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Scout & Youth Programs

The Connecticut Historical Society offers a wide selection of programs for scout and youth groups.  Scout and youth programs are typically scheduled weekday afternoons and Saturdays.  Below is a selection of our more popular scout programs, but please visit our Museum Programs and Outreach pages for a complete listing of programs.  All of our programs can be adapted to fit your scout or youth group’s needs. 

For more information or to schedule a program, please contact Erin Kania, Coordinator of Youth & Family Programs, at erin_kania@chs.org or (860) 236-5621 x222.

Girl Scouts

Brownie Programs

The Legend of the Charter Oak

Program Length: 1 ½ hours
Cost: $8 per scout; troop leader free; $3 for additional chaperones and siblings over 5

Scouts bring the people and events from the legend of the Charter Oak to life using a variety of dramatic techniques, period costumes, and specially-designed props.  Original artifacts made from the Charter Oak are on view to see after the performance. Your group will discover the significance of Connecticut’s colonial charter and its connection to the legendary white oak tree.

Fulfills Let’s Pretend* requirements #3 (Dress It Up); #4 (Act It Out); #5 (Louder Please!)
#7 (Putting Your Best Face Forward) – can be added, if desired 

Fulfills Listening to the Past* requirements # 1 (Community Stories); #2 (If These Buildings Could Talk); #5 (Acting Out)
#6 (Games of the Past) – can be added, if desired

Daily Life in Colonial Connecticut

Program Length: 1 ½ hours
Cost: $8 per scout; troop leader free; $3 for additional chaperones and siblings over 5

Scouts compare their lives today to everyday life in 1700s Connecticut by exploring differences in houses, clothing, and work. Scouts will examine reproduction household artifacts in a hands-on workshop, will try on reproduction colonial clothing, and will listen to a story about all of the hard-work that people had to do a long time ago. At the end of the program, everyone will have the chance to play with colonial toys!

Fulfills Listening to the Past* requirements #2 (If These Buildings Could Talk); #4 (Tell Stories of the Past); #5 (Acting Out); #6 (Games of the Past)

Junior Programs

The Legend of the Charter Oak

Program Length: 2 hours
Cost: $8 per scout; troop leader free; $3 for additional chaperones and siblings over 5

Scouts bring the people and events from the legend of the Charter Oak to life using a variety of dramatic techniques, period costumes, and specially-designed props.  Original artifacts made from the Charter Oak are on view to see after the performance. Your group will discover the significance of Connecticut’s colonial charter and its connection to the legendary white oak tree. The program will wrap up with a map skills activity in which scouts examine and compare a map of Hartford in the 1600s with a map of Hartford today and then create their own map of Hartford in the future.

Fulfills Local Lore Badge* requirements #1 (Word of Mouth); #2 (It’s All on the Maps); #7 (Take a Trip); #10 (Focus on the Future)

Folk Arts Over Time

Program Length: 2 hours
Cost: $8 per scout; troop leader free; $3 for additional chaperones and siblings over 5

Scouts will look at everyday life in the past and see how ordinary people have been able to create art – folk art. The group will closely examine portraits and then create their own. Volunteers will model reproduction clothing before everyone tries their hand at a stitching craft. In the hands-on workshop, scouts will look at photographs from various time periods and will use their imaginations (and a quill pen) to write their own captions for the photographs. At the end of the program, everyone will have a chance to play with colonial toys!

Fulfills Folk Arts Badge* requirements #1 (Family Portrait); #2 (A Picture Tells a Thousand Thoughts); #5 (Traditional Art); #6 (What Toys Tell Us); #10 (Time Travel)

Cadette Programs

Women Through Time Interest Patch

Program Length: 2 hours
Cost: $10 per scout; troop leader free; $3 for additional chaperones and siblings over 5

Programs can be designed to fulfill various Women Through Time* requirements including: SkillBuilders #1, #3, #5, and #6; Technology #4; Career Exploration #1; and “And Beyond” – Looking at Toys of the Past

Heritage Hunt Interest Patch

Program Length: 2 hours
Cost: $10 per scout; troop leader free; $3 for additional chaperones and siblings over 5

Programs can be designed to fulfill various Heritage Hunt* requirements including: SkillBuilders #1, #4, and #6; Technology #1, #2, and #4; and Career Exploration #4

Museum Discovery Interest Patch

Program Length: 2 hours
Cost: $10 per scout; troop leader free; $3 for additional chaperones and siblings over 5

Programs can be designed to fulfill various Museum Discovery* requirements including: SkillBuilders #1 and #3; Technology #3 and #4; and Career Exploration #1

Boy Scouts

Work and Play

Program Length: 1 ½ hours
Recommended for scouts ages 5-7
Cost: $8 per scout; troop leader free; $3 for additional chaperones and siblings over 5

Scouts explore the museum, trying out a variety of hands-on activities (hauling a water bucket, building a brick wall, sitting in a canoe, and more), and compare the work done by men, women, and children in the past.  After their “work” is done, scouts play with historic toys and games.

Fulfills requirements for: Tiger Scouts’ “History Go-See-It”*

Native Americans and Natural Resources

Program Length: 1 ½ hours
Recommended for scouts ages 6-10
Cost: $8 per scout; troop leader free; $3 for additional chaperones and siblings over 5

Scouts are introduced to the lives of Native Americans in early Connecticut and their use of natural resources.  Focus is placed on multi-sensory learning, a varied pace of activities, and handling reproduction objects.  Students hear a Native American story and make a bear claw necklace to take home.

Fulfills requirements for:  Tiger Scouts’ “History Go-See-It”, Wolf Scouts’ “American Indian Lore Elective”, and Bear Scouts’ “American Indian Lore Elective”*

* Please note: patches, badges, and beads are not provided by the Connecticut Historical Society.

Find out about upcoming special programs for scouts, youth groups, and families listed in our calendar of events.