Guided School Programs
Welcome teachers and students for the 2024-2025 school year!
Check out our menu of programs below. Subscribe to the Educator Newsletter for updates during the school year!
In-Person Field Trips:
Join us in person as we explore Nanaimo’s past with various programs suitable for grades K-12!
See below for a full listing and details on each program. Remember to check the Feature Exhibit Programs section for details on new, limited-time programs connected to upcoming feature exhibits.
School field trips are available Tues-Fri, September 17-December 19, 2024 and January 14-June 24, 2025. Exceptions:
- October 2024: Coal Miner’s Child (K-2) and Black Diamonds (5+) are not available.
- December 2024: Reserved for Yesteryear Christmas (K-2) and Winter Lights (K-3) ONLY.
- Mon-Fri availability.
- March 17-29: Spring Break.
- June 2025: Mon-Fri availability of all non-seasonal school programs. * June 9-25 dates reserved for Feature Exhibit program until end of day April 30.
We recommend masks for all students, teachers, and non-student guests, as the Museum is a public space and tourist attraction. We appreciate your help in keeping our guests, staff, and students safe. Hand hygiene will be maintained by the students, teachers, guests, and staff members throughout your visit. See our Communicable Disease Plan page for more safety information.
Virtual Field Trips:
Invite the museum to your classroom, virtually! Live or pre-recorded
Our live virtual program and follow-up Q&A sessions connect your students with a Museum educator via Teams or Zoom.
Pre-recorded programs offer you one (1) month access and the flexibility to break up the material or mix and match activities to suit your students’ learning style. These can be combined with the live Q&A for an interactive experience!
Feature Exhibit programs (Limited Time!)
Coming soon: Dinos of BC K-12 programs!
Grades K-4, 5-8, 9-12
DINOSAURS are coming to Nanaimo Museum! We’re so pleased to be offering a limited-time program connected to our upcoming feature exhibit! A travelling exhibit from the Royal BC Museum, Dinosaurs of BC digs into prehistoric British Columbia to get close up and personal with “Buster,” the Iron Lizard of the Sustut River, and other dinosaurs that roamed the province’s highest peaks, densest forests, and most remote river basins.
With a primary, intermediate, and secondary version, there’s no reason not to end your students’ school year with a dino-mite field trip to the museum! Students will get to meet BC’s dinosaur Buster, learn about paleontology, and best of all, get up to their elbows in kinetic sand and ‘fossils’ on an indoor Dino Dig!
See the Dinos of BC school program page below for more details!
For more information, or to book a program, please contact Steph Kveton at [email protected]
PLEASE NOTE, THE BOOKING FORM BELOW IS TEMPORARILY DISABLED WHILE WE FIX A TECHNICAL ISSUE – Please use the email link above to contact Steph. Thank you!
Modules and Add-ons
Educators can add in person or virtual modules or add-ons to an existing program or build their own custom program using modules.
Under Review 2024-2025
Periodically, we review our school programs to ensure they are up to date and that they reflect new understandings and more nuanced perspectives. Nanaimo Museum staff review programs with guidance from Snuneymuxw Elders and Cultural Knowledge Keepers. See below for the school programs currently under review.
Classroom and Resource Kits
Classroom kits are unavailable at this time.
Self-Guided Discovery Programs
Explore the museum with your students during this program, which includes discovery sheets that allow students to match pictures with gallery items to find answers to the questions. Each exhibit area has its own unique discovery sheet. A customizable set of four discovery sheets make up one Discovery Sheets Clipboard
Virtual Programs
In Person Programs
Booking Details
Make a Booking Inquiry!
PLEASE NOTE – THIS FORM IS CURRENTLY NOT WORKING – Please contact Steph directly at [email protected], providing the information below in your email. We apologize for the inconvenience while we fix this technical issue.