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Wednesday, November 23, 2022

Plimoth plantation, wampanoag, mayflower, and plymouth rock virtual walking tours for thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving is here and there is no better time than to visit some of the most famous locations celebrating the Pilgrims and Native Americans (Wampanoag tribe) than now. There are several virtual walking tours that bring the history of the Mayflower landing at Plymouth Rock and the events that transpired leading up to the first Thanksgiving that you can easily access via YouTube.  Here is some of the best virtual waking tours to further increase your knowledge of the holiday and even feel as if you've been transported in time to December 16, 2020, when 13-year-old Mary Chilton departed the Mayflower and became the first Pilgrim to step foot at Plymouth Rock.

Plimoth Plantation Walkthrough

Plimoth Plantation Virtual Field Trip by Scholastic

Allodic Ventures: Plymouth Rock Walking Tour

Saltyhead Adventures: Plymouth Rock and the Mayflower Walking Tour

Susan Evans Plimoth Plantation Tour

Walks in Camera: Rotherhithe Wander Mayflower Walk from London

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Visiting Plymouth Rock in Massachusetts

Mark E. Gibson/Getty Images

What is the most visited rock in New England? It's Plymouth Rock in seaside Plymouth, Massachusetts, of course. This famous landmark south of Boston is housed within the smallest state park in Massachusetts, Pilgrim Memorial State Park , visited by more than 1 million people each year.

The Story of Plymouth Rock

According to legend, Plymouth Rock is the boulder upon which the Pilgrims landed when they arrived at the location of their permanent settlement in Plymouth, Massachusetts, in 1620. Most first-time visitors to "the rock" are a bit startled by its smallness. How could such a monumental artifact in American history be so, well... puny?

For starters, the well-intentioned residents of Plymouth who first set out to preserve the symbolic rock in 1774 had the unpleasant experience of watching the rock split in two when a team of oxen attempted to raise it. Only the upper portion of Plymouth Rock left the waterfront originally for display in the Town Square.

Souvenir seekers who desired to bring home a "piece of the rock" caused further deterioration until Plymouth Rock was moved to safety inside an iron fence at the Pilgrim Hall Museum in 1834. It had a rough trip to the museum, though, falling off its conveyance and obtaining its distinctive crack.

Remember the bottom part of the rock that was left behind at the waterfront? The Pilgrim Society acquired the other half of Plymouth Rock in 1859, and in 1867, a Plymouth Rock canopy structure was completed at the waterfront to house it. Unfortunately, the canopy was not large enough to hold the whole rock, so a few pieces had to be hacked off and sold as souvenirs.

Finally, in 1880, the upper chunk was united with the lower piece of Plymouth Rock—cement did the trick! And "1620," the date of the Pilgrims' arrival in Plymouth, was permanently carved into the rock. 

Plymouth Rock was moved for the last time during the celebration of Plymouth's tercentenary (300th anniversary) in 1921 to an ornate new canopy designed by famed architects McKim, Mead and White and built by Roy B. Beattie of Fall River, Massachusetts. Would you believe that the rock broke apart once again during this move to its elegant new digs? 

Visiting This Rock Icon

Massachusetts' most famous rock, though a bit battered by time, remains a powerful tribute to the courage of the 102 Mayflower passengers who established a settlement in the region we know as New England. When you visit, after your initial surprise at its small size, standing in the presence of Plymouth Rock will connect you to the Pilgrim story in a way no history textbook can.

Getting to Plymouth Rock:  Follow Route 3 South to Route 44 (Plymouth). Follow 44 East to the waterfront. When using a GPS, set the destination address for 79 Water Street, Plymouth, Massachusetts, 02360. The memorial is always open, free to the public, 365 days of the year. Free visitor parking is available at the monument. If all spaces are filled, look for metered parking spots on nearby streets.

Staying in Plymouth: The John Carver Inn , a family favorite thanks to its Pilgrim Cove Indoor Theme Pool, is just an eight-minute walk from Plymouth Rock. The hotel sits on the historic site of the Pilgrims' original village. Compare rates and reviews for this and other Plymouth hotels with TripAdvisor.

