Group Tours & Programs for Scouts

Reservations are required for all groups. Please contact the Society’s Education Staff as early as possible to reserve your space and a minimum of two weeks in advance of the program date. Facilities are wheelchair accessible. Please advise us of anyone with special needs.

BROWNIE GIRL SCOUTS

• Stitch It Together
  Before sewing machines, everything was done by hand. 21st century Brownies will participate in 19th century sewing activities, including book binding and embroidery. Three crafting activities will provide Scouts with a greater understanding of local history while introducing them to basic sewing concepts.
  • Grade Level: 1st through 3rd grades
  • Program Duration: 2 hours
  • Location: Litchfield History Museum
  • Activities: 1, 3, 5 and 6
  • Cost per Scout: $7 (Chaperones free)
• Listening to the Past
  Litchfield is the county seat and one of the oldest communities in Connecticut. Learn what Litchfield was like when it was a booming town. Explore local history while enjoying a walking tour, participating in a 19th century school lesson and creating an historic game.
  • Grade Level: 1st through 3rd grades
  • Program Duration: 2 ½ hours
  • Location: Litchfield History Museum
  • Activities: 2, 3, 5 & 6
  • Cost per Scout: $7 (Chaperones free)
• Building Art
  Explore Litchfield’s Colonial Revival architecture and examine one of the blueprints of a public building. Using blocks and tiles brainstorm and design your own neighborhood and create a model of a Colonial Revival home. Tour the History Museum and examine the areas designed for someone with special needs. Brainstorm ideas for making the spaces even more usable.
  • Grade Level: 1st through 3rd grades
  • Program Duration: 2 hours
  • Location: Litchfield History Museum
  • Activities: 1, 2, 4 & 6
  • Cost per Scout: $7 (Chaperones free)

JUNIOR GIRL SCOUTS

• Folk Arts
  Explore the history of Litchfield through dance, song, folk tales, crafts and special food. Examine portraits and photographs to discover how they tell the story of the sitter’s toys, art forms, hobbies or collections. Use that information to tell a story and create folk art.
  • Grade Level: 4th and 5th grades
  • Program Duration: 2 ½ hours
  • Location: Litchfield History Museum
  • Activities: 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 10
  • Cost per Scout: $10 (Chaperones free)
• Local Lore
  What stories does Litchfield have to tell? As a quintessential example of a quaint New England town, Litchfield has a rich and diverse history. Girl Scouts will learn tales of the past and consider the town’s future. This activity features a walking tour in which participants will explore the town’s architecture and discuss the individuals that shaped the community. In addition, Girl Scouts will examine maps and depictions of Litchfield from the Museum’s archives and try their hands at town planning. Finally, girls will create a journal using historic techniques and contribute predictions to a time capsule that will be opened on the Litchfield Historical Society’s bicentennial in 2056.
  • Grade Level: 4th and 5th grades
  • Program Duration: 2 ½ hours
  • Location: Litchfield History Museum & Tapping Reeve House
  • Activities: 1, 2, 4, 5, 7 and 10
  • Cost per Scout: $10 (Chaperones free)

INTEREST PROJECTS FOR CADETTE AND SENIOR SCOUTS

• Museum Discovery
  Explore the current exhibit and take a “behind-the-scenes-tour” of the Litchfield History Museum. Learn how we meet our mission statement and brain storm about how you might change a display to appeal to the interests of scouts your own age. Discover how collections are maintained and made accessible to the public and find out about careers in the museum field. Participate in a training session to become a tour guide and return anther afternoon to greet guests and welcome them to the museum.
  • Program Duration: 2 ½ hours +
  • Location: Litchfield History Museum
  • Activities: Skill Builder 1 & 5
  • Technology 3, 4 & 5
  • Service Projects 3
  • Career Exploration 1
  • Cost per Scout: $7 (Chaperones free)
• Women through Time
  Explore the power and presence of women through time. Investigate old newspapers and identify changes in the representation of women over time. Discover what life was like in the early 1800s as you read a young woman’s journal. Learn a skill practiced by the women of this earlier time and create your own journal. Create a collage of the changes in the lives of women and design a display that interprets the experiences of girls and women in the past. Finish the program by learning to preserve women’s’ history and conduct an oral history of a woman in your life.
  • Program Duration: 2 ½ hours +
  • Activities: Skill Builder 1 & 5
  • Technology 3, 4 & 5
  • Service Projects 3
  • Career Exploration 1
  • Cost per Scout: $10 (Chaperones free)
• Heritage Hunt
  As a quintessential example of a quaint New England town, Litchfield has a rich and diverse history. Examine pictures of dwellings in town and take an architectural tour to choose one home to focus on as you discover elements of its architecture, sue and history. Investigate the early settlers of Litchfield, uncover the history of celebrations in the past and use this information to create a time chart that will be displayed at the museum. Discover what service and job opportunities are available at the museum for you and your troop. Complete the badge by learning about Harriet Beecher Stowe’s early childhood in Litchfield. Use this as a template to act as your family’s historian.
  • Program Duration: 2 ½ hours +
  • Location: Litchfield History Museum & Tapping Reeve House
  • Activities: Skill Builder 1, 4 & 6
  • Technology 3
  • Service Project 3
  • Career Exploration 1 &4
  • Cost per Scout: $10 (Chaperones free)
• Paper Works
  The past is often preserved on paper and this history is an integral part of museum collections. Discover how archivists work with old paper and rely on different types of paper to store and preserve this information. Spend an afternoon at the museum making your own paper, learning the art of paper cutting. Design a card of your own and then create a papier-mâché item.
  • Program Duration: 2 ½ hours +
  • Location: Litchfield History Museum & Tapping Reeve House
  • Activities: Skill Builder 1, 2 & 3
  • Technology 2
  • Service Project 2, & 4
  • Career Exploration 2
  • Cost per Scout: $10 (Chaperones free)

ADDITIONAL PROGRAMMING: The Litchfield Historical Society will also design programs to meet your specific curriculum objectives. Please contact the Society’s Education Staff for more information. Special programs take time, so contact us early.