Educational Programs
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The Penticton Museum & Archives have many program opportunities to help meet your educational objectives. We have programming connecting the B.C. Ministry of Education curricula with local topics. If you don't see something you're looking for, please contact us. We may be able to help you out.
Grade
People History
Natural History
Kindergarten • Get to Know the Museum • Okanagan Plants and Animals Grade 1 • s'yilx on the Land
• Get to Know the Museum• Okanagan Plants and Animals Grade 2 • s'yilx on the Land • Animal Tracking Grade 3 • s'yilx on the Land • Animal Tracking
• S.T.E.A.M. Lab - GeologyGrade 4 • Fur Traders in the Okanagan • Okanagan Birds Grade 5 • Museums & Indigenous Peoples • S.T.E.A.M. Lab - Geology Middle &
High School• Museums & Indigenous Peoples
• Okanagan s'yilx & Archeology• Natural Selection These programs are developed and delivered by our educator, Chandra Wong, a trained science and math teacher with a background in art. She uses hands-on and place-based learning that your students will enjoy.
Programs are about 45 minutes long, and can take place in the museum or your classroom. Contact Chandra with any questions or program ideas you might have.
Cost is $27.50 per program. In-museum programs are delivered Wednesdays - Fridays. 10 student minimum, 30 student maximum.
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Explore science and technology principles with hands-on activities in the museum or in your classroom.Cost: $42.50 per program
Length: 1.5-2 hours
Minimum 10 students. Maximum 30 students. Available Wednesdays through Fridays.
Forces: Students learn about forces that make things move (push, pull, gravity, friction) through hands-on activities, like making a ball track using Keva blocks. Soil Science: Students learn through observation and enquiry about:
- features of living animals,
- animal behaviours that help them survive in their ecosystem,
- animal life cycles, and
- how they sense and respond to their environment.
This program features live animals (pill bugs or red wiggler worms, depending on availability).Engineering: Students learn about the principles of engineering design through hands-on designing a workable bridge for a mini-canyon. Energy: Students learn about different forms of energy, and how energy is transformed. Students are challenged to make a toy car move using at least one form of energy. Hydraulics: Students learn about how hydraulics work to make our lives easier. Students are challenged to create a hydraulic machine using the Museum's hydraulic kits that include syringes, vinyl tubing and water. Geology: Students learn about the rock cycle and local geology, including the Okanagan Valley fault. Students are challenged to build an earthquake-resistant building, and
test it on the Museum's Earthquake
Machine! -
Visit and explore local ecosystems with a trained biologist. Students will learn about Okanagan plants and animals.
Cost: $55.00 per program
Length: Max. 3 hours
Minimum 10 students. Maximum 30 students. Available Wednesdays through Fridays.
Our programs require a minimum of 10 people. Smaller groups will be charged the cost of a regular program. Please discuss museum behavioural expectations (calm bodies, low voices, etc.) with your students prior to your visit. Please provide students with name tags to assist with class management.
Bookings are limited, so please register early. Please book at least two weeks in advance by phone (250-490-2454) or email. Programs are available Wednesday through Friday between 9 am and 3 pm.
*Teachers and Educators: Sign up for our exclusive email list and receive information about the Penticton Museum's newest educational programs and exhibits, special guest lectures, deals on museum visits, and more! You will not receive spam or our regular newsletters, nor will your email be shared with third parties - you'll just get the good stuff!
Lending Library (Schools, Groups & Families)
Perfect for classes or group that can't come to the Museum in person, our Lending Library has a variety of educational resources that can be borrowed.
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From the Royal BC Museum, Penticton is proud to host this incredibly rich and detailed kit that explores the life of the Chinese immigrants that came to BC through graffiti and historical primary documents. Utilizing the "Big Six" approach to learning, the kit and online resources help students explore the archival materials, artifacts, and activities. The result is an experiential journey of extracting information from primary sources and incorporating that into the student's knowledge base.
Click here for more information.
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Having a Voice encourages participants to use their enquiry skills to investigate participation and representation in BC politics, the electoral process and electoral boundaries. The kit, designed by the Royal BC Museum and Elections BC, fits the Grade 5 Social Studies: Canadian Issues and Governance curriculum.
Click here for more information.
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Using photographs and reproductions, students will engage with the question “What or who influenced the start, growth and decline of Paldi?”.
In addition to learning more about South Asian Canadian history in BC, students will also learn how to use primary sources to learn about the past and get glimpses into the lives of children who were in Paldi in the 1930s, 40s and 50s.