While You're in Plymouth:  Visit the Pilgrim Hall Museum, the nation’s oldest continuously operating public museum, and step back in time to the 17th century at Plimoth Plantation , a living history museum that faithfully recreates the original Plymouth Colony. You'll also want to step aboard the newly restored Mayflower II , a replica of the famous ship that carried the Pilgrims to Plymouth Rock, when it returns to Plymouth Harbor in 2020.

Join in the Plymouth 400 Celebration

Visitation to Plymouth Rock will soar in 2020, as Plymouth celebrates the 400th anniversary of the Pilgrims' journey and landing. Few sailings have had such monumental impact on the course of history, and Plymouth 400 will commemorate the story and the legacy of the Pilgrims' quest for freedom to worship as they wished. "America's Hometown" and surrounding communities will host events throughout 2020, and related commemorations are being held in the UK and the Netherlands and by Wampanoag Nation tribes in Massachusetts.

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AT THE SMITHSONIAN

The true story behind plymouth rock.

Curator Larry Bird weighs in on the significance of Plymouth Rock—and the two pieces in the Smithsonian collections

Megan Gambino

Senior Editor

Plymouth Rock, located on the shore of Plymouth Harbor in Massachusetts, is reputed to be the very spot where William Bradford, an early governor of Plymouth colony, and other Pilgrims first set foot on land  in 1620. Yet, there is no mention of the granite stone in the two surviving firsthand accounts of the founding of the colony—Bradford’s famous manuscript Of Plymouth Plantation and Edward Winslow’s writings published in a document called “Mourt’s Relation.”

In fact, the rock went unidentified for 121 years. It wasn’t until 1741, when a wharf was to be built over it, that 94-year-old Thomas Faunce, a town record keeper and the son of a pilgrim who arrived in Plymouth in 1623, reported the rock’s significance. Ever since, Plymouth Rock has been an object of reverence, as a symbol of the founding of a new nation.

“It is important because of what people have turned it into,” says Larry Bird, a curator in the National Museum of American History’s division of political history. “To possess a piece of it is to look at a historical moment in terms of image making and imagery. We choose these moments, and these things become invested with values that continue to speak to us today.”

In 1774, Plymouth Rock was split, horizontally, into two pieces. “Like a bagel,” writes John McPhee in “Travels of the Rock,” a story that appeared in the New Yorker in 1990 . (Bird considers McPhee’s story one of the best pieces written about the rock.) “There were those who feared and those who hoped that the break in the rock portended an irreversible rupture between England and the American colonies,” writes McPhee. Actually, the upper half was transported to the town square where it was used to rile up New Englanders to want to gain independence from the Mother Country. Meanwhile, over the course of the next century, people, wanting a stake in the history, slowly chipped away at the half of the rock still on shore.

The National Museum of American History has two pieces of Plymouth Rock in its collection. “The one that I like is painted with a little affidavit by Lewis Bradford, who is a descendent of William Bradford,” says Bird. “He paints on it the exact moment of time in which he chips it from the ‘Mother Rock.’” The label on the small, four-inch by two-inch rock reads, “Broken from the Mother Rock by Mr. Lewis Bradford on Tues. 28th of Dec. 1850 4 1/2 o’clock p.m.” The artifact was donated to the museum in 1911 by the family of Gustavus Vasa Fox, a former Assistant Secretary of the Navy.

Much larger, weighing in at 100 pounds, the second hunk of rock was once part of a 400-pound portion owned by the Plymouth Antiquarian Society. The organization came into possession of the rock in the 1920s; it bought the Sandwich Street Harlow House, where the stone was being used as a doorstep. The society ended up breaking the 400-pound rock into three pieces, and the museum acquired one in 1985.

“Like a Lincoln fence rail piece, a tiny piece of Mount Vernon or even a piece of the Bastille, Plymouth Rock is part of who we are as a people,” says Bird.

Get the latest on what's happening At the Smithsonian in your inbox.

Megan Gambino | | READ MORE

Megan Gambino is a senior web editor for Smithsonian magazine.

Virtual Field Trip to Plymouth Rock - 1st Thanksgiving History - Mayflower/Pilgrims in 360 and VR

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With Thanksgiving, don't just learn about early settlement and life in America, EXPERIENCE IT! This Virtual Field Trip takes students to in VR and 360 to the famous sites of Plymouth Rock, and a 360 reenactment of Plymouth Colony and life on the Mayflower! With videos, readings, VR, and 360, students can fully experience life as an early Pilgrim settling in the New Land and complete activities to expand thinking and build comprehension!

