Tours and Activities

Tours, Activities, and Workshops for Schools and Groups

Two students using Museum Education Center touchscreens

The West Virginia State Museum offers a variety of tours and educational activities for schools and groups of all kinds. All programs are free of charge. Contact Museum Education Coordinator, Nathan Barner via e-mail or phone at (304)-558-0220 ext. 185 to schedule your visit.

Museum Tours

Museum tours range from Self-Guided to in-depth Discovery Tours.

Preview your visit with a short virtual tour of the each of the museum's 26 Discovery Rooms courtsey of WVBPS.

Company Store

The museum show path features an approximately 45-minute tour through West Virginia history from prehistory all the way up to the 21st century. Twenty-six Discovery Rooms connect to the show path and feature artifacts, artwork, stories, music, and film clips that immerse visitors in each time and place as history comes alive through first-person accounts and dynamic re-creations of pivotal events and places in the state's past. Two Connections Rooms allow visitors to dig even deeper with touchscreens available to explore photographs, documents, and additional information about the state's deep cultural roots and rich history.

Capitol Tours

Tours of the capitol begin on the first floor Rotunda at specific hours.

Monday through Friday

Tours start every half hour

9:00AM to 12:00PM

1:00PM to 3:00PM

Capitol dome

Any group of 10 or fewer are welcome to join a regularly scheduled tour without a reservation. Groups of more than 10 are best served by making a reservation in advance. It is strongly encouraged that you make your reservation 48 hours in advance. Capitol tour reservations can be made by calling (304) 558-4839.

Governor's Mansion Tours

Tours of the Governor's Mansion are currently unavailable.

Governor's Mansion

Museum Education Activities

The West Virginia State Museum is proud to offer a variety of educational activities to enhance your museum visit. From scavenger hunts to Discovery Room quests and developing young writers to learning through multimedia, we have something for groups of all ages and sizes. Our current museum education activities are:

Kindergarten-1st Grade

• Little Bits: Includes 3 Scavenger Hunts to engage young learners in a fun, meaningful museum experience exploring sights and sounds within the museum.

• State Symbols Sticker Book: Introduce students to some of West Virginia's state symbols with this fun follow-along sticker activity and coloring pages.

2nd-12th Grade

• Discovery Guide: The ultimate museum investigation tool for students. Includes a Discovery Room Quest, artifact seek and finds, vocabulary, short reading passages, and reflection questions for post-visit learning.

• County Challenge: Begin your county unit here! Students will search the museum for artifacts and information from each county and record their findings. After your visit, students can continue with additional county research.

• Young Writers: This program includes big-picture questions and a journal with topics stimulating post-visit research, group discussions and literary work. Choose from primary or secondary level questions or you can provide your own.

Add a Movie to Your Visit!
We show a variety of movies in the Museum Education Media Center with several topics available to choose. Our current movie topics include:

• Statehood

• The State Capitol

• Civil War

• Prehistoric Culture

• John Henry Animated Film

• The Silver Bridge Disaster

Homeschoolers
The West Virginia State Museum can add lots of enrichment to your curriculum! Our activities, workshops, and other grade-specific the Museum Education and e-WV lesson plans are sure to help you enhance your current studies.

Scouting Programs
The West Virginia State Museum Education Department has teamed up with the West Virginia Girl Scouts of Black Diamond to provide Girl Scouts the opportunity to learn their story while celebrating West Virginia's past, present and future. During our program, Girl Scouts are encouraged to dig into their history with immersive activities that are both fun and educational.

Museum Education Student Workshops

In addition to our museum education activities, we also offer several workshops that feature an additional hands-on-learning experience.
Our workshops are designed for students in 2nd-12th grade and have a limit of 28 students per session. Our current workshop offerings are:

• Weaving: Learn the art of weaing using a simple loom. After a short demonstration, students will make their own pot holder. Students learn the art of weaving using a simple loom. After a short demonstration, students create a pot holder.
• Painting: Step inside the world of art with creative techniques! Students will create a watercolor painting that shows their love of West Virginia.
• Pottery: Introduce students to the art of pottery. Students will use to clay to create a unique handmade piece to take home.
• STEM Activity-Building Bridges: Science and history combine in this hands-on workshop that introduces students to the history of bridges in West Virginia. Together in teams, students must use their engineering skills to build their own weight supporting bridge with very basic materials.

All programs are offered free of charge.
Contact Museum Education Coordinator, Nathan Barner via e-mail or phone at (304)-558-0220 ext. 185 to schedule your visit. For information such as directions, parking, and additional information about visiting the museum, click the button below!

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Museum Hours of Operation

Operating Hours:

Tuesday through Saturday

9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

***Closed Sundays and Mondays, and major holidays***

Admission is free

For more information call: (304) 558-0220