Early Childhood Classroom Programs: Pre K-K

45 minutes, maximum 25 students and minimum age requirement of 3 years.

Single program
August 16-January: $130
February-August 15: $145

Multiple sessions*
2 sessions: $240
3 sessions: $330
4 sessions: $415

*Same program, same day

3…2…1… Blast off!

Build the solar system in your classroom, then blast off with radio-controlled space shuttles to explore what’s beyond our planet. View photos and learn about gravity, asteroids, orbits and more. Also available in Exploration Station format.

A Cultural Experience

Use music, toys, colorful clothing and role playing to explore cultures from Peru, Japan and Mali.

Coral: A Colorful Community

Learn what coral is, where it lives, what it eats and how it protects itself. Explore real coral skeletons, role-play a coral polyp and view pictures of some of the creatures that live in a coral reef. Make a coral reef habitat come to life with beautiful puppets. Also available in Exploration Station format.

Dino Dig

Growl, claw and walk like a dinosaur! Dig up fossils and identify which dinosaurs they came from. Learn about different kinds of dinosaurs, including what they looked like, what they ate and how they protected themselves. Also available in Exploration Station format.

Egg-cellent Eggs

Explore bird eggs and learn about their shapes, sizes, colors and nests through hands-on activities. Learn about the other animals that lay eggs and crack open an egg to find out what’s inside.

From the Backyard to the Barnyard

Use puppets to investigate animals that might live in backyard or barnyard habitats. Meet one of our resident animals, investigate what this animal eats and discover how it finds food by echolocation.

How Does Your Garden Grow?

Gain an introduction to the diverse world of plants! Learn what they need to grow, what parts they have, and the stages of the plant life cycle. Investigate the differences between fruits and vegetables. Then spend some time digging in the dirt and plant your own seed to take home.

Our Five Senses

It takes a nose to know – or maybe hands, ears, eyes or a tongue! Explore the magic of your senses through fun, hands-on activities, and interact with a live animal.

Rainforest Adventure

Take an imaginary journey to the tropical rainforest to learn about the many animals and plants that live there. “Shop” for important products that come from this unique habitat and meet three live animals that call the rainforest home.

Snug as a Bug

Build a bug, see through the eyes of a fly and learn the life cycle of a caterpillar. Explore how insects protect themselves by playing a game of hide-and-seek with a very hungry frog. Meet and touch live insects and marvel at incredible mounted bugs from around the world. Also available in Exploration Station format.

Stuffee, the Amazing Anatomy Doll

Meet Stuffee, a seven-foot-tall, blue-haired, smiling anatomy doll that unzips to show what’s inside all of us. Feed Stuffee lunch and use stethoscopes to listen to your own beating heart.

Tall Tails

Hop, prop, and crawl your way to learning about animal adaptations. Try on larger-than-life costumed tails, morph into different animals then hear a tall tale about two unique local animals.

Wild About Animals

From Africa to Antarctica, become part of the wild animal kingdom. Take an imaginary safari across Africa and look through binoculars to see zebras, lions and more. Waddle like a penguin in the coldest place on Earth, then hop on over to a continent with some unusual Down Under residents. Also available in Exploration Station format.

Wonders of Weather

Investigate seasonal weather patterns, complete the water cycle, make some snow and race clouds. Have a hair-raising experience with lightning and take home jewelry with sun-sensing abilities.

Science Primary and Secondary Classroom Programs

60 minutes, maximum 30 students per class

Single program
August 16-January: $155
February-August 15: $175

Multiple sessions*
2 sessions: $280
3 sessions: $390
4 sessions: $480

*Same program, same day

ABC: Arches, Bridges, and Construction (Grades 5-8)

Work in teams to build arches, a suspension bridge and a truss bridge you can actually crawl across. Learn what makes bridges work - anchors, beams and compression. Explore the concepts of live load, dead load and environmental stress.

Animal Identification: The Science of Skulls (Grades 4-8)

Who’s there? Use clues such as skull size and shape, type and number of teeth and eye placement to identify a variety of mammals from our region using their skulls and a dichotomous key. Gain a great introduction to the science of classification. Strong reading skills are necessary for this program. Program available in Exploration Station format.

