School Programs / Scout Programs

Guided Programs

(Select only one per visit.  May easily be paired with a self -guided tour for an all day experience.)

Farm Life: 1880s Style (K -3rd) 
Students examine the link between food and farm to discover the role of the farmer from 130 years ago and today.  They also examine the life of children from the 1870s at the DeVore farm house. Class size recommended not to exceed 50 students.

Daily Life: 1870s City Living (K-3rd) 
Participate in common chores, games, and manners of city children in an 1870s lower middle class home. Class size recommended not to exceed 25 students. 

A Glimpse Of Christmas Past (K-5th) Daily in December 
Participate in domestic holiday preparations, pretend shopping trip, and make an ornament to take home.  Program concludes with Christmas songs and a nativity tableau.

The Cowboys, Cattle and Kansas (3rd – 4th)
Learn from an 1870s cowboy about the diverse group of men who secure Wichita as a booming “cowtown.”  Class size recommended not to exceed 25 students.

Trails & Rails: The Settling of Wichita (3rd – 5th)
Learn how the people of the 1860s and 1870s traveled the Prairie Desert and the hardships they faced, to call the Great Plains and Kansas their Home.

The Kansas Character (2nd-3rd) Daily in January
Explore the Kansas State Symbol and Folk Characters to reveal just what it takes to have "Kansas Character."

Self-Guided Tours

Old Sedgwick County Fair Education Day - Oct. 2, 2009 

One Day only! Reservations Required! Special Fee!
Experience the sights and sounds of an old county fair as your students take a 2 hour tour of the grounds visiting places that attract your students interest.  There are more activities than can be experienced in the time allotted, but that should give your students the ability to focus on activities that most interest them.  One Chaperone for every five students is requested and admitted free.

                                    2009 curriculum pt 1.

                                   2009 curriculum pt 2.

                                    Education Day Activity Booklet for Lower Grades

                       Education Day Video    - Place your mouse on the media  player do a right mouse click, and select zoom - full screen

                                     2008 Education Day Passport.

One Room School (K – 12th)
Be an 1870s teacher for half a day. Use McGuffey’s Readers, slates and chalk to teach in a one-room school.

Community Helpers and Changing Times (K – 2nd)
Compare and contrast occupations of the 1870s and what replaced them today.

                                      Community Helpers Student Booklet

                                       Community Helpers Leaders Booklet

Children: Town and Country (3rd – 4th)
Compare living in the city and on an 1880s farm to decide if city children or those in the country had it easier.

                                   Children: Town and Country - Student Booklet 

                                   Children: Town and Country Leader Booklet

Working Together To Make A Town Work (3rd – 5th)
How did people of a new town work together? Find out how working together to provide basic goods and services was needed to keep the town alive.

                                        Working Together Student Booklet

                                        Working Together Leaders Booklet

All Around the Town (5th-8th)

Taking the role of townspeople, students tour to find the basics about the town that any 1870s citizen would need to know.

                                   All Around the Town Leader Booklet

                                    All Around the Town Student Booklet

Boy Scouts Programs

Click for Color Brochure of Programs

Tiger Cubs -Discovering Wichita –  Plan your “Go See It” at Cowtown and learn about Wichita’s past.  Tour the museum, make a card in the print shop, visit the farm and learn about animal care. 

Meets Requirement 1 g, 4g and Elective 31        

Offered any time, 

Minimum of 6, maximum of 12 participants

Approximately  1.5 hrs. 

$3.00 /child/adult

Wolf Cubs –Getting It Done in the 1870s –  Learn about tools, their uses in the Carpentry Shop and create a birdhouse project.  Go around the grounds learning about machines and how they did the work needed long ago.

Meets Requirement 5a, c, d, e and elective 7a, 8b,c -

Available on non-event Saturdays

Minimum of 6, maximum of 12 participants

Program length – 2hrs

Cost:  $10/ per child, $3.00/ adult

Bear Cubs –Building an 1870s Town –  Come and learn how a town was built and then create your own toolbox at Old Cowtown Museum’s Carpentry shop so that you can go out and build on your own. 

            Meets  Requirement 3b,c, e and 20a, 20b

Available on non event Saturdays

Minimum of 6, maximum of 12 participants

Program length – 1.5-2hrs

Cost:  $10/ per scout, $3.00/ adult

Girl Scout Programs 

Daily Life: 1870s City Living (K-3rd) 
Participate in common chores, games, and manners of city children in an 1870s lower middle class home. Class size recommended not to exceed 25 students.  - Completes most requirements for the Brownie Frontier Fun badge.

Summer Girl Scout Programming

To Schedule a Program Contact

Sheri Gaskins 316-350-3317