Outreach Programs Overview
Let us bring the Museum to you! Outreach programs are generally longer and more in-depth than our exploration field trip classes. Our programs are designed to complement and support Colorado P-12 Academic Standards and support auditory, visual, and kinesthetic learners. Additionally, all classes support the building of relationships and empathy among children. Our costs, terms, and program topics are described below; other options are available to suit your needs.
Children will learn a variety of subjects from science to empathy in an approachable and fun way! Collaborative work and peer-to-peer learning are encouraged.
- Math concepts
- Science concepts
- Relationship building
- Empathy and compassion concepts
- Art and creativity concepts
Program Topics
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Exploring Our Senses
Ages 2-4 years / Program Time: 30 minutes
Cognitive Development; Physical Development and Health; Social Development; Approaches to Learning
Young children explore the world using their senses. In this child-led activity, young children will have the opportunity to freely explore their touch, smell, visual, and auditory senses through our carefully thought-out and planned sensory stations. We use items like sensory tubes, noisemakers, and tactile manipulatives to entice and engage in different sensorial interactions.
Students will:
Use the senses to examine objects
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Magical Magnets
Physical Science
Age 3 to 5 yrs (Pre-K)
Program Time: 30 minutes
Investigate the magical push and pull of magnetism in this station-based class. WOW! credits part of this class to NanoDays, a nationwide festival of educational programs about nanoscale science and technology organized by the Nanoscale Informal Science Education Network with funding from the National Science Foundation.
Students will:
Explore the physical science concept of magnetism.
Manipulate magnets and use them to determine whether other items are, or are not, attracted to magnets.
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Super Sounds
Physical Science
Age 3 to 5 yrs (Pre-K)
Program Time: 30 minutes
Investigate sound science by hearing, feeling, and even seeing vibrations. WOW! is grateful for support from LEAP into Science, a science and literacy program developed by The Franklin Institute and the Free Library of Philadelphia with support from the National Science Foundation.
Students will:
This program starts with story time to introduce vocabulary, then children explore centers in small groups.
Explore the physical science concept of sound.
Manipulate objects that make different sounds.
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Romping Stomping Dinosaurs
Life Science; Mathematics
Age 3 to 5 (Pre-K)
Program Time: 30 minutes
Grades K-1
Program Time: 45 minutes
Little learners practice counting and comparing. Hold Spike, our baby Stegosaurus. Compare your foot to big and small dinosaur tracks. Pack a dinosaur’s lunchbox and investigate dinosaur fossils!
Students will:
Explore math concepts such as counting, comparison, and measurement with standard and non-standard units.
Explore life science concepts such as characteristics of herbivores and carnivores.
Manipulate objects to count, compare, and measure them.
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Growing Friendship
Emotional and Social Wellness; Oral Expression and Listening; Earth Science; Life Science; Empathy and Kindness
Grades K-2nd
Program Time: 60 minutes
What do all living things need to grow? Water, sun, and food of course! But there are other things living things need. Like kindness, generosity, and friendship. We’ll practice these concepts together by growing a friendship flower. Each child will receive their own kit of seeds, soil, and planter and as a class we’ll give our seedlings the things they need to grow. Students will also learn about body language and communication by performing a Bee Waggle Dance. We will nurture our seeds to help them grow, just as we nurture our friends to help them grow too!
Students will:
Practice kindness and empathy
Practice the concept that all living things have needs for their successful growth
Plant seeds
Practice body language and communication
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Build It WOW!
Collaboration; Physical Science; Engineering
Grades K-3rd
Program Time: 45 minutes
Build your world with shapes and Build It WOW! Creativity, collaboration, and engineering skills are unleashed in this hands-on program. Work in teams to use plastic building bricks and robot toys to create a robotic structure that moves. This program is best for students who already know each other and work well together.
Students will:
Discuss different functions and types of robots.
Explore human relationship concepts such as collaboration.
Manipulate battery-powered, magnetic components to build a temporary structure.
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Young Inventors
Physical Science; Engineering
Grades K-3rd
Program Time: 45 minutes
Calling all problem solvers! Be an inventor as you observe, research, design, build, and test your own creation to take home. WOW! is grateful for support from LEAP into Science, a science and literacy program developed by The Franklin Institute and the Free Library of Philadelphia with support from the National Science Foundation.
Students will:
Explore the physical science and engineering concepts related to solving a problem.
Manipulate and attach assorted materials.
Create a device to reach an object that is above their reach.
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Night Life
Life Science
Grades 3rd-5th
Program Time: 60 minutes
Investigate the lives and adaptations of nocturnal animals by studying the ways they move and their eating habits. Then check out our Forest of Light exhibit to learn more about the habitats of these animals.
Students will:
Dissect an owl pellet to find out what owls eat
Play an echolocation game to discover how bats find their prey at night
Create a nocturnal animal craft to take home
For questions or more information please contact Claire Douglas, Education Programs Coordinator
Outreach Program Costs
- Ages 2-5 years old (PreK): $125, 30 minute program
- Grades K-5th: $150, 45 minute program
- Growing Friendship and Nightlife (60 minutes) programs will have a $25 materials charge
- Discounted rates are available for Head Start, Title I Schools, and students with disabilities
Outreach Program Terms
- Reservations must be made at least two weeks before the program.
- At least one adult from your organization must be present at all times.
- Programs are designed to be held indoors.
- Scholarships may be available depending on your group’s needs.
- Travel fees apply outside the city of Lafayette.
- Payment is due on the day of the program.
- WOW! Children’s Museum accepts cash, checks, VISA, MasterCard, Discover, and American Express.