Awesome Animal Adaptations (Grades 1-8)

Explore animal habitats and adaptations. Meet and touch live animals that may include a bat, snake, box turtle, salamander, frog, and/or hissing cockroaches. Learn about and handle unique items from our collections such as baleen, caribou fur, and armadillo armor. Program available in Exploration Station format.

Bats (Grades 1-8)

Walk like a bat! Fly like a bat! Meet a live native bat! Explore echolocation to understand how it works and hear what it sounds like. Learn about these truly amazing yet misunderstood animals through a slide presentation, game, specimens and more. Program available in Exploration Station format.

The Best of Biology (Grades 7-12)

Apply the concepts of adaptation, taxonomy, and genetics to the natural world. Gain hands-on practice interpreting and creating phylogenetic trees or cladograms. Then, investigate phenotypes and genotypes of an assortment of bird specimens from museum collections.

Chemistry in Your Hands (Grades 4-7)

Heat it up and cool it down! See and feel the evidence of physical versus chemical change. Watch your experiments change color as you create acids and bases. Learn chemistry basics and practice lab safety. Beware — the results you take home may be slimy!

Coral: A Colorful Community (Grades 1-3)

Biodiversity is the name of the game when it comes to the coral reef, “rainforest of the sea!” Learn all about the organisms that build the reef. Touch real coral skeletons and learn how coral polyps feed and protect themselves. Explore the interconnectedness of the many organisms who make up the coral reef community through puppet play time and a symbiosis puzzle. Program available in Exploration Station format.

Digging for Dinosaurs (Grades 1-4)

Uncover fossils on a mock paleontological dinosaur dig. Discuss Cincinnati’s world-famous Ordovician fossils, learn how fossils are formed and unearth how to differentiate them from rock. Touchable fossils from dinosaurs including Allosaurus, Triceratops, Iguanodon and more – a junior paleontologist’s dream! Program available in Exploration Station format.

Dinosaur Discovery (Grades 3-5)

Step into the role of a paleontologist and work with your team to unwrap fossils from near and far away. Practice your paleontological skills by handling real and cast fossils, conducting research and presenting findings. Discover what adaptations dinosaurs had to survive in their habitats, why they went extinct and how we know so much about them using fossils from Tyrannosaurus, Stegosaurus, Velociraptor and more!

Engineer It! (Grades 1-4)

Explore engineering using step-by-step instructions and colorful construction kits. Solve problems by building working belt-driven machines. Utilizing the engineering design process, improve your inventions by conquering friction and making tension work for you.

Evolution of Diversity: A History of Earth's Changes (Grades 3-8)

Investigate how land masses moved and shifted through time. Explore a timeline of major species evolution and extinction events. Learn about local ancient creatures, the habitat in which they lived and their adaptations. Examine an Ordovician period diorama and fossil specimens from museum collections. Program available in Exploration Station format.

Experimenting with Physical Science (Grades 3-7)

What shapes do bubbles take? Does sound vibrate? Explore bubbles, sound, electricity, magnets, motion, light, color, mirrors and optical illusions in this inquiry-based program. Create hypotheses, perform experiments, draw conclusions and share your discoveries. Program available in Exploration Station format.

Fantastic Flora (Grades 1-3)

Animals aren't the only ones with amazing adaptations: plants are masters of survival as well! Tour the plant life cycle with posters and hands-on activities, focusing on the unique way plants disperse their seeds, attract pollinators and manufacture food. Learn about parts of a plant, photosynthesis, germination, pollination and more. Each student will leave with a planted seed of their own.

Forces of Nature (Grades 1-4)

Investigate weather patterns and natural phenomena through activities that shake, shock, and erupt! Review the steps of the water cycle, learn about tectonic plates, and model the power of earthquakes, tornadoes, volcanoes, and lightning. Use teamwork to attempt to build a house that is unshakeable! Program available in Exploration Station format.

