(Grades K-5)

To book a program, contact the corresponding department. Our programs meet West Virginia and Ohio Content Standards and Objectives.

Program fees vary, please call for detailed pricing information.

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Team Building

Our educators will present students with a series of challenges that they will have to work together to overcome them. This class promotes communication, cooperation and decision making.

Science & Nature
PROGRAM	GRADE LEVEL	FIELD TRIP	IN SCHOOL	DESCRIPTION
Creature Features	Pre K-1			Identify and engage the five senses on an outdoor expedition. Interactive activities along the trail connect students to the natural world as they listen for birds, smell culinary herbs, and explore the textures and colors of the environment.
Sensory Stroll	Pre K-3			Identify and engage the five senses on an outdoor expedition. Interactive activities along the trail connect students to the natural world as they listen for birds, smell culinary herbs, and explore the textures and colors of the environment.
Alive or Not?	Pre K-3			Categorize different objects as living or non-living. Learn about the characteristics that distinguish living things from non-living things as you interact with live animals and plants.
Smells, Sights & Sounds	Pre K-5			Investigate the keen senses of a wide array of different animals. Meet live snakes, turtles and frogs investigate how they use their senses to survive in the wild.
Sensational Seasons	Pre K-5			Animals and plants adapt to seasonal changes. Depending on the season of your program, we will learn how animals prepare for hibernation, how plants sprout, or how animals migrate. Includes a guest appearance by one of our animal ambassadors!
Symmetry in Nature	K-4			There are patterns in nature! Meet some live animals and then take a nature hike that focuses on the symmetry that is found in many living things.
Creepers and Leapers	K-5			Who has scutes and who wears scales? Live turtles, toads and snakes provide a hands-on introduction to the interesting adaptations of our native amphibians and reptiles. Live animal presentation includes discussion of habitats, ecosystem health, energy flow, and other topics.
Bugs, Frogs & Polliwogs	K-5			Did you know that a dragonfly starts its life crawling around the mucky floor of the pond? Many plants and animals go through various stages throughout their life. Explore and compare life cycles of frogs, turtles, butterflies, dragonflies and more.
Animal Traits	1			Students will investigate the buoyancy of fish and life cycles of frogs, get up close and personal with the reptile world, and appreciate the complexity of building a bird nest.
The Good, the Bad, & the Bug-ly	1-5			Use microscopes and hand lenses to investigate features that all insects have in common. Learn about different families of insects as we explore the butterfly garden and collect live specimens for identification and study. (Seasonal)
The Good, the Bad, & the Bug-ly	1-5			Use microscopes and hand lenses to investigate features that all insects have in common. Learn about different families of insects as we explore the butterfly garden and collect live specimens for identification and study. (Seasonal)
Diverseed-y	2			Seeds dance on the wind, plop to the ground, and stick to your shirt. Experience a plant’s life as you discover the diverse nature of seeds.
Home Stream Home	2-4			Explore the stream behind the nature center and discover an amazingly diverse community. Students will observe, investigate, and identify the plant and animal life of the stream, discovering who calls the stream home.
Owl Prowl	2-5			Learn about owls’ unique adaptations for nocturnal life and dissect an owl pellet to find and identify prey bones that can be taken home with you! Up close study of owl feathers, bones and pictures teach the importance of these animals as top predators.
Plant-tastic	2-5			Flowers, grasses, shrubs and trees are all very important parts of a healthy ecosystem. Learn the basic plant parts with a 3D plant model, discover what they provide to animals, and learn how their amazing life cycles work. Optional activity – flower dissection.
Sugarbush Spring	2-5			Investigate the tools and techniques of maple syrup. Students will explore forest habitat, use techniques of tree identification for Sugar Maple trees, and explore the rich history of maple sugaring. Only available mid-March.
Fly with the Birds	3			Students will examine feathers and nests and learn about form and function in a hands-on activity and game. Take a nature hike with binoculars to observe wild birds in their natural habitat.
The Dirt on Dirt	3-5			Soils are essential to life on Earth! Investigate the properties of different soil types by looking at their particles and how much water they can hold. Learn about the important role soil has for plants, animals, and us!
Pollinator Power	4			Learn about the special relationship between plants and their pollinators. Examine a flower’s form and function, fly through the butterfly garden wearing special “insect eyes,” and take a look at the importance of pollination. Optional activity-flower dissection.
Exploring Ecosystems	4-5			Ecosystems include live plants and animals as well as nonliving components such as soil, air and water. Take a close look at some of West Virginia’s ecosystems, their food webs and how those ecosystems change over time.
Geology Rocks!	4-5			After learning about the basic groups of rocks, investigate fossils that give us clues to the past, and learn about the different types of rocks as you play “Rock Cycle Ruckus” and “Metamorphosis Master,” two geology games that will have you rocking and rolling.
Water ‘Bout That?!	4-5			Take a close look at how water shapes and changes the earth and how humans impact the water cycle. Hands-on activities include chemical water testing, adding pollutants to the 3D Enviroscape, and becoming a drop of water in the water cycle game!
Freshwater Frenzy	5			Take a trip to the stream to explore the aquatic life and learn what its diversity reveals about the biological health of the water and local watershed. Students participate in observation, collection, and identification of fish and macroinvertebrates, as well as abiotic testing of the stream.
Visual Arts
PROGRAM	GRADE LEVEL	FIELD TRIP	IN SCHOOL	DESCRIPTION
Clay Hand Builders	K-5			Discover the different methods used in clay hand building such as pinch, coil and slab construction to create an original 3D sculpture.
Connecting Art, History & Science through Raku	1-5			This program integrates art, science and history through the Japanese pottery form of Raku. Students will learn about Japanese culture, create hand built teacups from clay, observe the Raku firing process and participate in a Japanese Tea Ceremony. Available year-round. Program will be offered in 3 one-hour sessions.
