School Tours
Choose from 1-hour, half day or full day tours. 
A 1-hour tour includes either a full museum tour highlighting each exhibit or visit 3 specific exhibits of your choice.
Half day tours include visits to specific exhibits and corresponding activities.
Full day tours include visits to specific exhibits, corresponding activities, an historic downtown walk,     and a visit to the Depot location which features modes of transportation.

DeWitt School
Attend a one-room schoolhouse, learning just as children learned more than 100 years ago.  At DeWitt School, located in Spring Lake Township, the museum offers a 5-hour program highlighting the curriculum used in 1895.  This program is offered the last week of April through the first week of June, and is open to classes studying Michigan history.  Please call ahead to reserve your day at DeWitt School.

Scout Tours
Programs are specifically tailored to meet badge requirements.  Call 2 weeks in advance to schedule a tour.

Guidelines
The Tri-Cities Historical Museum offers an exciting tour program which brings history to life for children and really gives them a hands-on feel for what life was like for our area ancestors. 
Teachers can order gift bags prior to their museum visit.  Each bag will contain items related to the exhibits they saw while touring the museum.  Bags are gender appropriate and cost $1.50 each.  The gift shop manager requests 1-week advance notice so bags can be pre-assembled and given to the teacher upon close of tour.
We request a 2-week notice to arrange all tours.  This allows us time to schedule docents and organize the tour so your group receives the attention they deserve.  Call early for spring tours as dates fill up fast!
We request one adult for every 8 students visiting the museum.
We request that only 1 class tour the museum at a time.
Students may bring a non-perishable brown bag lunch or lunch may be “catered” in by the teacher.

Loan Kits Available
Each loan kit includes hands-on artifacts, photos, signage, video and/or audiotapes, posters, maps, etc. to enhance local historical topics.  Teachers and Home School parents may check out the following kits and use them to augment local history curriculum.

    Native American
    Fur Trade
    Lumbering
    Pioneering
    Victorian
    Life in the Tri-Cities
    The Way We Were
    History of Entertainment in the Home
    Who Wears This Hat?
    History of Photography
    Tri-Cities Resorts
    Tri-Cities Schools
    Maritime
    Railroading
    Pre-School Kit
    Michigan History
    Civil War 

Michigan Humanities Council
Native American Loan Kit - This kit which was created by the Michigan Arts & Humanities Council assists teachers in teaching about Native American culture as part of the Michigan history curriculum.  A wide variety of fiction and nonfiction books are included in this kit which also contains audio and video tapes, hands-on artifacts, maps, posters, etc.

To schedule a tour, program or borrow a kit or video call the Museum.

On site school-aged Programs

Youth Docent Internship - Open to students in grades 7-12, this hands-on program meets every Tuesday, September through May.  Students research and create educational programs to be used in the local community to teach local history.  Students also participate in events such as Cemetery Walk, Winterfest, Ice Cream Social, etc.

Intergenerational Story Sharing - This 6-week program takes place in March and April each year.  Area students are matched with senior citizens, who they interview, then, write a biography about their senior partner.  Although there are no age requirements; students must be independent readers and writers.

What is it Wednesday - Each Wednesday throughout the summer an artifact is placed in the window of our Ekkens’ store exhibit.  Children under 16 years old are invited to guess what the artifact is.  The winner receives a $5.00 gift certificate to the museum’s gift shop.

Tuesday’s History for Kids - This summer program is held on Tuesday’s at 10:00am.  It’s a make-it-and-take-it program for children.  Each week offers a different topic, a different craft to make and a bit of a history.

Family Programs

Brown Bag Lunch Series - Hosted the 2nd and 4th Mondays of the month, September through May, this program features an historical or otherwise interesting topic.  Bring your lunch and enjoy the program held from 11:30am - 1:00pm.

BEST Program - The 2nd Sunday of each month, September through May, a local business or industry is highlighted.  Present and former employees are invited to attend and share their memories about their workplace and the importance their business had on the community.

