• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
Open Today clockOpen 10 a.m.–5 p.m., Fri. 10 a.m.–8 p.m.
  • Educators
    • Philosophy
    • Pre-K to Grade 6
    • Grades 7 to 12
    • Field Trips
    • School Visit FAQs
    • College and University Programs
    • Professional Development
  • Woodbury School
    • Woodbury School FAQs
    • Woodbury School Staff
    • Current Academic Calendar
  • Blog
  • Journal of Play
    • About
    • Journal Issues
    • Information for Authors
    • Book Reviews
    • Subscribe
  • search-icon
Logo for The Strong National Museum of Play with a marble replacing the "O" in "Strong". The word "Strong" is in purple as well as the word "Play" in the subheading.

The Strong National Museum of Play

Visit the Ultimate Play Destination

  • Visit
    • Hours and Admission
    • Directions and Parking
    • Events Calendar
    • Membership
    • Accessibility
    • Museum Rentals
    • Dine and Shop
  • Exhibits
    • Museum Exhibits
    • Online Exhibits
    • National Toy Hall of Fame
    • World Video Game Hall of Fame
    • Skyline Climb
    • Play Lab
    • Butterfly Garden
    • Carousel and Train
  • Collections
    • Search Collections
    • Brian Sutton-Smith Library & Archives of Play
    • International Center for the History of Electronic Games
    • The National Archives of Game Show History
    • Research Access
    • Research Fellowships
    • Donate an Artifact
    • Preservation
  • Support
    • Expansion Campaign
    • Individual Giving
    • Corporate Giving
    • The Play Ball
  • About
    • Margaret Woodbury Strong
    • Museum News
    • Board of Trustees
    • Play Makers Leadership Council
    • Community Access
    • Annual Reports
    • Press Room
    • Books
    • Play Quotes
  • Donate
  • Buy Tickets
Hometriangle separatorEducatorstriangle separatorPre-K to Grade 6

Lessons for Pre-K to Grade 6


The Strong offers a wide range of educational programs for students in pre-K through grade 6 amid dynamic, hands-on exhibits and world-renowned collections. These lessons can be adapted to meet the needs of teachers or utilized by homeschoolers.

PLEASE NOTE: School lessons are available on Mondays and Wednesdays.

School Lesson Rates

  • School lesson prices are indicated in the lesson descriptions below.
  • A minimum of fifteen (15) students are required to book a school lesson. Maximum of 30 students per lesson. Limit two lessons per day.
  • One adult chaperon admission is included for every three paid students. Each additional chaperon, who is not a member, pays full admission.
  • If your lesson does not include a visit to the butterfly garden, it can be added for $5 per person.
  • $1 per person to add a train ride.
  • Interested in a group visit without a school lesson? Please go to the Field Trip information page.
  • Reservations must be made and paid in full at least two weeks in advance.
  • Transportation arrangements are the responsibility of the visiting school. The museum is close to many downtown bus routes.
Group Visit Request Form

Math

Bear Bucks: Beginning Economics (Kindergarten, Grade 1, Grade 2) $13 per student

The Berenstain Bears: Down a Sunny Dirt Road exhibit provides a bustling environment with Mama Bear’s Quilt Shop, Papa Bear’s Woodworking Shop, the Bear Family Restaurant, and Farmer Ben’s Farm. Using Bear Bucks withdrawn from the bank, students role-play the parts of business owners and consumers. This is a fun way for students to apply basic math skills of adding, subtracting, beginning multiplication and recognition of dollar denominations. View Lesson Extension.
1 hour
15 student minimum
30 student maximum
$13 per student

Subject areas addressed: Math; Social Studies; Health, Family, and Consumer Science

Science

Butterfly Life Cycle Exploration (Grade 1, Grade 2, Grade 3) $14 per student

Students build knowledge about the butterfly life cycle by observing chrysalises and butterflies in Dancing Wings Butterfly Garden. Students use informational text and science talk (a discussion protocol designed to promote student questioning and speaking scientifically). Working in small groups, students demonstrate what they have learned by illustrating and acting out the butterfly life cycle. View Lesson Extension.
1 1/2 hours
15 student minimum
30 student maximum
$14 per student

