Education
Living Heritage
The Museums of Mississauga bring heritage to life by visually narrating the early settler experience and life in the nineteenth century through to the modern era. Education programs offer students a unique opportunity to experience our shared living heritage.
LEARN, FEEL, CELEBRATE, SHARE
The Museums of Mississauga offer a wide range of learning opportunities that engage students of all ages. Through historical artifacts, hands on activities, stories and interactive presentations, the museum's education programs help students immerse themselves into historical experiences that celebrate Canada's cultural heritage.
All programs link to the Ontario Curriculum and include hands-on elements to enhance learning.
PROGRAM INFORMATION
- We offer 90 min and 2 hour programs.
- Two programs can be combined for a full day; we can accommodate up to 75 students per program
- Free bussing for Mississauga schools available
- French Immersion programs available.
- Come to the Museums or let the Museums come to you.
- No charge for up to six teachers/volunteers per program.
Thank you to Petro-Canada Lubricants, Webnews Printing Inc. and the Friends of the Museums, proud sponsors of the bussing program.
Seasonal Programs
The Birds and The Bees and The Bats
Learn about urban wildlife in Mississauga and how it has adapted to the city's built environment. Students will learn about how to protect threatened Chimney Swift birds, who make the chimney of the Small Arms Inspection Building their home. We'll also look at the bat boxes installed on site to replace lost natural habitat for our bat friends. Finally, students will learn about the insects that help our food grow, and plant seeds that will grow into flowers to feed the bees and butterflies.
Research support provided by Mississauga Parks, Forestry and Environment Division.
Curriculum Connections
Subject(s): Science & Technology
Curriculum Strand(s): Understanding Life Systems
Curriculum Topic(s): Needs & Characteristics of Living Things (gr. 1), Growth & Changes in Animals (gr. 2), Habitats & Communities (gr. 4), Biodiversity (gr. 6), Interactions in the Environment (gr. 7)
Christmas Celebrations
Where did Christmas holiday traditions come from? In this program students explore the traditions and customs of either an 1830 or a 1918 Christmas as they tour a decorated house, bake a traditional treat and create a seasonal craft.
Curriculum Connections
Subject(s): Social Studies
Curriculum Strand(s): Heritage & Identity
Curriculum Topic(s): Changing Family & Community Traditions (gr. 2), Communities in Canada, 1780-1850 (gr. 3), Communities in Canada, Past & Present (gr. 6),
Celebrations From Around The World
Students will explore holiday traditions and customs of cultures from around the world, with a focus on seasonal celebrations falling within the winter and early spring. Students will explore different celebrations through creative hands-on activities, as well as learn from local cultural ambassadors about their own lived experiences with these traditions.
Curriculum Connections
Subject(s): Social Studies
Curriculum Strand(s): Heritage & Identity
Curriculum Topic(s): Changing Family & Community Traditions (gr. 2), Communities in Canada, 1780-1850 (gr. 3), Communities in Canada, Past & Present (gr. 6)
Maple Sap to Syrup
In this program students discover the magic of maple trees as they explore how sap is collected and boiled over an open fire. They will compare the maple sugaring traditions of Indigenous communities and settlers, taste maple treats and make a maple craft.
Curriculum Connections
Subject(s): Science & Technology, Social Studies, History & Geography
Curriculum Strand(s): Understanding Life Systems, Understanding Matter & Energy, Heritage & Identity, People & Environments
Curriculum Topic(s): Needs & Characteristics of Living Things, Energy in Our Lives (gr. 1), Properties of Liquids & Solids, Changing Family & Community Traditions (gr. 2), Growth & Changes in Plants, Communities in Canada, 1780-1850, Living & Working in Ontario (gr. 3), Political & Physical Regions of Canada (gr. 4), Properties of & Changes in Matter (gr. 5), Interactions in the Environment, Pure Substances & Mixtures (gr. 7), Fluids (gr. 8)
Play Day Fun
Students will learn the importance of imagination and cooperation while discovering fun traditions from the mid-1800s to early 1900s. Teamwork will be the key to success as students use an old-fashioned churn to make homemade ice cream, play games of skill and enjoy handmade wooden toys.
Curriculum Connections
Subject(s): Social Studies, Health & Physical Education
Curriculum Strand(s): Heritage & Identity, Active Living, Movement Competence
Curriculum Topic(s): Active Participation, Movement Skills & Concepts, Movement Strategies
Year Round Programs
Simple Machines
Simple machines have been used for thousands of years and were extremely useful to early settlers. In this program, students will discover how levers, pulleys, inclined planes and screws made everyday tasks easier in the early 1800s. Participants will complete a series of hands-on activities using simple machines set up at stations around the Bradley Museum grounds. Grade 4 students will also explore compound machines and gears.
Curriculum Connections
Subject(s): Science & Technology
Curriculum Strand(s): Understanding Structures & Mechanisms, Understanding Matter & Energy
Curriculum Topic(s): Movement (gr. 2), Forces Causing Movement (gr. 3), Pulleys & Gears (gr.4)
Early Settler Experience
Travel back in time and explore the daily life and customs of the Bradley family in 19th century Upper Canada. Students will roll up their sleeves for hands-on learning activities in the home and kitchen, as well as learn about relationships between early settlers and the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation. Choose one additional activity: Black Settlers in Peel Region, Building a Log Cabin, Fire and Light, Quilting Bee, Settler Dress Up, or The 'Green' Bradleys.