Forensics: The Science of Crime (Grades 5-8)

Analyze human skull replicas to determine the sex and ancestry of a fictional victim. Combine clues from the skull with crime scene evidence to determine the identity of a missing person and speculate as to the cause of death. Program available in Exploration Station format.

Geology Rocks (Grades 3-7)

Transform into a geologist for the day! Learn all about rocks and minerals while viewing and handling impressive specimens from our collections. Examine and classify specimens to learn their true identity, then test your knowledge of everyday uses of minerals. Program available in Exploration Station format.

Incredible Insects (Grades 1-5)

Get up close and personal with the creatures that make up Earth’s largest group of animals. Learn the characteristics of insects, see the world through the eyes of a fly and learn amazing facts about insect defense, including camouflage and mimicry. Meet live insects and view mounted insect specimens from around the globe. Program available in Exploration Station format.

Rainforest Adventure (Grades 1-2)

Take an imaginary journey to the tropical rainforest! Discover where in the world to find this habitat and how much it really rains there. From the forest floor to the emergent giants, puzzle out the layers that compose this jungle environment and identify the animals who live in each. Learn about the many rainforest products we consume and why it is important to protect this habitat. Meet and interact with three live animals that call the rainforest home!

The Reasons for the Seasons (Grades 1-5)

Using globes, rotate and revolve your way to learning about the seasons and understanding why summer is warmer and winter is colder. Create the sounds of spring and explore seasonal camouflage with mounted animal specimens from our collections. Win a wintry prize if you can identify animal visitors from their scat and tracks left behind. Program available in Exploration Station format.

Superheroes of STEMville (Grades 5-12)

Calling all science heroes! The citizens of STEMville need your engineering and math skills to solve a series of challenges and save the community. Use the engineering design process to define the problems; then imagine, create and test solutions. Improve as needed until you save the city! Program available in Exploration Station format.

Tour the Solar System (Grades 3-6)

Soar through the solar system with recent slide images from Mercury, Neptune and beyond. Touch real meteorites and rocks like the ones found on our Moon and learn about why the gas giants are so colorful. Figure out your galactic address, visualize the distance between planets and observe the crushing effects of air pressure. Program available in Exploration Station format.

What’s the (State of) Matter (Grades 1-3)

Learn about solids, liquids, gases and plasma through fun, bubbly, sticky and electrifying experiments. Mix different states of matter and be amazed by what happens. Energy in, energy out! Chemical reactions galore! As an added bonus, take home an entertaining substance that doesn’t quite follow the state of matter rules.

Your Heart, Your Blood, Your Health (Grades 2-6)

Learn where the heart is located, the way it works, how it sounds, which system it’s part of and what it pumps. Get a closer look at capillaries, run a little race, test your food group knowledge and identify some giant microbes.

Social Studies Primary and Secondary Classroom Programs

60 minutes, maximum 30 students per class

Single program
August 16-January: $155
February-August 15: $175

Multiple sessions*
2 sessions: $280
3 sessions: $390
4 sessions: $480

*Same program, same day

American Revolutions (Grades 4-8)

Take a journey through four eras of American history: Colonial America, the American Revolution, the Civil War and the Civil Rights Movement. Through replica artifacts, historical documents, and hands-on challenges, explore the impact of individuals and groups on the establishment of our democracy and our nation’s evolving fight for freedom and equality for all.

Archaeology of Ohio Valley Native Peoples (Grades 3-8)

Gain an introduction to the major indigenous groups that have called the Ohio River Valley home. Discover the tools, natural resources and skills that allowed them to survive. Using a timeline, view these local cultures within the context of civilizations around the world. Learn about two techniques that archaeologists use to gather information and make inferences about people of the past. Use artifacts to experience quadrant mapping and create an example of stratigraphy for your group to keep.

Business Beginnings (Grades 3-6)

Investigate soap and candle making, meatpacking, furniture making and brewing in 19th-century Cincinnati. Work in small groups to review period business records, illustrations and historical artifacts. Learn how productive resources were used in these industries and how they impacted production and consumption. Get to know economic terms such as opportunity cost, scarcity, profit and loss. Strong reading skills are necessary for this program.

