Hands On History Days

Hands on History Days

Civil War History Days

Civil War Days

Grades: 3rd through 12th

2024 Dates
Tuesday, April 30, Wednesday, May 1
Thursday, May 2, Friday, May 3
Rain or Shine

Space is limited, so reserve a spot for your class now! To register, visit our new Wix site.

Cost is $10 per student; 1 complimentary chaperone for 10 paid students (ex. 100 students = 10 complimentary chaperones); additional adults cost $8.

This award-winning educational event is specially designed to meet the curriculum standards for students in grades 5th through High School. Midway Village Museum’s campus makes this an exceptional field trip destination with more than 25 historic buildings and from 30 to 40 different living history sites offered each day. Groups will visit the sites that they choose.

The program is open to public, private or home schools from northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin. In 2018, more than 6,000 students participated in this program. Space is limited and advance registration and payment is required.

You can download a packet of suggested pre-, during- and post-lessons and activities here. The file is divided into two parts to help with the download:

Examples of sites that students can visit:

  • Meet famous people - President & Mrs. Lincoln, Frederick Douglass, Clara Barton, General U. S. Grant and many others
  • Experience being a soldier, including marching and drilling
  • Learn Civil War era artillery drills
  • Talk to soldiers from both the North and the South
  • Learn about lady’s fashion of the 1860s
  • Square dance in a barn hayloft
  • Sing along to popular music of the times
  • Visit the 1850s Barn to learn about the Underground Railroad
  • Experience school lessons in a one room schoolhouse
  • Learn about the art of blacksmithing
  • Meet lady spies for both the North and the South
  • Learn about Civil War doctors and medicine
  • Meet women soldiers

Cost is $10 per student; 1 complimentary chaperone for 10 paid students (ex. 100 students = 10 complimentary chaperones); additional adults $8.

Questions? Please contact our Museum Educator, Kendall Clair, at 815-397-9112, ext. 106 or email her at kendall.clair@midwayvillage.com.

World War II Days

World War II Days

Grades: 3rd through 12th

Friday, September 27, 2024

Space is limited, so reserve a spot for your class now! To register, visit our new Wix site.

This educational event takes place on the Friday before the popular WWII Days event at Midway Village.

Students will be able to take a self-guided tour of some of the highlights of the weekend as the reenactors are setting up in the Village and the camps in the woods.

Students will be able to:

  • Meet and talk with soldiers from the Allied and Axis sides of the war in their campsites
  • Tour behind the lines operations in an authentic German headquarters
  • Learn about Homefront activities that aided the war
  • Learn about the types of vehicles used during the war
  • And more!

Cost: $10/student; $8/adult. 1 complimentary adult for every 10 students.

(ex. 200 adults = 20 free adults).

*Standards addressed may vary slightly, depending on the sites you choose to visit*

For assistance, please contact our Museum Educator, Kendall Clair, at 815-397-9112, ext. 106 or email her at kendall.clair@midwayvillage.com.


Educational Standards

To view how Midway's programs meet state educational standards, download our 15-page Illinois State Standards overview in PDF format. To see how they meet National Social Studies Curriculum Standards 2, 3 & 4, download our 3-page Program Education Standards guide in PDF format. For more information, please contact Kendall Clair, our Museum Educator. You can reach her by email at kendall.clair@midwayvillage.com or by phone, (815) 397-9112, ext. 106.

Program Education Standards