Classroom Workshops

Enjoy our archaeology and anthropology workshops in our new classroom! In our Classroom Workshops students will experience a hands-on and minds-on array of interactive, thought provoking activities that will complement and strengthen your museum visit.

Select from the following programs

NEW!! Preserving the Past: Artifact Lab
Grades: 5th–8th
Practice the basics of museum conservation in this hands-on artifact lab. Students repair and restore artifacts as they discover both the science behind deterioration, and the important role conservators play in preserving the past.

NEW!! Mummy Makers
Grades: 6th–8th
Become an ancient Egyptian embalmer and prepare the pharaoh and his sons for their journey into the afterlife. Learn how mummies were made, including organ removal, wrapping, sealing, and the meaning behind these ancient rituals.

Culture Detectives
Grades: 3rd – 5th
What does the word culture mean? Understand how customs and traditions impact and influence your own life. Define culture and its traits and explore the immense range of ways that people live on our planet with a focus on daily rituals and every-day objects. 

Cemetery Sleuths
Grades: 5th – 9th
Explore archaeology and excavate without getting dirty. Exercise your critical thinking and deduction skills as you explore material culture. Analyze, catalog, and correlate your finds to unravel the mysteries of the cemetery’s inhabitants.

What in the World
Grades: 5th – 8th
Get hands-on and examine mysterious objects from all over the world as you play anthropologist. Learn how to categorize and identify objects based on their attributes. End the workshop playing “What in the World” with teammates and deducing the purpose of unknown artifacts.

Art and Artifact
Grades: Various
An Art and Artifact Workshop is a perfect add-on to culminate your museum fieldtrip visit. Tour the galleries and then create your own masterpiece inspired by Penn Museum artifacts.

Egyptian False Doors
Imagine yourself as a pharaoh and create a false door incorporating hieroglyphs, an idealized self-portrait, and ancient Egyptian art motifs.
Grades: 3rd - 8th

Pharaoh Fashion Show
How well can you walk like an ancient Egyptian? Find out as you explore and recreate ancient Egyptian tomb paintings. Then, create a usekh, an ancient Egyptian collar necklace, incorporating math concepts.
Grades: PreK - 2nd

Chinese Calligraphy
Is calligraphy writing or is it painting? Work with an experienced Chinese calligrapher and decide for yourself. Examine the tools of the trade and learn how to make a variety of characters, step-by-step.
Grades: 3rd - 6th

Write Like a Babylonian
Explore the life of a Mesopotamian scribe. Analyze the differences of pictographic writing and an alphabetic system as you learn how to write like a Babylonian.
Grades: 2nd - 6th

NEW!! Maya Codex
Grades: 5th–11th
Explore the language of the ancient Maya as you learn to write and speak in Yucatec Mayan. Create a codex (folding book) complete with your name in hieroglyphs.

Reservations
Classroom Workshop reservations must be placed at least 2 months in advance. Contact the Education Department at: (215) 746-6774 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Classroom Workshops may take place between 10:00am-1:00pm, Tuesday-Friday. 

Group Size 
A maximum of 30 students for each Classroom Workshop is required.  We require one adult for every 10 children. 
 
Rates 
For regular Classroom Workshops: Group Admission rates plus $100 per 30 students. For Art and Artifact Workshops: Group Admission rates plus $4 per student

Length 
45 minutes - 1 hour 
 
Payment 
Payment in full must be made no later than two weeks prior to the fieldtrip visit date. Sorry, no refunds or credits will be given after payment is processed.