School Programs

At the Museum

  • Available Tuesday thru Friday
  • 90 minutes to 2 hours in length, depending upon age of students

In your classroom

  • Available Tuesday thru Friday
  • 45 minutes or length of class period

To schedule school programs please fill out our inquiry form by clicking the button below.

School Programs We Currently Offer

A Home Away From Home
1st grade

  • At Macculloch Hall Historical Museum only
  • 90 minute program
  • Visit the kitchen and drawing room at Macculloch Hall
  • Tour the restored garden
  • Learn what Mr. Macculloch grew on his farm
  • Make a decorated cardboard grandfather clock
  • Hear about family traditions from Great Britain and the American holidays celebrated by the Macculloch family.

Meets the following New Jersey Student Learning Standards:

6.1.2.GeoHE.1, 6.1.2.GeoHE.2, 6.1.2.GeoHE.4, 6.1.2.GeoGI.1, 6.1.2.HistoryCC.1, 6.1.2.HistoryCC.3, 6.1.2.HistorySE.3


Lessons from the Garden
2nd-3rd grade

  • At Macculloch Hall Historical Museum only
  • 2 hour program
  • Visit the restored historic garden
  • Discuss the plant cycle, including plant parts and their purposes
  • Learn about repurposing and recycling in the 19th century
  • Examine soil types while preparing soil for planting bean seeds to take home
  • Learn about vermicomposting and handle earthworms to understand their purpose in creating rich soil
  • Participate in a garden scavenger hunt
  • Program runs rain or shine

Meets the following New Jersey Student Learning Standards:

6.1.2.GeoPP.1, 6.1.2.GeoHE.1, 6.1.2.GeoHE.2, 6.1.2.GeoGI.1, 6.1.2.EconET.2, 6.1.2.EconEM.3, 6.1.2.HistoryCC.3, 6.1.5.GeoPP.2, 6.1.5.EconET.3, 6.1.5.EconEM.5, 6.1.5.HistoryCC.9


Meeting Mr. Macculloch
2nd-4th grade

  • At Macculloch Hall or in your classroom
  • 45-60 minute program
  • Introductory PowerPoint about the Macculloch family, Macculloch Hall and the use of primary sources
  • Discuss the contents of a letter Mr. Macculloch wrote to his son and what we can learn about life in New Jersey in the early 1800s.
  • Try using a dipping pen and washable ink to copy a letter written by Mr. Macculloch.
  • Examine objects from the 1800s.
  • Students receive a complimentary ticket to visit Macculloch Hall with their family.

Meets the following New Jersey Student Learning Standards:

6.1.2.CivicsCM.1, 6.1.2.GeoHE.1, 6.1.2.GeoHE.2, 6.1.2.HistoryCC.2, 6.1.2.HistoryCC.3, 6.1.5.CivicsCM.5, 6.1.5.GeoPP.2, 6.1.5,GeoHE.2, 6.1.5.HistoryCC.9, 6.1.5.HistoryUP.6


Building the Morris Canal
4th-5th grade

  • At Macculloch Hall or in your classroom
  • 45-60 minute program
  • Introductory PowerPoint about George Macculloch, the “father of the Morris Canal” and why New Jersey needed a canal
  • Discuss how primary sources can provide information
  • Use 19th century photos to learn about the Morris Canal and what life was like living on the canal
  • Build a floor map-model that follows the route of the Morris Canal
  • Examine objects from the 1800s
  • Students receive a complimentary ticket to visit Macculloch Hall with their family.

Meets the following New Jersey Student Learning Standards:

6.1.5.CivicsCM.1, 6.1.5.CivicsCM.3, 6.1.5.CivicsCM.5, 6.1.5.GeoPP.2, 6.1.5.GeoSV.2, 6.1.5.GeoHE.2, 6.1.5.GeoGI.2, 6.1.5.EconET.1, 6.1.5.EconEM.4, 6.1.5.EconNM.3, 6.1.5.EconNM.4, 6.1.5.HistoryCC.1, 6.1.5.HistoryCC.9

Meet the Press: NY Civil War Weekly Newspapers
5th-11th grade

  • At Macculloch Hall or in your classroom
  • 45-60 minute program
  • Introductory PowerPoint about the role of illustrated newspapers in the 1850s.
  • Students work on teams to design a front page for an 1862 newspaper selecting images and creating headlines to capture the interest of their audience.
  • Learn more about the life of Thomas Nast (1840-1902) who Lincoln called his “best recruiting sergeant” for the Union.
  • Students receive a complimentary ticket to visit Macculloch Hall.

Meets the following New Jersey Student Learning Standards:

6.1.5.GeoPP.1, 6.1.5.GeoSV.1, 6.1.5.EconGE.1, 6.1.5.HistoryCC.2, 6.1.5.HistoryUP.6, 6.1.5.HistorySE.2, 6.1.8.HistoryCC.5.b, 6.1.8.HistoryCC.5.c, 6.1.8.HistoryCC.5.g, 6.1.12.GeoSV.4.a, 6.1.12.HistoryCC.3.a, 6.1.12.EconNE.3.a


A Call to Arms
5th-11th grade

  • At Macculloch Hall or in your classroom
  • 45-60 minute program
  • Introductory PowerPoint about Lincoln’s Call to Arms and Lindley Miller’s (1834-1864) actions during the Civil War. This includes an examination of Thomas Nast’s painting “The Departure of the Seventh Regiment to the War”.
  • Students use primary source “Witness to History” cards to discover differing viewpoints (Northerners, Southerners, and residents of Washington, D.C.) in the dawning days of the Civil War
  • Students receive a complimentary ticket to visit Macculloch Hall.

Meets the following New Jersey Student Learning Standards:

6.1.5.HistoryCC.2, 6.1.5.HistoryUP.5, 6.1.5.HistoryUP.6, 6.1.8.HistoryCC.5.a, 6.1.8.HistoryCC.5.b, 6.1.8.HistoryCC.5.g, 6.1.12.CivicsPR.4.a, 6.1.12.HistoryUP.4.b


Capturing the Slave Ship Erie
5th-11th grade

  • At Macculloch Hall or in your classroom
  • 45-60 minute program
  • Introductory PowerPoint about the United States’ African Squadron and the patrol of the west coast of Africa.
  • Learn about the events of August 8, 1860 when Henry Miller on board S.S. Mohican assisted in freeing nearly 900 would-be slaves in route to America.
  • Examine primary sources to learn about the trial of the Erie’s Captain Nathaniel Gordon.
  • Students receive a complimentary ticket to visit Macculloch Hall.

Meets the following New Jersey Student Learning Standards:

6.1.5.CivicsHR.3, 6.1.5.GeoPP.6, 6.1.5.GeoSV.1, 6.1.5.GeoSV.2, 6.1.5.GeoGI.1, 6.1.5.HistoryCC.7, 6.1.5.HistoryUP.6, 6.1.8.CivicsHR.3.b, 6.1.8.HistoryCC.4.b, 6.1.8.HistoryCC.4.a, 6.1.12.HistoryUP.3.b, 6.1.12.CivicsPR.4.a