The American Swedish Historical Museum offers a variety of educational programs for all audiences. From school programs, to Swedish language classes to Swedish genealogy, the Museum has something for learners of all ages.
Please email education@americanswedish.org to request a program.
Bring the Museum to your classroom, local library, or recreation center. These fun and interactive presentations allow children to experience part of the Museum collection at your location. Outreach lessons are 60 minutes, recommended group size is 25 children. Programs can be scheduled back to back for larger groups.
Cost: $150 for groups within 20 miles. Additional travel costs apply 21-50 miles away add $50, 51-100 miles away add $100, and 101-150 miles away add $150. Payment is due on the day of your program.
Art Exploration: Scandinavia Activity Program (ages 6-12): Art is all around us - especially at the Swedish Museum! We’ll bring some of our Museum to the library as we learn about Scandinavian artists and folk art styles. Kids will have a chance to try out print-making, papercrafts, and other Scandiavian art forms in this activity program.
Do You Know the Dala Horse? Storytime Program (ages 2-6): Whether they’re big or small, Dala horses are one of the most recognizable symbols of Sweden. Get to know this traditional Swedish art form through a storytime, activities, and a Dala horse art project!
2025 ASHM Summer Library Outreach Program Flyer.pdf581.71 KBBring the Viking Age to your location. Examine reproduction Viking artifacts while learning about Longships, mythology and trade. Create your own Viking rune stone, and learn how to play Viking chess (hnefatafl).
Why sit and listen to a lecture about the people and places in the New Sweden Colony when students can become the historical figures from the 1630’s! In this entirely interactive outreach program, the classroom becomes a stage on which students act out the dramatic story of the Colony from rise to fall. Students will also get to explore what life was like for the colonists by analyzing artifacts and creating a log cabin to take home.
Did you know that Minecraft, Candy Crush, Bluetooth technology, Spotify, and Skype are all Swedish inventions? This program gives students a personal glimpse into life in Sweden today. Museum staff will be on hand to introduce Swedish culture, politics, environmental policies, and technology innovations to students. This is a perfect program to pair with a multicultural curriculum.
Explore community and friendship with the American Swedish Historical Museum! Gemenskap means community in Swedish, and during this program, children will learn about Nordic communities through team-building STEAM activities. Participants will play Viking games, make a paper heart craft, repair a fishing net like a Sami village, and build models of the Sara Cultural Center in Sweden, one of the tallest wooden buildings in the world! Discover what it means to be a vän (friend) in Sweden.
This program fits with the 2023 Collaborative Summer Library Program, All Together Now: Todos Juntos Ahora – Kindness/Friendship/Unity
2023 ASHM CSLRP Outreach Flyer_0.pdf601.4 KBIntroduce children to the adventures of Sweden’s favorite storybook hero, Pippi Longstocking. In this fun and interactive program, children will act out Pippi’s antics by becoming “thing finders,” playing Pippi’s games, creating a Dala horse craft.
Celebrate holidays the Swedish way! Even though we may celebrate some of the same holidays in the United States, Swedes have many unique traditions. From Midsommarfest, to Easter, to the Lucia festival before Christmas, children will participate in and discover how Swedish holidays differ from our own.
Kids will create their own traditional Swedish woven paper heart to take home.
Plan a field trip with your class to the Museum. For some lessons, we provide pre-visit and post-visit materials for you to use in the classroom.
Cost: Onsite programs are $5 per student, with a minimum charge of $50. One adult per 10 children is required; additional adults are $10 per person.
Payment is due the day of your visit.
Programs are free of charge to schools in the Philadelphia School District.
Did you know that the Swedes were the first Europeans to settle the Delaware Valley? This program focuses on the founding and legacy of the New Sweden Colony, established in 1638 along the Delaware River. Using Museum collections and hands-on artifacts, children will explore how and why the settlement began, learn more about Swedish relations with local Native Americans, and experience elements of colonial daily life, like making real butter! Discover what traces of the New Sweden Colony remain today in Philadelphia and the surrounding area - perfect for children studying Pennsylvania, New Jersey or Delaware History.
Click here to explore the New Sweden Gallery and map!
Pre-Activity New Sweden Colony194.44 KBCelebrate holidays the Swedish way! Even though we may celebrate some of the same holidays in the United States, Swedes have many unique traditions. From Midsommarfest, to Easter, to the Lucia festival before Christmas, children will participate in and discover how Swedish holidays differ from our own.
The adventures of Sweden’s favorite storybook hero, Pippi Longstocking, come alive at the Museum. Enjoy tales from this beloved children’s series while traveling through the Museum galleries as a “thing-finder”, creating a Dala horse craft, and tasting Pippi’s favorite cookies – pepparkakor.
Participate in a Swedish holiday tradition – the Lucia festival. Lucia, the saint of light, has long been honored on December 13th, the longest night of the year. Children will learn the legend of Lucia, explore Swedish Christmas traditions, and experience the magic of a traditional Lucia procession. Don’t forget your camera!
Take a journey back in time to the age of the Vikings (800-1100 AD). Children will examine a 1,000 year-old sword, dress up in Viking armor, and use hands-on artifacts to discover more about this often misunderstood culture, and how we are still impacted by it today. Highlights include making rune stones and playing Viking chess (hnefatafl).
Pre-Activity Viking Lesson167.11 KBChallenge your navigational skills as you get to know this popular Swedish sport. Participate in an environmental education activity that teaches children how to use a compass and map. Children will take part in a scavenger hunt and record findings in a field journal.
This is an indoor/outdoor program that takes place in the museum and the surrounding Franklin Delano Roosevelt Park.
Pre-Activity Orienteering259.51 KBLearn about Carl Linnaeus and the taxonomic system he created to classify animals and plants. This 90-minute guided program explores how Linnaeus’s work is still used in science today. This indoor/outdoor program utilizes ASHM’s location in FDR park to explore the nature around us, just like explorer Pehr Kalm when he came to North America.
Art connects cultures around the world, and the American Swedish Historical Museum is a perfect place to explore the world of art. The museum was built in 1926 and features 12 galleries highlighting traditional and modern artistic Scandinavian styles. Our Art Exploration program is tailored to students at any level. Youngest children will get an introduction to art through activities in galleries, while older students can dig deeper into art concepts and get more background on Scandinavian artists featured in our gallery. At the conclusion of the program children will get to make their own traditional Swedish folk art to take home! Your group will have exclusive access to the galleries and view one of a kind artworks that link culture and history. From towering ceiling murals to sculpture, glass works, and paintings, ASHM has it all!