Subject areas addressed: Science, Arts, English Language Arts

Predators and Protection (Grade 1, Grade 2, Grade 3) $14 per student

With a keen eye for design, color, and a splash of curiosity, students enter the fabulous Dancing Wings Butterfly Garden and learning lab. Students become lepidopterists as they visit the garden to observe live butterflies and spend time in the lab closely observing preserved specimens. After playing an interactive game about predators and prey, they make valuable discoveries about butterfly predators and how butterflies protect themselves. View Lesson Extension.
1 1/2 hours
15 student minimum
30 student maximum
$14 per student

Subject areas addressed: Science, Arts, English Langauge Arts

Very Hungry Butterflies (Pre-K, Kindergarten, Grade 1) $14 per student

What do butterflies do when they are hungry? Students explore this and other questions as they observe real butterflies in Dancing Wings Butterfly Garden. Eric Carle’s book, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, is the springboard for this imaginative experience. Children focus on the stages of a butterfly’s life cycle through a magical music and movement activity. View Lesson Extension.
1 hour
15 student minimum
30 student maximum
$14 per student

Subject areas addressed: Science, Arts, English Language Arts

Language Arts

Ernie’s Alphabet (Pre-K, Kindergarten) $13 per student

Ernie has lost the letter vests he made for his friends, Grover and Cookie Monster. Students help Ernie to find the missing vests by hunting in the Can You Tell Me How to Get to Sesame Street exhibit. While searching, they practice letter identification and letter-sound recognition. This lesson can be expanded to include word building and word-play. View Lesson Extension.
1 hour
15 student minimum
30 student maximum
$13 per student

Subject areas addressed: English Language Arts, Social Studies

Once Upon a Time… (Pre-K, Kindergarten, Grade 1, Grade 2) $13 per student

Students transform into a character from one of five stories in the dramatic fairy-tale section in Reading Adventureland: Cinderella, Goldilocks and the Three Bears, Jack and the Beanstalk, Little Red Riding Hood, or Three Billy Goats Gruff. Students become the cast as they select a setting, retell, and reenact one of the above classic tales. View Lesson Extensions.
1 hour
15 student minimum
30 student maximum
$13 per student

Subject areas addressed: English Language Arts; Arts

Playing with Setting: Literacy Foundations (Grade 3) $13 per student

Working in small groups, students analyze the importance of setting by developing the plot of a short story. All groups will deal with the same main character, conflict and theme, but each group will be assigned a different setting in Reading Adventureland. Groups share their story outlines and discuss how setting can have a major impact on a story, before leaving with new inspiration to continue writing back at school. View Lesson Extensions.  
1 hour
15 student minimum
30 student maximum
$13 per student

Subject areas addressed: English Language Arts, Arts

Sleuth School (Grade 3) $13 per student

Students attend the Mystery Mansion School of Artful Sleuthing in Reading Adventureland to learn and practice the skills detectives use to solve mysteries. After exploring the Mansion in small groups to discover what makes a great detective, these groups create their own detective and begin work on a possible mystery that could occur in their own school. Each group shares its ideas, after which all students graduate from Sleuth School with honors! View Lesson Extensions.
1 hour
15 student minimum
30 student maximum
$13 per student

Subject areas addressed: English Language Arts; Science

Who Dunnit? (Kindergarten, Grade 1, Grade 2) $13 per student

A mystery at the Mystery Mansion needs to be solved and your students are the detectives! Through deductive reasoning, prediction, mapping skills, and collaboration, detectives use their clues to crack the code of “Who Dunnit?” in the captivating mystery section of Reading Adventureland. View Lesson Extensions.
1 hour
15 student minimum
30 student maximum
$13 per student

Subject areas addressed: English Language Arts

Health, Family and Consumer Science

Health Nuts (Grade 1, Grade 2) $13 per student

What foods do we need every day to be healthy? Meet Francine, a life-size puppet who can’t keep up with the kids at recess and falls asleep during school. What can she do to have more energy? Students take on the challenge of helping Francine become healthy. Using the USDA’s “MyPlate” food guide, students shop in Wegmans Super Kids Market and have fun packing a healthy lunch for Francine. Together, Francine and her new friends learn a “Fit as a Fiddle” cheer to help them remember what it takes to be healthy. View Lesson Extensions.
1 hour
15 student minimum
30 student maximum
$13 per student