Curriculum Connections
Subject(s): Social Studies
Curriculum Strand(s): Heritage & Identity
Curriculum Topic(s): Our Changing Roles & Responsibilities (gr. 1), Changing Family & Community Traditions (gr. 2), Communities in Canada, 1780-1850 (gr. 3)
Black Settlers in Peel
In this program, students will explore the social, economic and physical contributions of early Black Settlers in Peel. Using object-based, inquisitive learning, students will discover the effects of racism and slavery on Peel's Black Settlers, how their experience compares with the experience of other Early Settlers, and how the history of Black Settlers has been recorded and shared.
Curriculum Connections
Subject(s): Social Studies, History & Geography
Curriculum Strand(s): Heritage & Identity, History
Curriculum Topic(s): Communities in Canada, Past & Present (gr. 6), New France & British North America, 1713-1800, Canada, 1800-1850: Conflict and Challenges (gr. 7), Creating Canada, 1850-1890, Canada, 1890-1914: A Changing Society (gr. 8)
At Home In Canada
This program demonstrates the ways communities in Canada developed through colonization and migration with a spotlight on the home life of the family of Benares Historic House. Students will learn about the impact of early settlers on the traditional territory of the Mississaugas of the Credit, and delve into the daily life of the Harris family and the Home Children they employed. Finally, students will make connections to ways their own lives are impacted today.
Curriculum Connections
Subject(s): Social Studies, History & Geography
Curriculum Strand(s): Heritage & Identity, History
Curriculum Topic(s): Communities in Canada, Past & Present (gr. 6), Canada, 1800-1850: Conflict & Challenges (gr. 7), Canada, 1890-1914: A Changing Society (gr. 8)
Lest We Forget – World War I Education Days
History Matters Association presents an interactive experience designed to bring WWI curriculum to life. Featuring knowledgeable re-enactors, WWI artifacts and replicas, students will see a military fashion show, learn about Mississauga's fallen soldiers and the role of women on the home front, experience equipment demonstrations and take part in a battle re-enactment. This program is offered on two days only - limited booking available.
Curriculum Connections
Subject(s): History
Curriculum Strand(s): Canada, 1914-1929
Curriculum Concept(s): Historical Significance, Cause & Consequence, Continuity & Change, Historical Perspective
Women In Times of War
Hosted at the Small Arms Inspection Building--a former munitions plant--this program explores the ways women's lives were changed as a result of World War II. Focusing on the stories of women who lived and worked on site, students will use primary sources as discovery tools to learn more about their lives, and make connections to present day impacts of war on women around the world.
Curriculum Connections
Subject(s): Social Studies
Curriculum Strand(s): Heritage & Identity, People & Environments
Curriculum Topic(s): Communities in Canada, Past & Present, Canada's Interactions with the Global Community
Programmes en Français
Expérience des premiers colons
Les eleves exploreront la vie quotidienne et les coutumes d'une famille de colons des annees 1800 a l'aide d'une serie d'activites pratiques interactives. Les activites principales presenteront la famille Bradley sa maison et sa cuisine. Decouvrez aussi les relations entre les premiers colons et la Premiere Nation des Mississaugas de Credit. Lors de votre visite, vous pourrez choisir deux activites additionnelles. Les choix d'activites additionnelles sont notamment: la corvee de piquage de courtepointe, le feu et la lumiere, la construction d'une cabane en bois rond, s'habiller a la maniere des colons, les Green Bradleys, ou les colons noirs de Peel.
Liens avec le programme
Matiere : Etudes sociales
Domaine du programme : Patrimoine et identite
Theme du curriculum : Les roles et les responsabilites (1re annee), Les traditions familiales et communautaires (2e annee), Les communautes du Canada au debut des annees 1800 (3e annee)
De la sève au sirop d’érable
Les eleves decouvriront et apprendront a connaitre la magie des erables alors qu'ils exploreront le processus de fabrication du sirop d'erable du debut a la fin. Ils pourront egalement comparer les methodes de production des colons et les Premieres Nations, ils pourrant gouter une gaterie au sirop fait maison et faire de l'artisanat en erable.
Liens avec le programme
Matiere : Sciences et technologie, Etudes sociales, Histoire et geographie
Domaine du programme : Systemes vivants, Matiere et energie, Patrimoine et identite, Communaute et environnement
Themes du curriculum : Les etres vivants : caracteristiques et besoins, L'energie dans nos vies (1re annee), Les proprietes des liquides et des solides, Les traditions familiales et communautaires (2e annee), Les plantes : croissance et changement, Les communautes du Canada au debut des annees 1800, Vivre et travailler en Ontario (3e annee), Les regions politiques et physiques du Canada (4e annee), Les proprietes et les changements de la matiere (5e annee), Les substances pures et les melanges (7e annee)
Journée de jeux amusants
Les eleves apprennent l'importance de l'imagination et de la cooperation en jouant a des jeux traditionnels amusants des annees 1800 et 1900. Le travail d'equipe sera la cle du succes lorsqu'ils apprendront le processus de barattage de la creme glacee faite maison et qu'ils s'amuseront avec des jouets faits maison.
