Museum Education
Digital Outreach- Click the link to discover fun and interesting activities you can do at home.
The Museum of the South Dakota State Historical Society offers suitcase education kits and gallery classes. Bring a real beaver pelt, a south Dakota symbols match-up game, or a piece of roadway asphalt to your classroom with an education kit. Bring in your second, third, and fourth graders in for a gallery class at the Cultural Heritage Center to learn about buffalo, the environment, or Lewis and Clark's Journey. See the lead plate buried by French Explorers in 1743, walk through a tipi, or try your hand at milking a cow in the museum galleries.
New to our education offerings is a special family activity for families called "History Explorers". This program is available every day to families as a group oriented way for kids and adults to experience museum galleries. For no additional fee, families can check out backpacks designed for both pre-school and school age children at the front desk before embarking on the fun and educational family bonding experience. Regular admission fees apply for adults, but kids under 17 are admitted free of charge, so be sure to bring your pre-school and elementary school-aged kids for a memorable and fun family activity.
The museum provides special programs and events year round so be sure to call ahead to see what is on the upcoming schedule of events.
Suitcase education kits
Suitcase education kits bring hands-on object, ready-to-use worksheets, and activities to classrooms and other groups across the state. Activities are matched to South Dakota K-6 Department of Education Standards. Kits cover fourteen different topics from South Dakota history.
Rental Information
Kits rent for a two-week period for $35.00 and be sent anywhere in South Dakota. Price includes return shipping.
For more information or to schedule a kit, please contact:
Ronette Rumpca at 605-773-6011.
Click the links below for more information on each of the Education Kits. Kit information will open in Adobe Acrobat Reader.
Buffalo and the Plains Indians
Cowboys and Ranch Life
Dakota, Nakota, Lakota Life
Fur Trade: Bridging Two Worlds
Homesteading
South Dakota Environments
Lewis and Clark in South Dakota
One-Room Schoolhouse Learning
South Dakota Archaeology
South Dakota Immigrants
South Dakota Mining
South Dakota Places
South Dakota Transportation
Trading Posts and General Stores
Below is a 20-minute video explaining education kit development and showing hands-on items and the teacher’s resource guides with lessons, worksheets and activities from the Buffalo & the Plains Indians and the Dakota, Nakota, Lakota Life kits.
Rental Information
Kits rent for a two-week period for $35.00 and be sent anywhere in South Dakota. Price includes return shipping.
For more information or to schedule a kit, please contact:
Ronette Rumpca at 605-773-6011.
Gallery Classes
2nd Grade: The American Bison (October)
3rd Grade: Living with the Land (November)
4th Grade: Lewis and Clark's South Dakota Experience
Taught by docent educators, classes give students an opportunity for hands-on learning by handling objects and viewing photographs. Classes are 45 minutes long.
2nd Grade: The American Bison (October)