Subject areas addressed: Health, Science, Math, Arts

Healthy Beginnings (Pre-K, Kindergarten) $13 per student

Students use dramatic play, movement, and math skills to determine what foods keep people healthy and strong. Dressing in the colors of the symbols from the USDA’s “MyPlate” food guide, students discover what each color on the plate reveals about healthy eating. Acting as “Super Shoppers,” students visit Wegmans Super Kids Market to select foods that promote healthy eating. After shopping, students create healthy and balanced snacks by playing an interactive game. View Lesson Extensions.
1 hour
15 student minimum
30 student maximum
$13 per student

Subject areas addressed: Health, Science, Math, Arts

Social Studies

Lesson: Playing Along: Toys Throughout History (Grade 3, Grade 4, Grade 5, Grade 6) $13 per student

What did children play with long ago? How have toys and play changed or remained the same over time? During this lesson, students will examine toys featured in the America at Play exhibit and complete a scavenger hunt and timeline activity designed to allow them to uncover the ways toys and play have changed.
1 hour
15 student minimum
30 student maximum
$13 per student

Subject areas addressed: Social Studies

Playthings and Pastimes from Long Ago (Kindergarten, Grade 1, Grade 2) $13 per student

What did children play with before the era of plastics, batteries, computers, and videos? Students visit One History Place to learn about early 20th century America. Through examination and discussion of toys from today and long ago, students draw conclusions about how they are alike and how they are different. They continue the experience by playing in and exploring the exhibit. View Lesson Extension.
1 hour
15 student minimum
30 student maximum
$13 per student

Subject areas addressed: Social Studies, Arts

X Marks the Spot (Grade 1, Grade 2) $13 per student

Ahoy! Drop anchor in Reading Adventureland to work on mapping skills and have an adventure. Students work in small groups to create and follow maps, explore Reading Adventureland, and play a treasure hunt game. Using mapping techniques, students find hidden puzzle pieces to complete a map that will help them solve a mystery. View Lesson Extension.
1 hour
15 student minimum
30 student maximum
$13 per student

Subject areas addressed: Social Studies

Group Visit Request Form

Education programs underwritten in part by

M&T Bank logo

Sign Up for Educator E-News

Educator sign-up
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

An two little girls holding hands and gesturing excitedly while they play at The Strong museum.

Make a Donation Today

Become a champion for play and help make a difference in the lives of the children and families who play, learn, and grow with The Strong.


Make a Donation Now

Sign Up for Museum E-News

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.
  • opens in a new windowYouTube
  • opens in a new windowTwitter
  • opens in a new windowTripAdvisor
  • opens in a new windowInstagram
  • opens in a new windowFacebook

One Manhattan Square
Rochester, New York 14607
+1 (585) 263-2700
info@museumofplay.orgcreate new email

Become a Member

  • Visit
    • Hours and Admission
    • Directions and Parking
    • Events Calendar
    • Membership
    • Accessibility
    • Museum Rentals
    • Dine and Shop
  • Exhibits
    • Museum Exhibits
    • Online Exhibits
    • National Toy Hall of Fame
    • World Video Game Hall of Fame
    • Skyline Climb
    • Play Lab
    • Butterfly Garden
    • Carousel and Train
  • Collections
    • Search Collections
    • Brian Sutton-Smith Library & Archives of Play
    • International Center for the History of Electronic Games
    • The National Archives of Game Show History
    • Research Access
    • Research Fellowships
    • Donate an Artifact
    • Preservation
  • Support
    • Expansion Campaign
    • Individual Giving
    • Corporate Giving
    • The Play Ball
  • About
    • Margaret Woodbury Strong
    • Museum News
    • Board of Trustees
    • Play Makers Leadership Council
    • Community Access
    • Annual Reports
    • Press Room
    • Books
    • Play Quotes

Copyright 2021 The Strong. All Rights Reserved.

  • Careers & Internships
  • Privacy & Terms of Use
  • Site Mapopens XML file