Liens avec le programme
Matiere : Etudes sociales, Education physique et sante
Domaine du programme : Patrimoine et identite, Vie active, Competence mortice
Themes du curriculum : Participation active, Developpement moteur, Developpement des habiletes tactiques
In Class Program
Museum In Your Classroom
Museum staff will visit your classroom and engage students with interactive, hands-on activities that encourage creative inquiry and historical thinking. All of our programs can be adapted for classroom sessions.
Curriculum Connections
Subject(s): Social Studies, History & Geography
Please see individual program listings for specific Curriculum Strands and Topics.
Year Round
Early Settler Bootcamp
Do you have what it takes to be an Early Settler? Test your skills and see how easy or hard life as an early settler could be. Participants will take part in a series of hands on tasks based on the daily routine of an early settler. Includes making a tasting a settler meal. Program activities are adapted for the age range of the participants.
Location:
Bradley Museum
Length:
1.5 to 2 hrs
Program Connections:
Guiding: Unit's Own: Canadian Connections
Scouting: Beaver Scouts - Personal Achievement Badge - Canada Beaver, Scouts - Personal Achievement Badge - Cub Scouts Canada
History Hunters
Explore how museums use research, artifact collections and programming to share local history through a series of interactive activities which will take participants around the museum in a scavenger hunt style game.
Location:
Benares Historic House
Length:
1.5 to 2 hrs
Program Connections:
Guiding: Build Skills - Life Stuff - Career Day
Scouting: Cub Scouts - Personal Achievement Badge - Cub Scouts Hobby
Mississauga’s Herstory
Explore the changing roles of women in Canada past and present using the real life stories and experiences of women from Mississauga.
Location:
Benares Historic House
Length:
1.5 - 2 hrs
Program Connections:
Guiding: Explore Identities - Gender Power - Herstory Lineup/ Canada's Herstory
Scouting: Scouts - Rideau Trail: Citizenship - Suffrage
Remembrance & Peace
Learn about the effect of WWI on the Canadian home front, the importance of remembrance and how you can impact the fight for peace across the word through a series of hands on activities which will help participants make a personal connection to the concepts of Remembrance and Peace.
Location:
Benares Historic House
Length:
1.5 - 2 hrs
Program Connections:
Guiding: BC Guiding Remembers Challenge
Scouting: Beaver Scouts - Personal Achievement Badge - Canada Beaver, Scouts - Personal Achievement Badge - Cub Scouts Canada
Community Builders
Explore the experiences and contributions of the Indigenous, Black Settler and United Empire Loyalist communities to Mississauga through a series of interactive games and activities.
Location:
Bradley Museum
Length:
1.5 - 2 hrs
Program Connections:
Guiding: Unit's Own: Canadian Connections
Scouting: Beaver Scouts - Personal Achievement Badge - Canada Beaver, Scouts - Personal Achievement Badge - Cub Scouts Canada
Hearth and Home
Try your hand at activities that were essential to an early settler family including lighting a fire, mending your own clothing and growing your own food. This program ends with enjoying a snack at our fire pit.
Location:
Bradley Museum
Length:
1.5 - 2 hrs
Program Connections:
Guiding: Unit's Own: Canadian Connections
Scouting: Beaver Scouts - Personal Achievement Badge - Canada Beaver, Scouts - Personal Achievement Badge - Cub Scouts Canada
Museum Quest
Explore the Bradley site on both a letterboxing and geocaching quest. Participants will get a chance to use a compass and map and a GPS device to navigate as they search the Bradley site for hidden letterboxes and caches. This program is run outside in most weather conditions; participants must be dressed for outdoor exploration.
Location:
Bradley Museum
Length:
1.5 - 2 hrs
Program Connections:
Guiding: BC Geocaching Challenge
Scouting: Cub Scouts - Personal Achievement Badge - Cub Scouts Community
Seasonal
Springtime is Maple Time (Late February to Early April)
Discover the historical and modern process of making maple syrup from start to finish. Participants will get a chance to try a different activity at every stage of the process and taste test some sweet treats.
Location:
Bradley Museum
Length:
1 - 2 hrs
Program Connections:
Guiding: Quebec Maple Syrup Challenge
Unit's Own: Canadian Connections
Scouting: Beaver Scouts - Personal Achievement Badge - Canada Beaver, Scouts - Personal Achievement Badge - Cub Scouts Canada
Winter Celebrations (November and December)
Learn about winter celebrations past and present from around the world as you participate in elements of celebrations from Edwardian Christmas, Diwali, Hanukkah, Eid and Winter Solstice.
Location:
Benares Historic House
Length:
1 - 2 hrs
Program Connections:
Guiding: Unit's Own: Canadian Connections
Scouting: Beaver Scouts - Personal Achievement Badge - Spirit Beaver