float, and design creative animals with a variety of adaptations. Each of the mini workshops will connect to a part of Shelburne Museum’s unique collection, including the Covered Bridge, steamboat Ticonderoga, and taxidermy animals in Beach Lodge. By linking history, engineering, and natural science, this program supports classroom learning goals while providing students with a memorable, real-world learning experience.