Take a Virtual Field Trip:

• Watch a 360 video on-board the Mayflower
• Wonder the streets of Plymouth Colony in VR
• See Plymouth Rock Monument today in VR 360
• Read all about the colonists with original documents and articles

This is the PDF version of this exciting lesson! To purchase the digital version meant for use with Google Classroom and Google Apps please see my store at the link below:

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This product includes all of the following plus more:

• Free product code for teachers (a 2 Dollar Value from my store)
• Teacher instructions and differentiation ideas
• Student instructions
• Virtual Field Trip go page (links to field trip activities) lots of great links!
• Field trip overview summary worksheet page (before attending page)
• Mayflower life video questions page
• Pilgrim Museum in 360 observation worksheet activity
• Explorations of the Mayflower Colony Village questions activity
• Assessment (field trip check)
• Life on the Mayflower writing activity
• Opinion writing- personal connection task
• Mayflower Compact creative writing task
• Life in the New Land compare and contrast page
• Postcard from the New Land Creative writing task
• Plymouth life poetry
• Settlement snapshot writing and drawing task
• Summary worksheet page
• Grading Rubric

Check out a freebie from this series and other great freebies from my store to see the types of activities included in virtual field trips.

Love this lesson? Be sure to check out more great resources from my store and FOLLOW ME FOR WEEKLY FREEBIES! (That's right, I strive to post a new free product each and every week, so be sure to click the star to follow me above!)  Follow along with my lessons and see great learning in action on Pinterest  https://fi.pinterest.com/TeachwithBri12/

*Please note the places in this exciting field trip are in no way associated with TeachwithBri or TeachersPayTeachers and are independent great places and sites. They are meant to be used as a resource with the exciting lessons and activities in this product and are in no way my own work or property. Be sure you have the correct viewer to access this product and adjust printer settings to make sure printing is done in the best quality meant for this product.

This lesson is sensitive to diversity and that students have many different backgrounds and beliefs. Please note, It does however include an article discussing how some of the Native American population received illnesses to which they did not have immunity from the European settlers in one small article of the 50+ articles included in this resource.

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Home » Things to Do » Plymouth Rock Walks & Tours

Plymouth Rock Walks & Tours

Pilgrim Memorial State Park Walking Tours – Seasonal: Memorial Day-Labor Day – Daily at 11 AM, 1:30PM, and 3:30PM; 30 to 40 minutes. Want to learn more about the Plymouth story? Take a guided walk with one of our park staff! Topics vary day to day, check the flyer on the park kiosk for the description of each day’s events. Meet at the Plymouth Rock Portico. Rain or strong winds cancel; call to confirm at (508) 747-5360. Appropriate for ages 8 and up, all children must be accompanied by an adult.

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(508) 747-5360

Pilgrim Memorial State Park, 79 Water Street, Plymouth, MA 02360

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Historic Plymouth (Mayflower) Self-Guided Walking Tour

Tour Details

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Welcome to the plymouth walking tour.

Take a day trip to Plymouth from Boston to visit the place where ​the Pilgrims landed! As one of the earliest English settlements in North America, Plymouth is an essential stop for any history lover. Get to know the Pilgrims, the Wampanoag who helped them, and learn what life was like in the New World. Plus, visit famous artifacts like Plymouth Rock and a replica of the Mayflower! Whether you want to dive deeper into American history, or simply want to stroll through a picturesque coastal town, a Plymouth walking tour is a must-do.

About the Tour

Our journey back in time begins at the Plymouth Visitor Center, where you can get acquainted with the town you’re about to explore. From there, you’ll stroll along the gorgeous waterfront and get a crash course in who the Pilgrims were, as well as how they managed to build a society so far away from anyone they knew.

The first major stop is a real treat: a replica of the Mayflower, on which the Pilgrims sailed from England to Massachusetts. Here, you’ll also get the scoop on the Mayflower passengers who weren’t Pilgrims–people who were called The Strangers.

