Field Trips

Museum Field Trip

For Schools and Camps

Field Trip Museum Tour 

Our museum guides will take you and your group on an exhibit tour, engage in discussions, and help them uncover the many layers of learning opportunities. Catering is available.

• Self-guided tour $175 per group
• Guided tour $190 per group
• 90-minute tours are available daily starting at 9 a.m. and Wednesdays starting at 10 a.m.
• Free admission for adults at a 1:5 ratio
• Additional museum time, $1 per child, per hour

Add a Workshop (a Great Addition to Your Tour!)

In addition to your field trip, groups can enhance topics being explored with fun, interactive workshops led by a Program Specialist.

• $85 additional per class
• One class per workshop
• Workshops add 40-60 minutes to the tour

NEW – Add-on Workshops    

Keep your campers moving, grooving, and mesmerized with these engaging workshops led by a museum educator. Choose from:

30-minute Experience

Yoga

• $100 additional per class
• One class per workshop
• Workshops add 30 minutes to the tour

60-minute Experiences

Stop-Motion Animation / Ceramics

• $175 additional per class
• One class per workshop
• Workshops add 60 minutes to the tour

Free Return Visit Coupon

After their field trip to Stepping Stones Museum for Children, each child will receive a coupon for one free return admission with a paying adult. This is a great opportunity for students to show their family what they learned at a later date.

Workshops at Your Location  

No time, no bus…no worries! Our fun and engaging Program Specialists will bring our multidisciplinary workshops to you and help integrate the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) and Common Core State Standards (CCSS) at your location.

• $175 per program, plus travel fee 
• Preschool, 40-minute workshops 
• Grades K – 5, 60-minute workshops

Homeschool Experiences

• Mondays, 1-4 p.m.
• $8/person

These special programs provide homeschool groups of all sizes and ages with a unique opportunity to investigate our multidisciplinary, hands-on exhibits and activities. Plus, meet other homeschool groups in the area. Come have an amazing, imaginative play date with us at Stepping Stones Museum for Children.

Discover our special exhibit, Big Adventures: Dinosaurs, which offers visitors the chance to jump into our time machine and travel back 190 million years to see a full size “living” Dilophosaurus, Connecticut’s State Dinosaur. Then zoom back to a paleontologist’s laboratory in 2020 and discover the clues dinosaurs left behind.

Call 203.899.0606, ext. 211 to reserve your group today! Ask about accommodations for special needs, financial assistance, and tours in Spanish.

NOTE: Stepping Stones strives to be a nut-free environment. For the safety of visitors and staff with nut allergies, please do not bring peanut butter or other nut-based foods into the museum.

Workshop Descriptions by Grade

Preschool – Kindergarten

Butterflies New and Improved

It’s a circle, it’s a cycle, it’s metamorphosis! Learn how a caterpillar becomes a pupa and then a fluttering friend by engaging in storytelling and activities. 

CTELDS: CA.60.7,L.60.6, S.60.8

Sensational Seasons 

Engage in a fresh exploration of each season through art, science, senses, and movement. Be inspired by inquiry-based activities that explore the smells of spring, the movements of summer, the colors of autumn, and the science of winter. 

CTELDS: CA.48.5, S.60.2, PH.48.2 

Storybook Theater 1.0 

Take the stage! Bring a familiar tale to life using costumes and props to become the characters in Three Billy Goats Gruff, Goldilocks and the Three Bears, or The Three Little Pigs. 

CTELDS: CA.48.5, CA.60.6, L.60.6,CA.60.5, CA.60.7, L.60.12, L.60.13, L.60.14, SE.60.10 

Up and Down New and Improved

Build up and roll down! Investigate gravity and enhance building skills using creativity and curiosity.

CTELDS: M.60.9, S.60.2, S.60.11

Kindergarten – Grade 2

The Fact of Matter 1.0 

Matter has super powers! Explore three states of matter – solids, liquids, and gases – and learn about their powerful properties through hands-on investigations. 

NGSS: 2.PS1.A

Above and Beyond 

Become astronomers and discover the peculiar patterns happening in our universe. Take part in a living model by replicating the movement of the sun and moon as they orbit and rotate in the sky. 

NGSS: 1-ESS1-1

Build a Story 

How strong is your house? Enter the story of The Three Little Pigs as you investigate building materials and design a stable structure that can withstand the force of the Big Bad Wolf. 

NGSS: 2-PS1-2, K-2-ETS1-2; CCSS.Math.Practice.MP.2., K.G.4, K.G. 5; CCSS.ELA:SL.2.4; National Core Arts Standards: 5,6 

Building Blocks New and Improved

Science comes to life when you explore real materials! Analyze building supplies and build a structure as we explore the wonders of stability and shapes. 

NGSS: 2-PS1-2, K-2-ETS1-2; CCSS.Math.Practice.MP.2., K.G.4, K.G.5

From Seed to Plant New and Improved

Explore the life cycle and importance of plants through scientific investigation. Dissect a seed, identify its parts, and learn how plants meet their basic needs. 

NGSS: 2.LS2.A, 1.LS1.A

Know Yourself 

Get in touch with your social and emotional self by exploring feelings, facial expressions, and cooperation tactics through art, music, and movement. Explore different ways of managing your feelings, practicing empathy, and discovering ways to be the best you! 

