Education Programs & Activities
The Oklahoma History Center offers special programs and educational trunks that inspire students to learn more about Oklahoma history. All museum programs directly address Oklahoma PASS skills and correlate with History Center exhibits.
Types of Programs
The museum offers a number of activities for students and groups of all ages. Guided tours, scavenger hunts, and hands-on carts are available depending on the size of your group. Please call and let us design an experience that is appropriate for you. It is very important that your group arrive at their scheduled time. If your group runs late museum staff may change your program without prior notice. Schedule a field trip online.
Living History Programs are presented by staff in first person and involve audience participation. All of our living history programs are designed for use by student and adult groups. The presentation will vary by the age of the audience. Your group can schedule a living history during your museum visit or we can schedule a program at your school or for your organization. You can book a living history program online: School Booking Form | Non-school Booking Form.
Our education trunks are available for use in the classroom by the teacher and include hands-on items, activities, and more. Trunks are available for teacher check out for one week periods at no cost.
Activity SheetsActivity sheets offer students and families a unique way to explore the museum at their own pace. Our activity sheets provide you with the tools necessary to evaluate the student's learning experience. For families they provide themes or guidance for locating artifacts. Please feel free to modify them to fit your specific needs. Make sure you print your sheets within one week of your visit to ensure you have the newest edition.
Oklahoma History Center - Full Version (PDF)
Oklahoma History Center - Short Version (PDF)
Find-It Activity (PDF)
High School Activity Sheets (PDF)
Sam Noble Gallery (PDF)
Exterior Exhibits (PDF)
Oil & Gas Scavenger Hunt Pre-K to 2nd Grade (PDF)
Oil & Gas Scavenger Hunt 3rd to 5th Grade (PDF)
Oil & Gas Scavenger Hunt 6th to 12th Grade (PDF)
Education Traveling Trunks*The following list, trunk items, and curriculum materials are subject to change.
The Oklahoma History Center offers education traveling trunks program that bring the museum to the classroom, helping to bring the past to life for students.
- Trunks are free to teachers, librarians, home-school co-ops, and pre-service teachers.
- Trunks can be picked up at the History Center or sent to your school for the cost of shipping.
- A maximum of two trunks may be checked out per teacher, per semester.
- Trunks are checked out for up to one week.
- All trunks include:
- Curriculum guide, based on Oklahoma Academic Standards, with background information and supplemental activities
- Hands-on objects
- Trunks may include:
- Trade books
- While most of the curriculum targets 3rd grade students, all Pre K-12 teachers who have checked out our trunks found them to valuable tools for their classrooms.
- While focusing on social studies curriculum, trunks are interdisciplinary. Language Arts, Math, Science, Physical Education, Art, Music, Gifted, and Special Education teachers have used our trunks in their classrooms.
Interested in a trunk or have questions? Contact email@example.com or by phone at 405-522-0785.
Current TrunksOne-Room Schoolhouse
Learn about going to school in a one-room schoolhouse during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
Fourteen Flags over Oklahoma
Discover the different nations that claimed what is now Oklahoma as their own territory. Fourteen different flags and curriculum material are included in this trunk.
Learn about archaeologists and Oklahoma archaeology sites through the hands-on tools and activities included in this trunk.
Civil War in Indian Territory
A Civil War soldier's uniform and items he carried with him in this trunk help bring the Civil War to life for students.
Learn about life at George Washington's Mount Vernon home. Topics and hands-on items cover agriculture as well as slavery. This trunk was sponsored by George Washington's Mount Vernon.
Bring the American Revolution to life with this continental soldier's uniform and the materials the soldier may have carried with him. This trunk is sponsored by the Daughters of the American Revolution.
Students can play with the same toys and games that colonial children played. This trunk was made possible by the Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence.
This includes hands-on items commonly used by people during the colonial era, along with an in-classroom archaeology kit. General in nature, this trunk is appropriate for hosting your own Colonial Day in your classroom. This trunk was made possible by the Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence.
Teach about Colonial Era music, instruments, and dance with the items in this trunk. This trunk was made possible by the Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence.
Discover what life was like on the Long Drive for Cowboys through a cowboy's outfit and items he might have carried with him.
Dust Bowl & Great Depression
A variety of hands-on items in this trunk help students understand the hard times experienced by those who survived the Depression and Dust Bowl in Oklahoma. This trunk was sponsored by Cox Communications.
Learn about early explorers to Oklahoma with flags, trade items, and clothing.
Fur Trade in Oklahoma
Fur samples and trade items included in this trunk help students learn about the importance of the fur trade for Europeans and American Indians in Oklahoma.
Play games from the past when children had no internet, television, or video games.
Learn about Oklahoma Land Runs and imagine what life was like for families who created new homes on their claims.
Oklahoma Department of Transportation (ODOT)
Teach students about traffic safety, different forms of transportation, and building traffic infrastructure through the hands-on items in this trunk. This trunk was made possible through a grant from the Oklahoma Department of Transportation.
Oil & Gas
Students learn the history and important role of oil and natural gas to Oklahoma's economy and our daily lives.
Okie Tales Cowboy
This trunk is a miniature version of the Cowboy trunk with trade books appropriate for younger students.
Okie Tales Land Runs
This trunk is a miniature version of the Pioneer Tools trunk with trade books about the Oklahoma land runs.
Bring the farm into the classroom with seed and plant samples, farming tools, and agricultural products produced in Oklahoma.
Through different hands-on items and flash cards, students can learn about all of the different Oklahoma state symbols.
Oklahomans in Space
Learn about Oklahoma astronauts, the history of the United States space program, and outer space with an astronaut suit, model rockets, and other hands-on items in this trunk. This trunk was sponsored by internationally known Oklahoma singer and entertainer, Darla Z.
Discover the daily lives of Oklahoma's pioneers through the tools and objects in this trunk.
While learning about radio in the early to mid-twentieth century, students record their own radio program using the items in this trunk. This trunk was sponsored by the Kirkpatrick Foundation, Inc.