After that, you’ll come to Plymouth’s most famous attraction: Plymouth Rock. According to legend, this is the spot where the Pilgrims disembarked to establish the colony of Plymouth. It’s got quite an exciting history behind it, all of which you’ll learn while admiring this timeless historical artifact.

Then, you’ll continue to the statue of Chief Massasoit and learn the true story of the alliance between the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag tribe and the dramatic events that prompted the unusual friendship.

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Where To Start?

Tour Start Point: 130 Water St, Plymouth, MA 02360, USA

How Does It Work?

• Once you book a tour, you’ll get a text/email with instructions.
• Download the app (while in good wifi/signal) and use your unique password to access your tours. If there are multiple versions or entrances for your tour, be sure to download all audio guides.
• To begin touring, go to the starting point and launch the app.
• The audio starts automatically once you reach the starting point. Stick to the tour route and speed limit for the best experience.
• Please note that no one will meet you at the starting point.

What You'll See

Plymouth visitors information.

Your tour of Plymouth begins at the Plymouth Visitors Information Center. From here, you'll walk through this picturesque and historic city, learning everything there is to know about the town's long history, from the early tribe to the Plymouth Rock and beyond. As you begin your journey, you'll get acquainted with just who the Pilgrims were, exactly, and how they set about establishing laws for their new society.

Mayflower II

The Mayflower II is an absolute Plymouth must-see. A painstakingly-constructed reproduction of the 17th-century Mayflower which carried the Pilgrims to America in 1620, this ship offers a whole new perspective on that journey. As you admire the craft, just try to imagine crossing an entire ocean in a wooden vessel like that!

Mayflower Society House

The Mayflower Society House is a beautifully preserved home once owned by the grandson of Edward Winslow, grandson of one of the original Mayflower passengers. Winslow's family helped to build Plymouth, but he threw away all that goodwill by siding with the British crown when revolution started brewing.

Plymouth Rock

Hands down the most popular attraction in Plymouth, Plymouth Rock hold tremendous symbolic and historic importance. It is considered to have marked the landing site where the Pilgrims disembarked to found Plymouth in 1620. Historians debate whether the common beliefs about it are accurate, and you'll hear all about that when you visit.

Chief Massasoit Statue

This bronze statue of Chief Massasoit honors an important and unusual friendship which helped the Pilgrims survive their first winter. When the Pilgrims first arrived, Massasoit needed an ally in his struggle with the nearby Narragansett tribe. The Pilgrims, likewise, needed help finding and growing food in their new home. The result was an unlikely, and sometimes uneasy, alliance between the two.

Brewster Gardens

Brewster Gardens is a park named for William Brewster, one of the original Mayflower passengers. It's also the site of the Town Brook, where the Pilgrims got their drinking water in the early days of the settlement.

Pilgrim Maiden Statue

The bronze Pilgrim Maiden statue by sculptor Henry Kitson was erected in 1922. It honors not one specific woman, but all the women who immigrated to this new land and helped to build a new life. Such statues are rare, and this is one of the only women Kitson ever sculpted.

Burial Hill Cemetery

Burial Hill Cemetery was established all the way back in the 1600s and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places for good reason. More than a few of the Mayflower's original passengers have been buried here. So have other famous historic figures, including iconic patriots from the Revolutionary period.

Richard Sparrow House Inc

The Richard Sparrow House is the oldest surviving house in all of Plymouth. It was built around 1640 and has been painstakingly preserved. Even better, you can actually go inside! The house today functions as an art gallery and pottery studio.

The Plimoth Grist Mill/Conclusion

The Plimoth Grist Mill is a reconstruction of one of Plymouth's oldest structures, and it's actually still a functioning mill! The grist mill uses water power on the weekends to grind corn, and visitors can even buy fresh-ground corn from the site itself. Your tour concludes here, though there are plenty more optional stops throughout Plymouth for those who want to keep exploring.

Pilgrim Hall Museum

The Pilgrim Hall Museum at 75 Court Street in Plymouth, Massachusetts is the oldest public museum in the United States in continuous operation, having opened in 1824.

National Monument to the Forefathers

The Mayflower Pilgrims are remembered at the National Monument to the Forefathers, originally known as the Pilgrim Monument. It was dedicated on August 1, 1889, and it commemorates their principles as they came to be accepted by the majority of Americans. Experts agree that it tops the list of the largest granite structures everywhere.