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This original artifact pack was developed to highlight the challenges and opportunities that faced European settlers that came to this area. It covers the local history from the first contact with the Okanagan First Nations, right through to Tom Ellis and the settlement of Penticton, and continues on to the First World War.
It contains artifacts that illustrate the life of pioneers and invites critical thinking through artifact exploration. The pack includes photos of early Penticton, a copy of Tom Ellis's actual diary from 1865, worksheets, classroom and small group activities, and suggested reading and resources.
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Teach your students to see bat species in a new light! Celebrate bats and learn about how essential they are to our environment. Discover fascinating facts, uncover common myths and examine BC bat specimens up close.
Containing over 35 hands-on activities for elementary, middle, and high-school students, the BC Bat Edu-Kit is intended to be used in either a classroom or a non-formal classroom setting.
The BC Bat Edu-Kit consists of:
- BC Bat Edu-Kit Activity Guide
- BC Bat Edu-Kit Craft Binder
- Props for the activities (including bat puppets, a bat costume, games, posters, books, and more)
- Digital files of activity guide, crafts binder, and a bat PowerPoint presentation.
Note: The BC Bat Edu-kit was developed though the efforts of many partners. The Okanagan Similkameen Conservation Alliance provides classroom presentations for this kit. Please check their website for more information.
Bat Edu-kit 
Bat Edu-kit contains a variety of learning resources including a bat skull and scat This kit was made possible thanks to the following partners: Bat Education & Ecological Protection Society, BC Community Bat Program, BC Government, En'owkin Centre, Kelowna Museum Society, NatureKids BC, Okanagan Community Bat Program, Okanagan Nation Alliance, Penticton Museum & Archives, Regional District of Central Okanagan - Environmental Education Centre for the Okanagan.
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SumBlox Building Blocks teach a wide range of mathematics through guided, hands-on discovery. Learn basic math skills, including multiplication, fractions and factors.
Teachers’ guides help students to reach a deeper understanding of the properties of math through step-by-step investigations, engaging discussions and fun challenges like:
Pre-K to 5th grade
Simple concepts
Hands on application
Builds confidence
Creates excitement
Increases retention
The Educational SumBlox Set includes 30 x single blocks, 12 x two blocks, 8 x each of blocks 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 2 x ten blocks. The set also includes 4 teaching manuals for teaching addition, subtraction, multiplication and fractions.
Borrow Sumblox from the Penticton Museum. -
Makedo is a cardboard construction system for exploring ideas through making and play. With simple to use and deliberately designed tools, Makedo facilitates the creation of something new from up-cycled, low-tech cardboard.
Online videos expand cardboard construction ideas.
Class set of 24 available to borrow. Each kit contains: 1 Scru-driver, 21 Scrus, 7 XL Scrus, and 1 Safe-Saw
Recommended for ages 7+ years old
With Makedo and cardboard, students' creativity is unlimited -
Nine teeth and jaw fragment replicas from the three major animal classifications: herbivore (Gorilla, Hippopotamus, Beaver), carnivore (African Lion, Alligator, Coyote), and omnivore (Human, Grizzly Bear, Baboon).
For children 6 to 12 years old.
Included: 9 tooth and mandible replicas, lesson plan and educational material.
Penticton Museum & Archives' Animal Bites Kit -
Borrow a set of 29 small binoculars for your group to view birds, or other items at a distance. Binoculars are 8x magnification. Part of this collection is due in part to the generousity of the local NatureKids group.
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Book an item in the Lending Library by calling 250-490-2454 or send an email.
There are two ways to use the kits:
- Sign it out for $15 for up to a week at a time (you can renew if you need more time, provided it has not been booked by other educators!).
- Have a Museum educator bring the kit to your classroom to present the materials and introduce the kit for $3 per student.
Note: Lending Library items are quarantined upon return to the Museum. Items that can be sanitized easily have a shorter quarantine period.
Lending Library Borrowing Guidelines can be read here.
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Teachers and Educators: Sign up for our exclusive email list just for you, and receive information about the Penticton Museum's newest programs and exhibits, special guest lectures, deals on museum visits, and more!
Have Questions?
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For questions, contact us at 250-490-2454 or email
Teachers and Educators: Sign up for our exclusive email list just for you, and receive information about the Penticton Museum's newest programs and exhibits, special guest lectures, deals on museum visits, and more!