Guided Experience for Your Students

All of our student programs are free of charge and designed to adhere to local and national standards of learning. Upon confirmation, a chart detailing curriculum connections is provided for each tour. Click the program description for more information and to register for the program.

NEW!

It’s My Right!: Postal Service, Power, and the First Amendment

It’s My Right!

Designed for 9th-12th grade students.
Accommodates up to 30 students.
Duration: 90 minutes.

Available by advance reservation at 10:30, Tuesdays through Fridays.

Throughout U.S. history, the mail and our First Amendment rights have crucially shaped and impacted each other. Through the It’s My Right! Postal Service, Power, and the First Amendment student program, your students will explore connections between postal history and civics. After a deep dive into the First Amendment through museum objects, students will be challenged to consider modern implications of the relationship between the Mail and the First Amendment through a social justice inspired art activity.

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NEW!

The Mail Must Move!

The Mail Must Move!

Designed for 6th-8th grade students
Accommodates up to 30 students
Duration: 90 minutes

Available by advance reservation at 10:30, Tuesdays through Fridays.

In The Mail Must Move!, your students will explore the complex layers of 19th century Westward Expansion in the United States through a unique postal lens. After guided close-looking with objects in the museum galleries, students will be challenged to move the mail efficiently and effectively across the country using Railway Mail Service in a hands-on game of strategy and chance.

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Let's Deliver the Mail

Let’s Deliver the Mail

Designed for Preschool students
Accommodates up to 25 students
Duration: 45 minutes

Available by advance reservation at 10:30 am and 11:30 am, Tuesdays through Fridays.

This fun, action-packed program combines story time and an in-gallery activity for young learners. Led by museum staff, students will listen to a story about how mail is delivered around the world and then engage in pretend play as a mail carrier.

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Listen, Look and Do

Listen, Look & Do!

Designed for Pre-K –Kindergarten students
Accommodates up to 25 students
Duration: 45 minutes

Available by advance reservation at 10:30 am and 11:30 am, Tuesdays through Fridays.

This program has multiple themes to choose from, to best fit your group's unique needs. Filled with multi-sensory experiences, students read a story (listen) with a museum educator, explore the museum (look), and then engage in a student-centered activity (do), while making deeper connections between the program theme and the Postal Service.

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First Class Problem Solvers

First Class Problem Solvers

Designed for 1st – 3rd grade students
Accommodates up to 30 students
Duration: 60 minutes

Available by advance reservation at 10:15 am and 11:30 am, Tuesdays through Fridays.

Can you solve a problem like the postal service? In this STEM skills-based program, students will learn about the processes we all use when problem solving and then use those steps to evaluate how the Postal Service has applied creative solutions to different problems. Finally, students will collaboratively work together to problem solve, in a real-life postal design challenge.

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Big Draw

Big Draw

Designed for 3rd – 5th grade students
Accommodates up to 30 students
Duration: 90 minutes

Available by advance reservation at 10:30, Tuesdays through Fridays.

One of the world’s most popular hobbies, philately, is the study and collection of stamps. This program introduces students to the history of US Postage stamps and art design. Students learn all about the stamp design process—from the ways an artist must think about their artwork to the rules of images and themes permitted on stamps. Paired with a guided gallery exploration to learn more about the Postal Service and the history of stamps, at the end of the session students will combine all their acquired knowledge to sketch their own stamp design that can be submitted for production.

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Custom Educational Program

We are happy to work with educators to design specialized programs for students of all ages. Ranging from guided tours of our temporary exhibits to programs detailing the field of museum studies, we will do our best to accommodate your needs and develop an outstanding educational experience. To discuss developing a custom education program, please email (NPMEducation@si.edu) or call 202-633-4739.

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