Hedge House Museum

"The Plymouth Antiquarian House is a historic house museum in Plymouth, Massachusetts owned by the Plymouth Antiquarian Society. The house was built in 1809 for William Hammatt, a New England sea captain. The Hedges, a family of entrepreneurs, purchased the house in 1830 and lived there until 1919."

The Jenney Interpretive Centre

Exhibits in the Interpretive Centre focus on the Pilgrims, stories of their faith and values, the abolitionists and slavery, the family – the cornerstone of society.

Howland House

Located at 33 Sandwich Street in Plymouth, Massachusetts is the historic Jabez Howland House. It was in 1667 that Jabez Howland, whose parents John Howland and Elizabeth Tilley Howland sailed on the Mayflower, bought the original portion of this two-story wood-frame house from its builder, Jacob Mitchell.

Plymouth Long Beach

Long Beach is a barrier beach– a peninsula that serves as a barrier between the open ocean and the mainland coast.

Plimoth Patuxet Museums

Plymouth, Massachusetts is home to the Plimoth Patuxet Museum, a living history museum that has been open since 1947. In the 17th century, a group of English immigrants who would later be known as the Pilgrims established a colony in what is now known as Plymouth, Massachusetts.

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12 Free Virtual Tours to add some Adventure to Remote Learning

Though we may all be confined to our homes, backyards and front porches for the time being, we (and our students) can still travel to a surprising number of places around the world virtually. Many (if not most) zoos and museums are offering free virtual tours for anyone seeking to escape the confines of their living rooms for a few minutes and imagine themselves exploring exciting destinations, meeting fascinating creatures, and viewing priceless pieces of art.

As you know, schools across the country are scrambling to figure out a game plan for students going forward. Virtual tours and “class trips” are a great way to mix things up and leverage distance-learning resources. If you are looking for some fun, virtual field trips, check out these 12 free virtual tours for remote learning in 2020 below.

• Museum Virtual Tours
• Yellowstone Virtual Tour
• Yosemite Virtual Tour
• ZooAmerica Facebook Live
• San Diego Zoo Live Cams
• Cape May Zoo Facebook Live Tour
• Adventure Aquarium Videos & Activities
• Georgia Aquarium Webcams
• Monterey Bay Aquarium Webcams
• Great Wall of China Virtual Tour
• Mars Recording from NASA
• Explore Earth’s Surface

Museum Virtual Tours Google has compiled a list of museums from all over the world and indexed them with links to their virtual tours. Visit the National Gallery in London, Anne Frank’s House in Amsterdam, or tour the Acropolis Museum in Greece. With so many options, you could tie this in with nearly any art or history lesson you are working on right now.

Yellowstone Virtual Tour Yellowstone provides visitors and online viewers with quite a unique experience. Tour any one of their attractions including: Fort Yellowstone, Fountain Paint Pot, Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, Mammoth Hot Springs, Mud Volcano, Norris Geyser Basin, Yellowstone in 3D, and Upper Geyser Basin.

Yosemite Virtual Tour Explore Yosemite National Park without ever leaving your home. View their main attractions, including: Diving Board, Tuolumne Meadows, Nevada Fall, Ahwahnee Hotel, Swinging Bridge, and Hetch Hetchy.

ZooAmerica Facebook Live Each day at 11:0am ZooAmerica in Hershey, PA is going live on Facebook. Viewers can ask questions and visit with the animals.

San Diego Zoo Live Cams If you love adorable animals, this is the live cam you must see! Animals include baboons, penguins, pandas, polar bears, apes, koalas, giraffes, butterflies, elephants, burrowing owls, tigers, and condors.

Cape May Zoo Facebook Live Tour Visit the Cape May Zoo on Facebook each day between 11:30am – 12:00pm to ask questions and explore the different exhibits. The zoo is always free to enter, but since you cannot physically visit any time soon, this is a great way to support the zoo and give your students a fun learning opportunity.

Adventure Aquarium Videos & Activities The Camden aquarium website not only has videos of their many different exhibits, but they also have online games and activities. That includes printables your students can do at home and videos they can watch and explore.

