Homeschool Days

The National Building Museum is excited to announce new Homeschool Day sessions on Wednesday, March 19, featuring a variety of programs for students from kindergarten through 8th grade. Sessions are available for both morning and afternoon programs, which can also be combined to create an all-day experience!

MORNING SESSIONS

City by Design (Grades 1-6): Students will become city planners for the day as they design their own model city. Students consider the problems a city can have and offer solutions by planning their own community. They will use their imaginations to design and construct model buildings for the city using colorful supplies and recycled materials. This program meets content standards for social studies, language arts, technological literacy, and visual arts.

Patterns, Patterns Everywhere (Grades K3-1): Our built environment is made up of combinations of patterns. By learning to recognize shapes and patterns in the built environment, students will become better equipped to “read” buildings and their surroundings, and understand the meanings and associations that building forms are meant to convey.

My House, My Home (Grades K4-1): Students will explore the process, tools, and materials used to construct homes before building a home of their own. Guided by a museum educator, students begin to see connections between school curriculum and their own community. This program is available for students ages 4 and up.

AFTERNOON SESSIONS

Designing for Disaster (Grades 3-8): Recent natural disasters continue to underscore the importance of preparing for and understanding the way in which structures respond during natural hazards. In this program, students will learn about methods engineers have devised to create earthquake resilient buildings, then construct and test their own buildings using a shake table.

Build Your Story (Grades K-3): What skills do people use to design and build the world and stories around us? In Build Your Story, students will uncover the shared design skills of architects, authors, and illustrators through guided exploration and hands-on activities in the Building Stories exhibition. Students will then act as designers themselves by creating their own pop-up book to take home.