For Families
At the MV Museum, we believe that learning should go on, no matter how young or old you are. Visit the museum, and try your hand at some games from the 18th and 19th centuries (and see which ones are still played today). Ask your children about their school visits to the museum and what they discovered. Try on a Civil War uniform. Attend a lecture or program. Learn about our whaling heritage with Laura Jernegan. Join us as we build model boats or try our hand at sewing a "ditty bag" during our summer programs for kids. Climb up into a lighthouse. Go on a Quest and discover Martha's Vineyard's "special places". Explore the past, through artifacts, stories, art and more!
Summer Kids' Programs
We invite children to leap back into history this summer. Kids’ programs will take place every Wednesday beginning July 3rd through August 21st. Activities will include arts and crafts, cooking, stories, games, and more that all connect with different themes. These programs are appropriate for children ages 5-12.
Each week has a different theme with activities varying in the morning and afternoon. July activities will repeat in August. Morning sessions take place from 10am to Noon. Afternoon sessions take place from 2 to 4pm. Sessions are $15 for Museum members, and $20 for non-members. Reservations are required for all sessions. Call Chris, 508-627-4441 x110 to reserve.
Upcoming Kids' Programs
Week 1 – Mementos from Around the Globe - July 3 & July 31
Using items sailors and whalers brought back to Martha’s Vineyard from far away places as inspiration, create exotic mementos of your own. Activities will include sculpture, paper crafts, painting, and more. A Taste for the Exotic: Mementos from Around the Globe, on exhibit at the Museum, inspired this week’s theme.
Week 2 –Colonial Days - July 10 & August 7
Experience what life was like for children in the late 18th century. Try your hand at candle making, make butter like kids did in the late 1700s, experiment with spinning and weaving, play colonial games, and more.
Week 3 – Maritime Marvels - July 17 & August 14
The sea all around us has provided people with jobs and taught them skills for centuries. See how you might have done as a sailor or whaler years ago. Put your imagination and skills together to make a boat that floats, learn to tie knots that were used at sea, try your hand at caulking boat seams, and more.
Week 4 –Keep the Light Burning - July 24 & August 21
Lighthouses have always played an important part of life here on Martha’s Vineyard. Before modern navigation tools were invented, they were needed to guide ships around hazards and show boat captains where the coastlines were. Explore the Edgartown Lighthouse with us, make a model of a lighthouse to take home, create a lighthouse painting, and more.
Laura Jernegan: Girl on a Whaleship
Visit this interactive website, and explore 19th century whaling and the story of a young girl from Martha's Vineyard who went on a 3-year whaling voyage in 1868. See and hear her journal of the voyage. Learn about the whales that were hunted, the whaleship, and the crew aboard it. Discover the ports and sites whalers visited, as well as whale migration patterns and ocean currents. Browse all sorts of whaling artifacts; tools, everyday items, artwork and photos.
Congratulations to Education Director Nancy Cole! The American Association for State and Local History (AASLH) announced in July 2011 that the Laura Jernegan website is the recipient of an Award of Merit from the AASLH Leadership in History Awards. The AASLH Leadership in History Awards, now in its 66th year, is the most prestigious recognition for achievement in the preservation and interpretation of state and local history. In addition to the Award of Merit, the website was also selected as a 2011 WOW Award winner by the Leadership in History awards committee. Click here for more information.
Quest Martha's Vineyard
Discover Martha's Vineyard's special places by going on Quests, or scavenger hunts, around the island. You can find many of the Quests, with their directions, at Quest MV.