• Toys and Games of Long Ago (grades 1-5): Explore the daily life of pre-industrial Americans through the toys and games of times past.  Try homemade wooden toys, play word games invented to make tedious chores more enjoyable, and discover games that helped children learn reading, writing, and arithmetic.
   
• A Visitor from the Past (grades 3 – 8): Explore life in one of the past three centuries with a costumed roleplayer who will share stories of life in the Puddle Dock neighborhood of Portsmouth.  Roleplayers use objects and hands-on activities to bring their historical eras to life in the classroom. Choose from one of the following options:
  • Hear tales of patriots and loyalists in 1777 from Mrs. Stavers
  • Learn about the changing world of the 19th century from Mrs. Goodwin
  • Share the experiences of Mrs. Shapiro, an early 20th-century Jewish immigrant.
     
• To Build a House: 18th-Century Architecture (grades 4 – 8): Students become a construction crew and, working as a team, assemble a tabletop model of an 18th century post-and-beam house.  Then, use the model to find out what the layout of a house can tell about the daily life of people living 250 years ago.

Programs are designed to run for 45 – 60 minutes each and serve one classroom at a time. Cost: $150 per initial presentation (plus mileage), $100 per subsequent presentation of the same program.

For questions about School Outreach Programs, please contact Bekki Coppola, Director of Education, at 603.422.7541 or bcoppola[at]sbmuseum.org.