Healthy and Balanced Living Curriculum Framework: P.3.6, P.5.3, P.5.4, P.5.5, P.5.6 

Mission: Nutrition 1.0 

Beans for our blood, oranges for our eyes, and eggs for our brain! Investigate which nutrients keep our blood, bones, and brains healthy. Practice meal planning while exploring portions and making nutritious food choices. 

Healthy and Balanced Living Standard: E.1.1; NGSS: K.LS1.C 

Power Play New and Improved

The sun, wind, and water are powerful energy sources! Explore the importance of these renewable resources through inquiry-based activities, including developing sun prints, measuring wind-generated electricity, and creating a water turbine. 

NGSS: K-PS2-1, 3-PS2-1, 5-PS2-1, 4-ESS3-1

Remarkable Robots 1.0 

Direct Bee-Bot® forward, backward, left, and right as you guide it along a path. Through creating and testing programs, this remarkable robot helps students understand cause and effect, and how to problem solve. 

NGSS: ETS1-1; ETS1-2, CCSS.Math.1.MD.A.1

Storybook Theater 2.0 

Shine on stage and behind the scenes! Bring a familiar tale to life with costumes and props to become the characters in Three Billy Goats Gruff, Goldilocks and the Three Bears, or The Three Little Pigs. Learn the essentials of character development, set, and costume design. 

National Core Arts Standards: 5,6; CCSS.ELA: SL2.4

Grades 2 – 3

Amazing Animals New and Improved

Explore the remarkable characteristics of animals, learn about effects of changes to the natural world, and discover adaptations that help animals survive. Then create an animal that is uniquely adapted to live in a specific habitat. 

NGSS: 2.LS.4.1; CCSS.ELA:RI.3.3, CCSS.Math.Practice.MP2

Anatomy Academy 

Investigate how muscles and bones work together. Make a 3-D bone model, move to muscular music, and have a hearty laugh using stethoscopes!

NGSS: LS1.A; Physical Education: S3.E6.2,S3.E1.3b; Healthy and Balanced Living Curriculum Framework: E.1.3

Gadgets and Gizmos 1.0

Circuits run the world! Explore the flow of energy through circuits and use them to power lights, buzzers, and motors. Then have fun designing your own vibrating robot. 

NGSS: 3-PS2, 3-5-ETS1-3, 4-PS3-4

Terrific Tangrams and Tessellations

Discover where art and math intersect. Configure a geometric masterpiece and learn about patterns, symmetry, and famous artists who utilize math in their creative process.

CCSS.Math.Content.2.G.A.2

Water Cycle New and Improved

Discover the essential role that water plays in our lives. Express what you’ve learned about evaporation, condensation, precipitation, and accumulation through experiments and creative personification. 

NGSS: 2-ESS2.C, 4-PS3-3; CCSS.Math.ELA:W.4.7 

Weather Wise 

Become meteorologists and measure weather using authentic scientific tools. Create a weather instrument and investigate temperature, pressure, water, and wind. 

NGSS: 3-ESS2.D; CCSS.Math.Practice.MP.5

Grades 3 – 5

The Fact of Matter 2.0

Get the facts about the properties of solids, liquids, and gases through demonstrations and hands-on activities. Explore solubility, magnetism, conductivity, and the mysterious fourth state of matter. 

NGSS: 5-PS1-3

Gadgets and Gizmos 2.0 

Can you follow the flow of energy? Study how energy moves by experimenting and learning about the conservation of energy and building a simple motor. 

NGSS: 3-PS2, 3-5-ETS1-3, 4-PS3-4

Kinetic Contraptions

Did you know energy can neither be created nor destroyed? Use balls, ramps, and blocks to explore different forms of energy, force, and motion. Work in groups to build a system of kinetic components to create a chain reaction event. 

NGSS: 3-PS2-1, 5-PS2-1  

Kitchen Science New and Improved

Learning happens everywhere! Let’s take a look in the kitchen cupboard and explore chemistry using everyday ingredients. Use authentic scientific tools to learn the importance of measuring and mixing. 

NGSS: 3PS2; 3MD, CCSS.Math.Content.4MD; 5MD

Mission: Nutrition 2.0 

Become a super sleuth to decipher food labels and determine portion sizes. Sodium, sugar, saturated fat…find out the mystery behind these common ingredients. Vitamins, fiber, calcium…learn what your body craves for health! 

National Core Arts Standards: 2,6; Healthy and Balanced Living Curriculum Framework: E.2.1; CCSS.ELA:RL.3

Paper Airplanes New and Improved

Get ready to build your knowledge of aerodynamics. Explore the scientific method as you combine elements of early flight with engineering design. Conduct trials, make predictions, and record data on lengths and types of flights. 

NGSS: ETS1; R12; MP.2; 3PS2-2; 4PS3-3

Remarkable Robots 2.0 New and Improved

Learn Bee-Bot commands and complete complex challenges as you direct Bee-Bot towards a goal. Creating and testing programs with this remarkable robot helps kids understand cause and effect, use directional language, practice estimation, and learn beginning programming skills. 

NGSS: ETS1, CCSS.Math.Content.3.MD.C.5

“Loved the workshop! Very detailed and explicit. Guided practice excellent. Exhibit also aligned with our curriculum.” – Riverside School Teacher, Greenwich, CT

School and Group Brochure