Education & Outreach

The Presidio Museum offers educational opportunities for professional educators, homeschoolers, and family groups.  

Please see our General Rules for prices and also our Covid-19 Safety Policies. Read on to learn more about our offerings.

Programs below are listed from 100% live to 100% virtual.

Program 1: Morning Muster

An On-Site Live Field Trip

TWO HOUR VISIT TO THE PRESIDIO MUSEUM
Minimum of 8 participants.
Capped at 30 participants (including adults) 
$5 per youth attendee. Chaperones free

A Presidio Museum Outreach Specialist will make an appointment with your group for either an in-person visit (masked) or a Zoom visit to give a 30-45 minute age-appropriate presentation about the Presidio Museum and its history. This field trip supports Common Core curriculum for Arizona 3rd and 4th graders although other age groups may attend with advance planning.

Following that appointment, your group will schedule an on-site visit.  You will arrive and be given a brief recap of the history of the Presidio here in Tucson. Then your group will be broken into smaller groups and rotate through 4-6 stations that may include the following (based on volunteer and staff availability): 

  • Children’s chores of early Tucson settlers     
  • Tinsmithing activity and blacksmithing demo     
  • Games children played before screens
  • The life of a Presidio soldier
  • Calligraphy

Program Contact Jean Baxter, Education Director: tbaxter559@aol.com

Program 2: History in the Field

Themed On-Site Live Field Trips

TWO HOUR VISIT

Capped at 12 student participants (not including chaperones)
$5 per person. Chaperones must also register and pay to attend workshop.

Our Education Department offers monthly pre-scheduled themed events during the months of October-May. Themes change monthly so please look in our calendar of events for more information. These programs are open to the public but do require pre-registration. Themes may include:

Theme A: Archaeology

Ages restricted to 8 and up.

Your group will start with a visit to the Museum’s excavated Early Agricultural period pit house. Then you will learn about specific artifacts found in recent archaeological excavations of downtown Tucson. You will be provided field mapping supplies and must document what you have found, and figure out what was going on in that area. You will share your conclusions with the group. 

Excavation: An excavation activity in our dig site may be included for groups of 10 or fewer depending on staff and volunteer availability.

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Theme B: Early Peoples

Your group will time travel back to 400 C.E. to experience the daily life of the Hohokam. You will visit an excavated Early Agricultural period pit house and may engage in the following activities: using an atl-atl, using an early drill, and making a utilitarian basket or pot.

Theme c: How Did They Make That?

Cochineal bugs make this “scale” on prickly pear pads.
The bugs are collected and ground up to make a red dye
still used today in many of our products.

What did the people in 1775 (Indigenous and Spanish) use to build their homes and make their tools?  Activities will focus on Presidio-era living practices that are being re-learned today and may include: 

  • Making adobe bricks
  • Water harvesting 
  • Cochineal use and harvesting
  • Native gardening techniques  

Program Contact: Ginger Thompson,
Family Programming and Educational Outreach Manager, gingert@TucsonPresidio.com.

Program 3: Portable Presidio – A Day in the Life of a Presidio Child

Field Trip Format – At YOUR Site

TWO HOUR VISIT TO YOUR SITE

Minimum of 12 participants. Capped at 40 participants (including adults).
$5 per youth attendees. Chaperones are free.

This is similar to the Morning Muster program above but we come to you. You will make two appointments with a Presidio Museum Outreach Specialist. The first will be either an in-person visit (masked) or a Zoom visit to give a 30-45 minute age-appropriate presentation about the Presidio Museum and its history.  

For your second appointment two Presidio Education Specialists will visit you at your site and bring a “field trip in a box”.  You must provide an open air site (i.e. playground). 

Activities may include:

  • Children’s chores of early Tucson settlers  
  • Tinsmithing
  • Games children played before screens
  • Calligraphy
  • Art Through the Ages

Additional activities and curriculum are also provided in the trunk.

Only two Presidio staff members will be on-site. Activity stations must be supported by school staff or parents. Tables and chairs must be supplied by school or homeschool. Presidio staff will need time to set-up and prep their parent/teacher helpers.    

Email gingert@TucsonPresidio.com for questions.

Program 4: Museum in a Box

Week-long trunk checkout for up to 30 students
FEE FOR TRUNK: $60 a week 

In this program, a trunk of activities is delivered to your site. The trunk will have a teacher packet, materials, and supplies for the registered number of children. Provided directions will help a teacher/parents to run an activity with their participants. You may also choose to add an optional pre-scheduled Zoom presentation and live Q and A time with a Presidio Museum Outreach Specialist. Two themes are available. Please note that Theme 1 can be conducted without Presidio Museum staff, but Theme 2 requires in-person Presidio Museum staff interaction.

Theme 1: A Day in the Life of A Presidio Child

Kits available for rental include:

  • Children’s chores of early Tucson settlers  
  • Tinsmithing
  • Games children played before screens
  • Calligraphy
  • Art Through the Ages

This theme can be conducted without in-person Presidio Museum staff interaction.

Theme 2: Historic Hats of Arizona 

Your group will identify the hats in the trunk and do further investigation on the individual who would have worn that hat.  Your group will learn about the individuals from four different time periods:

  • Early peoples  (Before 1500’s)
  • Spanish Period (1500’s – 1821)
  • Mexican Period )1821 – 1854)
  • American Period (1854-present)

And will learn about the roles of

  • Women
  • Military
  • Workers and merchants of various ethnicities
  • Religious individuals

**This theme requires an in-person presentation by a Presidio Museum staff member when the box is delivered.

Email gingert@TucsonPresidio.com for questions or to register.

Program 5: Virtual Presidio

45-60 MINUTE ONLINE PRESENTATION WITH ACTIVITY SHEETS
Capped at 30 participants (including adults) per zoom call.
$50 for first presentation, $30 for any additional presentation at the same school in the same school year.

Registration open now for Spring 2021.  Email gingert@TucsonPresidio.com for questions.

    Questions?

    Contact Ginger Thompson,
    Family Programming and Educational Outreach Manager, gingert@TucsonPresidio.com.