Teacher Resources
Planning Your School Visit
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Our basic school program includes our introductory film, “West,” a tour led by one of our Museum Educators, and a hands-on “pack your wagon” activity. Students will seeartifacts associated with the western trails, including two original wagons, and hear first-hand accounts of the journey west from pioneer journals. School tours last approximately one hour and thirty minutes.
School Tour Fees
The fee for each student is $2.50. One teacher per class is admitted free. Additional chaperones are $5.00. There must be 15 or more paid admissions for this group rate to apply.
Museum Tour/Wagon Ride Combination Tickets
In coordination with Pioneer Trails Adventures, the National Frontier Trails Museum can offer students an opportunity to experience a ride in a wagon pulled by Missouri mules. The combined fee for the museum and wagon ride is $9.50 per student and $10 for each adult chaperone. An additional half-hour is required for the wagon ride.
Tailored Programs
Upon request we can arrange special emphasis tours focusing on Lewis and Clark, the Santa Fe Trail, the Oregon Trail or the California Trail.
Traveling Trunk Program
"Santa Fe Trail" Teacher Resource Trunk, grades 4-8
Investigate the Santa Fe Trail and examine the materials used by Anglo-American, American Indian, and Mexican traders. Artifacts, lessons, and other resources are provided for classroom use. The trunk is offered free of charge through the Santa Fe Trails Association and is available for two weeks.
“Exploring with Lewis and Clark” Teacher Resource Trunk, grades 4-8
Reproduction artifacts, prints, maps, furs and lesson plans help bring the experiences of the Corps of Discovery to life. The fee for trunk use is $25.00 for two weeks.
Junior Wagon Master Program
The Junior Wagon Master Program is one of the educational programs of the Santa Fe Trail Association. It consists of four activity booklets for families traveling the Santa Fe Trail. Each booklet is full of historical information about sites along the trail, both well-known and lesser known, well-hidden sites. The booklets have activities for four different age groups:
- Cavvy (ages 5-8),
- Freighter (ages 9-11),
- Bullwhacker (12-14), and
- Scout (ages 15 and up).
The booklets are designed to teach about the trail as the families travel along. They are not designed for classroom use. However, teachers and students can use any of the pages of the booklets that interest them by downloading the page(s) they want from the Santa Fe Trail Association website at: santafetrail.org
Each booklet is divided into four sections. Finish eight activities in a section and the participant earns a beautiful, embroidered patch. There are four different patches.
These booklets are available at the National Frontier Trails Museum free of charge.
Plan a visit for your class or group
To plan a visit, reserve a traveling trunk, or coordinate a special program, contact the Museum at 816-325-7575 or nftminfo@indepmo.org.