Curator’s Choice Movie Night - The 4th Wednesday of the month at 7:00pm, an old time movie is shown in the Akeley.  Join us as we show some of the greats: Hitchcock, Fred Astaire & Ginger Rodgers, and more.

On & Off Site Programming

Rocks - Take a look at Michigan rocks.  Learn where they are found and what we make from these minerals.

What’s In Great Grandmother’s Trunk - Take a look at days gone by as we open great grandmother’s trunk to see the clothes she wore and the items she saved.

History Through Post Cards - View historic post cards to get a glimpse of the Tri-Cities.

Tetonic Plates - Tsunamis and other catastrophic events such as volcanic eruptions are caused by shifting tectonic plates.  Learn more by viewing this slide presentation.

Coast Guard City, USA - This video explains our unique relationship with the Coast Guard and why Grand Haven was named Coast Guard City, USA.

Pier Safety - This video portrays the fierce strength of Lake Michigan and the importance of taking precautionary measures to insure your safety when venturing out on the pier.

From Stump to Ship - This 1930s footage explores the entire logging process from cutting to shipping boards to consumers.

Old Games - We have always entertained ourselves with games.  This program looks at the history of games beginning with parlor games, card games, and moving to various board games.

Old Games Day - Take a step back in time and play various historic games.

Lumbering Program - With the aid of a cross cut saw, cant hook, broad axe and log mark, you’ll learn about the logging process.

Historic Downtown Walk - While strolling up and down the 1st three blocks of Washington, learn about our historic buildings.

Maritime Walk - Walk along the boardwalk and learn about the U.S.C.G. Ship the Escanaba and its importance to the Tri-Cities.

Tri-Cities Resorts - Using pictures, we’ll visit some of the extraordinary resorts and hotels that once were a part of our landscape here in the Tri-Cities.

Creating a Birch Bark Canoe - This video offers the step-by-step process of creating a birch bark canoe
.
Lake Michigan Lighthouses - Tour the state’s lighthouses dotting Lake Michigan without leaving your seat.

Lighthouse History - A replica of our present day lighthouse helps us to tell the story of all of the lighthouses that have been along the shores of Lake Michigan here in Grand Haven.

Pioneer Farming - Using transparencies, this program takes a look at how farming was carried out prior to the invention of machinery when farm work was often done using simple machines pulled by farm animals.

Grand Haven Slide Program - This 17 minute slide presentation takes a look at yesterday and today in Grand Haven.

Snapshots of the Past - A look at our past through photographs from the turn of the 20th century.

The Women’s Suffrage Movement in Michigan

Lighthouse Keepers - This historic video takes a look at the lives of those that kept the light burning for the safety of mariners throughout the Great Lakes.

Christmas Tree Ship - The Rouse Simmons, formerly a lumber vessel owned by Hackley in Muskegon, later carried Christmas trees to Chicago.  This video looks at the conditions that caused the Rouse Simmons to sink and the reaction of family and friends at the time of the incident.

Ludington Car Ferry - Known as the Badger, this steam vessel still plies the Great Lakes twice daily during the summer months, take a look at the beginnings of the historic vessel.

Akeley - Businessman, Lumberman, Ship and Girls’ School - A.C. Akeley, prominent businessman, left a lasting legacy in West Michigan.  We’ll look at his business ventures, the ship he built and the school he left in memory of his daughter.

Ojibwa Basket Making - Native Americans have long created black ash baskets.  This video chronicles harvesting of trees, stripping bark, and cutting splints to dyeing splints and weaving baskets by Upper Peninsula basket makers.

World War II and the Tri-Cities - Using old newspapers, we will look at the impact World War II had on this area and the sacrifices locals made for the war effort.

Tri-Cities and the Cold War - In the 1960s the enemy was the Soviet Union.  We were involved in an arms race and a space race.  What was happening in this area while these events were occurring in the world?