Georgia Aquarium Webcams The Georgia Aquarium has awesome creatures your students will love to watch any time of day. With their webcams you can tune in to watch them play, eat, sleep, or whatever else these awesome creatures do. Webcams include piranha, jellyfish, beluga whale, puffin, sea lion, ocean voyager, and sea otter cams.

Monterey Bay Aquarium Webcams The Monterey Bay Aquarium also has exciting webcams you can watch any time of day. Students can explore the many marine exhibits and underwater tours. Online webcams include aviary, coral reef, jellyfish, kelp forest, Monterey Bay, moon jelly, open sea, penguin, sea otter, and shark cams.

Great Wall of China Virtual Tour International travel is impossible at the moment. However, if visiting the Great Wall of China is on your bucket list, you can tour it from the comfort of your own home. Students can direct the cam whichever way they want to go to take a virtual walk along the ancient wall.

Mars Recording from NASA For an out of this world experience, have your students visit Mars today. They can access NASA’s recordings to see exactly what the surface of Mars looks like. It is a pre-recorded virtual tour, but a fun virtual resource to add to your remote learning arsenal.

Explore Earth’s Surface Google Earth allows you to explore anywhere in the world, simply by clicking a button. Students can find their homes, take a trip to Hawaii, checkout Germany, or anywhere on the planet that you may be studying.

Your job may have drastically changed over the last few weeks, but you are not alone. Many businesses are working hard to create free virtual resources for teachers and students during this unprecedented time. Take advantage of those free resources as much as you can (while they last). For more great ideas, read our post, 19 Online Educational Resources for Home Instruction .

Jenna Garvin has been a freelance writer since 2006 and really enjoys writing for a variety of online publications. As a self-taught website designer, she works with local (and non-local) businesses to bulk up their online presence. You can find her at www.JennaGarvin.com.

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Plymouth, Plymouth Rock & Plimoth Plantation Tour

Plymouth, plymouth rock & plimoth plantation tour.

Step aboard Mayflower II and go back to the 17th century and hear of the hardship of this heroic voyage.

Learn more about life in 1627 through the living history museum of Plimoth Plantation, encounter first-hand the original settlement established by the English colonists later known as Pilgrims. Take a walking tour down Leyden Street where the original settlement was located. This includes Plymouth Rock, the Sarcophagus, the Jenny Grist Mill, the First Church, the Forefather’s Monument, Brewster Park and the Herring Run. Learn about the beginning of the Thanksgiving tradition and Native American communities who first inhabited this area.

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Virtual Voyages: Plymouth

Discover a Virtual Voyage of Plymouth with a tour of this famous seafaring city, the Mayflower’s final stop before it crossed the Atlantic in 1620.

The film explores some of the places in Plymouth connected to the Mayflower story and the 17th century waterfront.

It also showcases a mixture of the diverse cultural activity taking place in the city when the new Mayflower 400 programme re-starts from the anniversary date of 16 September, running into 2021.

Our Virtual Voyage will feature interviews with artists, producers, community volunteers and performers about their involvement and how they are telling different aspects of the journey and its impacts within the commemoration. There is also an exclusive sneak peek inside The Box Plymouth, the city's ambitious new heritage attraction, and an insight into how the team there have been working closely with Wampanoag colleagues to deliver two key exhibitions within the commemoration.

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Plymouth, England

The final stop before the Pilgrims crossed the Atlantic, Britain's Ocean City is one of England's fastest growing destinations, home to the famous Mayflower Steps.

The Box: Everything you need to know

Plymouth Walking Tours

Explore the historic city of Plymouth with the expert guides from Devon & Cornwall Tour Guides

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• For Teachers
• Visit Plimoth Patuxet

Field Trips

Fresh Air and Field Trip Fun Await You in the 17th Century! With more than 30 acres to stroll and four outdoor living history exhibits, a visit to Plimoth Patuxet Museums sparks learners’ imaginations and makes history come alive.

To request information about field trip pricing and availability, please email [email protected] . Plimoth Patuxet offers special discounted ticket pricing for groups of 15 or more. Tour operators, please contact the Group Sales Office for travel industry terms.

Ready to Book Your Field Trip?