Coming to America (Grades 3-8)

The 1800s brought people from all around the world to the United States. Contemplate the push-and-pull factors that influenced immigrants to leave their homes and consider what items they might have brought with them on the journey to America. Learn what immigrating through Ellis Island was like and explore the lives and accomplishments of immigrants who settled in our area.

From Crown to Colonies to Country (Grades 1-4)

Pack your trunk and sail into the past for a colonial adventure! Map the colonists’ journey from Europe to America and investigate replica artifacts to imagine what life was like in the colonies. Explore challenges faced by the colonists and the reasons they wanted to establish self-government.

Impact of Inventions (Grades 1-6)

What is innovation? Who can be an inventor? How do you get credit for an invention? Many inventors, including Thomas Edison, Lewis Howard Latimer, Garrett Morgan, Eil Whitney, Henry Boyd and Patricia Bath, created items that changed our daily lives. Use a timeline, documents, artifacts and hands-on exploration to investigate the impact of their inventions and others on the past, present and future of our world.

On the Trail with Lewis & Clark (Grades 3-8)

Take an imaginary trip with Lewis & Clark to explore President Jefferson’s recent acquisition of the Louisiana Purchase. Why were they going? What did they pack? Answer these questions and more as we head out on our adventure. Use maps, historical artifacts, primary source material and a choose-your-own-adventure game to study the wildlife, unknown lands and people that the Corps of Discovery encountered on their journey. Program available in Exploration Station format.

Lotions, Potions and Strange Notions (Grades 3-6)

Learn about cholera, the disease at the root of multiple Cincinnati epidemics in the 1800s. Use primary documents to review cholera’s symptoms and the impact it had in our city. Explore the strange notions that people once had about the causes and treatments of illnesses and review the root causes of cholera outbreaks in our city. Identify colorful “giant microbes” responsible for other pandemics. Then, use mortars and pestles to mix and roll herbal pills like those dispensed by 19th-century apothecaries.

One World, Many Cultures (Grades 1-4)

Take a trip around the world, using maps and travel buddies to navigate your way. Explore cultures from Africa, Asia, Australia and South and North America through clothing, crafts, games, celebrations, music and photographs. Program available in Exploration Station format.

Transportation Transformations (Grades 1-6)

Learn how canals, streetcars and inclines impacted the growth of Cincinnati from the 1820s through the 1950s. Learn about a period folksong, load goods on a mock canal boat, experience one of Cincinnati’s five inclines and view historical photographs of these forms of transportation.

Uncovering Egypt* (Grade 2-8)

Calling all Egyptologists! Explore archaeology, the science that unlocks the secrets of past civilizations. Excavate and analyze replica artifacts to learn about famous Egyptians and expand your knowledge of Egyptian culture. Immerse yourself in this world of hieroglyphs, pharaohs and gods and goddesses galore!

The Underground Railroad: Its History, People & Glory (Grades 3-8)

Explore the journey from enslavement to freedom by learning about the Middle Passage and the experiences of those who endured it. Recreate elements of the Underground Railroad through photographs, maps, navigational tools, replica shackles and true stories of historical figures. Discover the resourcefulness, courage and determination of freedom-seeking enslaved people and abolitionists.

Walking City (Grades 3-8)

Explore how geographic factors kept Cincinnatians confined to the downtown basin and learn why our city remained a walking city longer than most. Use a giant authentic 1863 urban map, its key, advertisements from the city directory and illustrations to perform a series of tasks that help you understand what life was like then in downtown Cincinnati. Strong reading skills are necessary for this program. Program available in Exploration Station format.

When Two Worlds Met (Grades 3-6)

The North American fur trade connected people from two different worlds. Exchange furs, coins and wampum for replica goods from a late 18th-century trading post. Learn about the Battle of Fallen Timbers by stepping into roles as the signers of the Treaty of Greenville. Experience a period beaver felt hat, wampum and a calumet.