SCHOOL PROGRAMS
Bartow-Pell’s school programs reinforce the scope and subject sequence that students are taught in the classroom while creating a unique place-based learning experience.
Through touch-tours, open-ended inquiry challenges, craft projects, and interactive games, Bartow Pell’s curriculum-rich sessions build critical thinking and evidential reasoning skills that benefit students across disciplines.
Bartow-Pell aligns its programs and tailors the sessions to meet the needs of the students for grade-appropriate learning.
All programs are approximately 90 minutes and limited to 30 students per program.
Accessibility: The mansion has two floors and no elevator. Five steps lead up to the building entrance. Guided tours involve walking and standing, but there is limited seating in select rooms.
Special Needs: We are happy to accommodate people with special needs. Please let us know about anyone in your group with disabilities.
Cost: $200 per class
PICK YOUR PROGRAM
The Lenape of the Bronx
BPMM’s authentically fabricated Northeast Woodlands wigwam serves as the backdrop for this interactive school program on Lenape culture and lifestyle. It is where history meets social anthropology, earth science, and biodiversity, as well as environmental stewardship.
In this outdoor classroom space, children sit on stumps from felled trees and learn about shelter, clothing, food, language, and more. They also handle artifacts from the museum’s teaching collection, search for animal tracks, and make a Lenape craft.
Pre-Visit Activity Packet – Short Version / Long Version
We are excited to offer an optional add-on module for the Lenape Program. The module is 30 minutes long (bringing your program to a total time of 2 hours) and costs and additional $40 per class.
Lenape Module: Following the directions of the Bartow-Pell Museum Educator, each student will create a pencil drawing of our Lenape wigwam which they will sign and take home.
A World Away: Servants’ View of the Bartow Mansion
Students take a peek into the lives of 19th-century Irish immigrant workers in the Bartow mansion, including the domestic workers, gardener, and coachman. Using hands-on objects and primary resources, students will encounter the work that went into running a large country estate and also discuss topics such as technology and immigration.
Bartow-Pell offers an optional add-on module for this program which is 30 minutes long bringing your program to a total time of two hours) and costs an additional $40 per class.
A World Away Module: Following the directions of the Bartow-Pell Museum Educator, each student will make butter and a beeswax candle to take home.
Home Sweet Habitat
During this earth science-based program, students will embark on a short, gentle hike through the Bartow-Pell woods and learn about the plants and animals that call Pelham Bay Park home. Students will observe flora and fauna in their natural habitat, as well as learn about the influence that humans have had on the land over time. Following the hike, children will engage in a simple graphing activity where they can quantify their observations.
This program is offered year-round! During winter months and in the event of inclement weather, students are invited to take a journey to the past! In this indoor version of the program, students will use historic maps from the 19th Century to explore a mysterious and bucolic Pelham Bay. Students will learn the different types of habitats that once existed in Pelham Bay and compare them to today’s landscape, and will also be able to identify human-created changes in the natural setting.
Day of Trip Guidelines
- Please dress appropriately for a nature walk: i.e., closed shoes, rain gear, long sleeves, and long pants etc.
- In warmer weather please have children apply insect repellent outside. Please remember that repellents reduce your chances of mosquito or tick bites. Pack your own repellent, BPMM does not provide or sell bug spray.
- BPMM does not supply hand sanitizer or paper towels.
Growing: From the Ground Up
In our historic teaching garden, students will explore the types of foods and plants which may once have grown on the Bartow family’s estate in the 1800s, while learning about plant cycles and biodiversity. Students will observe and handle various plants, and make connections and comparisons between what they eat/see in grocery stores and what is grown/ready to harvest in our garden.
This program is offered year-round! During winter months and in the event of inclement weather, students observe medicinal and culinary herbs in our conservatory, learning about plant cycles and biodiversity while gaining an understanding of how and why plants are used for different purposes. Students make and take home a sachet of herbs from our collection.
Activity Packet – Short Version / Long Version
Day of Trip Guidelines
- Please dress appropriately for outdoor activities in the garden. During inclement weather, programs are conducted in the museum conservatory.
- In warmer weather please have children apply insect repellent outside. Please remember that repellents reduce your chances of mosquito or tick bites. Pack your own repellent, BPMM does not provide or sell bug spray.
- BPMM does not supply hand sanitizer or paper towels.
Mansion Life
Students explore the nineteenth century and make comparisons and connections to their own modern-day lives while touring the Greek Revival mansion and carriage house. Museum educators lead discussions about the lives of the Bartow family and aspects of nineteenth-century culture, including technology, labor, immigration, and transportation.
Activity Packet – Short Version / Long Version
We are excited to offer two optional add-on modules for our Mansion Life Program. Each module is 30 minutes long (bringing your program to a total time of 2 hours) and costs an additional $40 per class.
Module 1: Toys & Games, K-3
Students have the opportunity to partake in typical games of the time period, play with popular toys, and take home their own nineteenth-century ‘board game’!
Module 2: Unlock the Past, 4+
Help Augustus Moore, tutor to the Bartows, unlock his secret box! Through analysis of primary sources, students will work together in groups to solve puzzles and codes and open a locked box with a hidden prize inside.