Outreach Programs

Meet Istar the whale!

The Children's Museum & Theatre of Maine can come to you! Outreach programs and performances bring the Museum & Theatre's resources and expertise directly to your school.

The cost for an outreach program is $100 per program (exceptions noted in blue), plus mileage. There is a two program minimum beyond 10 miles and a three program minimum beyond 25 miles of the Museum & Theatre. Programs can accomodate a maximum of 60 students unless otherwise noted.

Reservations: To book an Outreach Program please begin by clicking the link below to submit your program request. A staff member will contact you to confirm your program and process payment.
Please note: We frequently revise our school programs to ensure a high quality experience for students and educators. If you have booked a program in the past and you want to be sure that specific features are still included, please discuss your expectations with our staff at the time of booking.

Click here to complete an online Outreach Program request form.
^∗FMI call 207-828-1234 x232 or email .

Theatre Performances:

Across the Wide and Lonesome Prairie
($400 for one performance/$600 for two performances)
Follow friends Hattie Campbell and Pepper Lewis as they travel with their parents from Missouri to Oregon along the Oregon Trail in 1847. This historic, two-character play celebrates the fragility of life and the resilience of the human spirit. Recommended for ages 6 and up.
Download a printable flyer with information about this production.
This program requires a performance space such as an auditorium, multi-purpose room or cafeteria; number of students each show accomodates is dependent on the capacity of the performance space.
^∗MLR: Time, Continuity & Change, Aesthetics & Criticism, Historical Inquiry, Analysis & Interpretation

The Kids on the Block©
Meet our troupe of life-size educational puppets with real stories just like real kids! ©The Kids on the Block is a nation-wide program using Bunraku puppetry as a way to break down boundaries and accept individual differences. Our troupe consists of middle school and high school volunteers and nine puppets.
^∗MLR: Interpersonal Skills, Aesthetics & Criticism

Outreach Programs:

Animal Adaptations and Communications
Learn how a variety of animals communicate and adapt to their environment while investigating artifacts like porcupine quills, fur samples and bird songs. Explore animal evidence through scat and track replicas.
^∗MLR: Biodiversity, Ecosystems

Beaver Adaptations
Explore beaver artifacts including fur, feet, skull and tail. "Become" a beaver by dressing up with specific equipment demonstrating how beavers adapt to aquatic life.
^∗MLR: Constancy & Change, Ecosystems

Birds In Flight
Learn bird songs, explore bird beaks, skulls and egg replicas and discover the challenges of migration and flight.
^∗MLR: Biodiversity, Evolution, Models

Celebrate Asia
Explore the cultural traditions and daily lives of multiple families in Asia. Choose either Japan, Cambodia or China to learn how a featured family from that country celebrates the New Year.
^∗MLR: Cultural Customs & Beliefs, Historical Knowledge, Concepts and Patterns

Children in Japan
Learn about growing up in Japan! Play popular games such as Wanage and Bee-dama, celebrate Children's Day with colorful streamers and try writing in Japanese. You might discover surprising similarities between your life and the life of a child in Japan!
^∗MLR: Individual, Cultural, International & Global Connections in Geography

Dinosaurs
Journey through prehistoric eras and learn about dinosaur characteristics and adaptations through life-size bone, scat, scale and egg replicas.
^∗MLR: Evolution

The Five Senses
Explore the human body's five senses through sensory and problem-solving activities. Challenge your senses to find out who in your group is a "super-taster!"
^∗MLR: Skills & Traits of Scientific Inquiry

Marine Mammals
Discover the whales, dolphins, porpoises and seals that inhabit the Gulf of Maine and explore their many adaptations. Investigate artifacts including baleen and bones and experiment with a "blubber mitt."
^∗MLR: Biodiversity, Models, Scale

Owl Adaptations
Explore owl skulls, talons, eggs and more to learn about owls from Maine and away. Take part in games illustrating how these raptors survive and thrive in the food web.
^∗MLR: Biodiversity, Ecosystems

Reptiles & Amphibians
Explore what makes reptiles and amphibians similar and different. Investigate reptile and amphibian life cycles and learn how their unique adaptations contribute to their survival.
^∗MLR: Biodiversity, Ecosystems

Rock Cycle
Learn about sedimentary, metamorphic and igneous rocks through an up close inspection of our collection, and recreate the rock cycle using everyday materials.
^∗MLR: Matter & Energy, Constancy & Change

Simple Machines
Explore the physics of six simple machines through hands-on models and real examples. Learn how machines make "work" easier in daily life.
^∗MLR: Design, Force & Motion, Models

StarLab
($125)
This planetarium presents the wonders of the night sky. The domed StarLab allows students to explore the constellations and learn stories and facts behind the stars. Choose between Greek, Diné/Navajo or Chinese.
Maximum: 40 students (two groups of 20)
^∗MLR: Stars, Night Sky

The Story of Istar
($150)
Meet Istar, a humpback whale from the Atlantic Ocean. Go inside a 45 foot, life-size replica of Istar and explore artifacts to learn about humpback whales and the story of this ocean mammal.
This program requires a large space such as a gymnasium or cafeteria. Istar can be inflated outdoors, but the interior cannot be accessed during outdoor use.
^∗MLR: Models, Scale

Take the Stage
Use theatre in the classroom to inspire confidence, teamwork and problem solving skills! We will guide students through the play-making process with familiar stories and improvisational theatre games. Choose from one of our familiar stories (The Three Little Pigs, Goldilocks and the Three Bears or Caps for Sale) or send us a story from your curriculum to have the program tailored to you!
^∗MLR: Movement, Character Improvisation

Teeth & Skulls
Compare over ten skull replicas from a variety of Maine animals to discover what skulls reveal about creatures' hunting and survival techniques.
^∗MLR: Biodiversity, Skills & Traits of Scientific Inquiry

Tree Ecosystems
Learn about the forest and its trees with artifacts from the Maine woods. Discover tree adaptation, its role in the forest and the many living things that make up the forest ecosystem.
^∗MLR: Biodiversity, Ecosystems

Where Science Meets Art
Explore and examine the world through art and science. Choose from one of three topics: perspective and optics, color and chemistry or patterns and designs found in nature.
^∗MLR: Elements of Art & Principles of Design, The Arts & History & World Cultures, Science, Technology & Society

Winter Survival
There is more to winter than hibernation! Learn about habitats and special adaptations that creatures use to survive the long winter season in Maine, and explore many different fur samples from Maine animals.
^∗MLR: Adaptations, Seasons, Local Environments