Art Explorers	3-8			Art Explorers is a traveling Art History program that enables schools to choose prints and hands-on art projects from 13 different time periods in art history. All materials such as patterns, tools, inks, clay and more are included with each lesson. Available year-round. OI staff can instruct the program or schools may rent the kit(s).
The Art Experience	4			Students learn how to interpret fine art, identify the elements of art and principles of design and create original work during this 2-hour field trip to the Stifel Fine Arts Center. Program includes a guided tour of the art exhibit on display, gallery game, pottery demonstration and hands-on art projects based on the exhibition on display. Avaialble March – May. $8 per student (limited sponsorship funding is available)
Magic of the Pottery Wheel	4-5			Learn clay techniques such as wheel throwing and hand building. 24 student limit.
Ceramics	4-12			Students will complete the full process of ceramic art creation, use the pottery wheel, engage in trim work and glaze completed work. Program consists of 3 one-hour visits available year-round. $12.75 per student. Maximum of 24 students.
Performing Arts
PROGRAM	GRADE LEVEL	FIELD TRIP	IN SCHOOL	DESCRIPTION
Creative Dramatics	K-3			Children work as a group playing imagination games and then take turns bringing their favorite stories to life. Available September – March.
Elementary School Puppet Show Tour	K-5			Oglebay Institute’s annual Play Tour includes a 40-minute, fast-paced comedy with music, audience participation, lessons and a Q & A session after the show. Shows may be booked Monday-Friday in March and April or by special arrangement. $400
Instant Theatre	4-8			Learn the art of improvisation and how with a simple suggestion a scene or monologue can be made up on the spot. Available September – March.
Dance
PROGRAM	GRADE LEVEL	FIELD TRIP	IN SCHOOL	DESCRIPTION
Discovering Character through Dance and Storytelling	K-2			Through five, 45-minute class sessions, students learn to observe and recognize how movement and dance help resolve conflict and build character. Students learn basic dance and ballet terms and choreography. Students read a ballet story, discuss important elements of the story and create an interactive dance piece to be performed on the last session. Available Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday mornings.
Kid’s Stretch & Flex	K-5			Stress flexibility, muscle development and control using chairs & floor.
Appalachian Dance	K-5			Try some “down home” dancing. Learn basic clogging steps and a short routine set to Appalachian music.
Cosmic Dance: Discovering Dance through Science and Movement	3			Through five, 45-minute class sessions, students will combine science and dance to identify and understand the movement of the planets.  Students will also design a “take home” solar system and enjoy a choreographed dance number. Available in May only.
History
PROGRAM	GRADE LEVEL	FIELD TRIP	IN SCHOOL	DESCRIPTION
Glass Museum Tour	K-5			Tour focuses on the history, products and importance of the Wheeling glass companies. See more than 3,500 pieces of glass and china that were produced locally and experience the excitement of how glass is made and used through a live glassblowing demonstration. Observing the artists at work enhances each student’s Museum experience by broadening understanding of the art: the physics and chemistry of glass, as well as its cultural and historical aspects. (Pre-lesson vocabulary and materials are available.) $5 per student for single museum. $7 per student for both museums.
Hot Glass Roadshow	K-5			Hot Glass Roadshow is a fully operational traveling glassblowing studio complete with propane fired glass furnace. Our glass artist will demonstrate the process of creating art glass from molten form to finished product. Teacher packets including the historical significance of the glass industry, tools and equipment used in glass production and a glassworking vocabulary list are included. Hot Glass Roadshow is available as an assembly program in the fall and spring. $350. Call 304-242-7272 for more information.
Mansion Museum Tour	K-5			While relating the story of Earl Oglebay and the Oglebay family (for whom the Mansion was a second home in which they lived seasonally from 1901-1926), the tour teaches students about life in the Ohio Valley from the era of George Washington to the times of the Titanic. Tour includes the historic Oglebay Mansion, the Wheeling History exhibit, Wymer General Store, and Oglebay family exhibits. $5 per student for single museum. $7 per student for both museums.
Monument Place	1-5			Monument Place, also know as the Osiris Temple in Elm Grove, is the most historic house in Wheeling. Built by Moses and Lydia Shepherd in 1798, the home was visited by six US presidents and other early American dignitaries such as Henry Clay. This Power Point presentation illustrates the history of this grand building.
The National Road	1-5			This Power Point presentation explores the history of America’s first federally funded highway, now Route 40, from its construction by the Shepherd family and its use as a National highway traveled by presidents and people moving westward, as well as its use as a local road today.
The Ohio River	1-5			From its history as a major transportation route during the French and Indian War and its role in founding Wheeling to its use as a highway for industry, the Ohio River is one of the most important features in Wheeling history. This Power Point presentation chronicles the history and stories of the river from steamboats to barges.
Roller Coasters, Fairs and Frolics: Wheeling’s Amusement Parks	1-5			Wheeling boasted several amusement parks, including Wheeling Park, the West Virginia State fairground on Wheeling Island, Mozart Park, and Luna Park, located on an island on the Ohio River that is no longer in existence. All of these featured wooden roller coasters and other rides and amusements. Wheeling Park boasted West Virginia’s first water slide while the state fairgrounds featured the state’s largest swimming pool!  This Power Point presentation features a look at Wheeling’s amusement parks taken from the postcard collection of Ellen Dunable.
Streetcars, Trains and Trolleys: Transportation in Wheeling	1-5			How did people in Wheeling travel before the automobile? This Power Point presentation looks a public transportation in the city from horse-drawn trolleys to trolleys powered by steam and electricity. Wheeling was one of America’s first cities to adopt the electric trolley, and even had its own incline. A history of the B & O Railroad is also featured.