Planning Your Field Trip

Plimoth Patuxet is an excellent resource for educators seeking to meet requirements for state curriculum frameworks. Our inquiry-driven approach to history transforms much of the essential topical content mandated by frameworks into riveting conversations, object analysis, and first-person stories which provide a living testament to the lasting connection between past and present. Plimoth Patuxet Museums staff are skilled at weaving elements of geography, history, economics, and civics and government into the stories they tell. Studying the stories of our shared past strengthens social and emotional skills. Students understand their own life in the context of history and participate in dialogues across differences to explore how many diverse experiences and perspectives shape our past, present and future.

Massachusetts History and Social Studies Framework

While a special effort has been made to align our programs with the Massachusetts History and Social Science Frameworks, the Museum’s programs and exhibits are highly relevant to national social studies standards and many state frameworks. Our educational programs and living history exhibits align best with the following curriculum topics for grades K-8: K.T3, K.T4, 1.T1, 1.T2, 2.T3, 2.T5, 3.T2-4, 4.T2-3, 5.T1, 6.T2, 8.T1, 8.T2. For grades 9-12, our programs and living history exhibits align with core knowledge goals for US History I, World History I, US Government and Politics, and Economics.

Question about how a field trip at Plimoth Patuxet can enhance your curricular goals? Contact us to learn more about our current offerings.

School, Scout, Homeschool, Youth, and Adult groups are welcome to explore Plimoth Patuxet’s 130-acre campus - including our four living history exhibits, exhibit galleries, and more - at their own pace. Take a few minutes to review our updated Visitor Guide . There you’ll also find answers to some of our more frequently asked questions about what to expect on our living history sites.

We have several admission options that may fit your needs. Learn more about planning your visit or contact [email protected] for more information.

Teacher Tip: We are busiest in June, October, and November. If you plan to Plimoth Patuxet Museums during this time, we strongly recommend providing alternative dates when booking.

Did you know that you can enhance your visit with a guided tour, a hands-on workshop, or historic dining for an additional fee? Learn more about add-on experiences.

On the day of your field trip, we recommend arriving 15 minutes before your scheduled entry time. Detailed group check-in instructions and an itinerary will be included with your group reservation. Site maps will be provided to group leaders, teachers, and chaperones upon arrival.

For the best experience, start with our 13-minute orientation film, Along the Shores of Change, located in the Henry Hornblower II Visitor Center. This film will introduce your group to the historical communities of Plymouth Colony and Patuxet as well as what to expect when they visit our Museum. Timed entry for the film is not required.

Teacher Tip: Looking for a place to eat lunch with your group? There are several designated outdoor picnic areas available. Check the site map for specific locations. We also offer delicious and fun group dining option. Learn more about group dining options .

To ensure the best experience, a 1:10 student to chaperone/teacher ratio is strongly recommended. Teachers are free and count as a chaperone.

Well prepared group leaders and chaperones are key to the success of your field trip to Plimoth Patuxet Museums. They are responsible for your students and their behavior and we are counting on them to encourage respect for the Museum's staff and exhibits. We request that group leaders and chaperones:

Stay with their designated groups at all times. This includes those adults traveling with high school-aged students.

Actively support students’ thoughtful engagement with the exhibits and staff including handling and examining objects in the living history exhibits with permission and/or supervised by a Museum staff member.

Remind students to show respect to our special (and beloved!) rare breed and heirloom animals. Touching, teasing, or feeding our animals may cause unintended harm.

Plimoth Patuxet Museums is sometimes able to offer grants to qualifying schools and community organizations that meet certain needs-based requirements. Funding subject to availability. Only available for museum admission or educational program costs. Transportation and busing costs not included.

Preparing for a Field Trip

Explore field trip and classroom activities that will support students’ learning before or after a field trip!

Explore Educational Resources

Field Trip Add-Ons: Your Field Trip Your Way

Enhance your visit with an add-on experience. Explore the carefully crafted options below to learn the ways in which you can enhance your field trip. From guided tours, to customized workshops, to themed dining experiences there’s something for everyone! Lean more about ways to enhance your field trip.

Ready to Book a Field Trip?

Book a Field Trip Now

Not Ready to Book a Field Trip? We're Here to Answer Your Questions!

[email protected] | (508) 503-2653

Banner image by Kathy Tarantola Photography