Field Trips
The BMI has implemented safety protocols based on CDC recommendations, all while providing a safe, fun, educational experience.
The BMI welcomes students to the museum with a curated selection of programs for PreK—12th grade students.
Arrangements for student groups (minimum of 10) must be made in advance. Teachers/staff are free and the parent chaperone entry fee is $10.00. Remember to schedule a break for a bagged lunch!
Choose from an exciting selection of educational activities that are grade-specific and rich in content with specific and meaningful learning outcomes.
Select one or more of the following experiences for your group
History Alive Tour
Experience Baltimore’s industrial past with a guided tour. Stops may include visits to a belt-driven machine shop, blacksmith’s shop, oyster cannery, print shop, and garment loft. Students learn about jobs that were important to Baltimore’s history as an industrial city and engage in discussions and demonstrations of the museum’s working machines.
Cost: $5.50 per student
Grade: 2nd—12th
Length: 1 hour
Kids’ Cannery
Students become managers, can-makers, printers, shuckers, can-fillers, and labelers in Mr. Platt’s 1883 cannery. They learn about differences in training and wages and the inequality of segregated work. Students grasp the value of a day’s work by being paid in tokens and spending them at the company store. Everyone takes home a can of “oysters” that they helped to create.
Cost: $8.50 per student
Grade: 2nd–8th
Length: 1.5 hours
Kids’ MotorWorks
Learn how assembly lines revolutionized American factories and jump-started the era of mass consumption. Students take a job on the line and work together to build paper model cars to take home.
Cost: $7 per student
Outreach option: $8.50 per student
Grade: 2nd–8th
Length: 1 hour
Design It!
Young engineers learn the basics of experimentation, observation, and design. Choose one of the projects below, or book more than one session!
Balls and Tracks: Build and test model roller coasters
Wiring: Use custom circuit boards to learn the basics of electricity
Bridges: Experiment with different paper bridge designs
Cost: $6.50 per student
Outreach option: $8 per student
Grade: 2nd–8th
Length: 1 hour
Needles & Thread
What was it like to work in Baltimore’s garment industry during its heyday from 1865 to 1930? Students investigate this question by imagining themselves as garment workers for the Baltimore Clothing Company in 1929. Students become cutters, sewers, and management personnel.
Cost: $7.00 per student
Grade: 3rd–8th
Length: 1 hour
In the Neighborhood
The BMI is transformed into an early 20th century neighborhood in this program where students become workers of the past as they take an interactive tour through our galleries. They are given different jobs, including ship’s captain, pharmacist, grocer, baker, and banker, and are paid with tokens. The program ends with everyone depositing their earnings and receiving a deposit book to take home.
Cost: $5.50 per student
Grade: K–2nd
Length: 1 hour
Lights On
Students explore the use of light as a communication method in this hands-on STEM program. They make real-world connections with artifacts throughout the museum to see how light and sound have been used historically to communicate. Students then test their knowledge by building their own light communication device.
Cost: $6.50 per student
Outreach option: $7 per student
Grade: K–2nd
Length: 1.5 hours
City Builders
What did Baltimore look like in 1896? Students help build a map of historic South Baltimore out of paper models and learn about its houses, workplaces, trains, and more. They learn where residents lived, worked, and shopped, and take home their creations.
Cost: $5.50 per student
Outreach option: $7 per student
Grade: K–2nd
Length: 1 hour
Little Gears
In this hands-on activity, students will learn about an industry important to Baltimore and participate in a craft, story, and visit to a gallery related to that industry. Choose one of the three options below, or book more than one hour-long session!
Hats Off to You: Explore our garment loft and learn how hats were made
Extra! Extra!: Use an antique printing press and stamp your own newspaper
Put a Lid on It: Decorate and fill a can while learning about grocery stores
Cost: $5 per student
Outreach option: $6 per student
Grade: PreK-K
Length: 1 hour
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