School Tours

Museum Looks and Picture Books

This program is geared especially for preschool groups with students ages 3–5. Children can explore art through observation, movement, and art making. By experiencing art through play, preschool students develop their independence, imagination, and curiosity. Each session revolves around a theme that includes a picture-book reading and prompts for extended art-making. After the lesson, each class will receive the selected picture book to add to the permanent collection of their school library.

Click here to request a school visit .

Costs

• Preschool visits are $125 per class for private schools.
• Free for School District of Philadelphia, Bright Futures, and Headstart Preschools.

Details

• Class size is limited to 20 students. Groups with more than 20 students must register for 2 classes.
• Please bring no more than one chaperone for every five students. (20 students = 4 chaperones) additional grownups may be charged admission.
• No lunch space available.
• Lessons take place virtually on Wednesdays or in-person on Thursdays and Fridays.

For more information, email schoolprograms@philamuseum.org.

2024 – 2025  Themes

October – November 2024
Theme: Take a Seat
Book: The Truth About The Couch by Adam Rubin
Museum Tour: Furniture
Art Project: Design a chair

December 2023 – January 2025
Theme: Tea Time
Book: Luli & The Language of Tea by Andrea Wang
Tour: Tea sets, Tea House, Dishes
Art Project: Create your own tea cup

February – March 2025
Theme: Color Everywhere!
Book: Oh, Olive! By Lian Cho
Museum Tour: Ellsworth Kelly & Action paintings
Art Project: Action Art

April – May 2025
Theme: Plenty of Patterns
Book: Look by Gabi Snyder
Museum Tour: Patterns in the Gallery
Art Project: Personal Patterns

June 2025
Theme: Wet and Wild
Book: Our Pool by Lucy Ruth Cummins
Museum Tour: Water in Art
Art Project: Watercolor Painting

Click here to book a school tour

For more information or for help booking your tour, please email schoolprograms@philamuseum.org.

The museum’s K-12 programs inspire curiosity and, promote creativity through close-looking, conversation, and gallery activities.

Working individually or in groups, students will practice observation, critical thinking, problem solving, and literacy skills. All K-12 tours meet Common Core Academic and National Visual Arts standards while providing an inclusive environment for diverse learners.

View Standards Alignment For School Tours

Lesson Length

• Grades K–3
  • 60 minutes
  • Visit 3-4 artworks
• Grades 4-12
  • 90 minutes unless otherwise noted
  • Visit 4-6 artworks

Fees

• Guided Tour Fees (only for guided tours)
  • $180 lesson fee per guided tour (30 students maximum)
    • Maximum tour size is 30 students. If your group is greater than 30, book an additional tour ($180)
  • Maximum group size is 90 students per school per day. Student admission is included in the lesson fee.
  • One adult is required per 10 students. Admission for the required number of chaperones is free; each additional adult is $28
  • Free for School District of Philadelphia and Tri-State area Title I schools. Please limit chaperones to a maximum of two per 10 students. Each additional adult is $28
• Self-Guided Tour Fees (Grades 6-12 only)
  • Students 18-and-under are free
  • Each accompanying adult is $28
  • One adult is required per 10 students
  • The maximum group size is 90 students per school per day
  • 2 chaperones per 10 students are free for School District of Philadelphia and Tri-State area Title I schools; each additional adult is $28

Details

• Reservations are required 3 weeks in advance
• The museum is open to school groups on Mondays, Thursdays, and Fridays starting at 10:00 a.m.
• Lunch:
  • Lunch space MUST be reserved.
  • Due to capacity, school groups are not allowed in the Café.
  • The museum provides storage for brown bag lunches
  • Groups interested in purchasing lunch MUST order in advance by contacting schoolprograms@philamuseum.org

All school groups arrive at the North Entrance of the museum. Our staff will be there to greet you and direct bus drivers to free parking.

Students are welcome to explore the museum in chaperoned groups after their tour.

Click here to book a school tour

Use this list to select the topic that is the best fit for your group.

View Standards Alignment For School Tours

For more information or for help booking your tour, please email schoolprograms@philamuseum.org.

First Trip to the Museum
New to the museum? These tours explore highlights from our collection while introducing learners to our close-looking and inquiry-based approach to art.

• Around the World (Grades K–12)
  Travel around the world with art as your guide! Students explore the work of several cultures while touring our galleries and period rooms. Tell us the region you are studying, and we’ll make sure to visit a related gallery.
• Learning to Look (Grades K–12)
  How can we learn to see more when we look at art? Through activities centered around noticing, describing, imagining, and responding, this lesson invites students to become stronger observers—of art and the surrounding world.
  • When booking this tour, let us know if you would like to focus on one of the following: how art tells stories, critical and creative thinking skills, or the differences between landscape, portrait, and still life.

Exploring Art in Depth
Interested in a deeper look at art? These popular lessons invite students to explore our collection through a more focused lens.

• Art of Asia (Grades 4–12)
  From architecture to objects, religious temples to contemporary design, this tour explores the art of several Asian countries. Students can take a general tour of art from Asia—including China, India, and Japan—or focus on a specific country.
• Art Speaks! (Grade 4, School District of Philadelphia only)
  Sometimes when art speaks, we want to speak back! This tour is specifically designed to help students in grade 4 practice literacy skills while exploring art at the museum and in the classroom. Students use a variety of language arts skills (such as comparing, describing, interpreting, and expressing opinions) as they share their observations and ideas about works of art. Before each visit, teachers can opt to have a museum educator visit their classroom virtually to introduce students to Art Speaks and the museum.
  • Each class receives:
    • A teaching booklet with literacy-based pre- and post-visit activities
  • Image cards to use in the classroom
  • A flash drive with printable worksheets
  • A classroom presentation of the images with looking questions.

Thanks to generous funding, admission to the museum and busing are free for Art Speaks school groups this school year.

Art Speaks is made possible by William Randolph Hearst Foundation. Support for the museum’s School and Teacher Programs that serve all K through 12 students and educators is provided by The Anne M. and Philip H. Glatfelter, III Family Foundation, Dolfinger-McMahon Foundation, The Pincus Family Foundation, and TD Charitable Foundation.

• Black Art, Black Voices (Grades K–12)
  This tour focuses on the art, experiences, and perspectives of Black artists in the collection. From portraits to landscapes, to sculpture and design, how have Black artists used various media to reflect on history, aesthetics, identity, and the world?
• Exploring Identity through Art (Grades 4–12)
  How can art be used to explore identity, whether that of the artists or of ourselves? Through lenses such as race, class, gender, or sexuality, this lesson invites students to reflect on all that makes people who they are.
  • When booking this tour, let us know if you would like to focus on a particular aspect of identity.
• Mixed Media and Perspectives (Grades K–12)
  What materials come to mind when you think of art? The objects on this tour feature a wide range of media—from wood and clay to chairs or even fruit—by artists who use unexpected forms to explore new and unexpected ideas.

Curriculum Connections
One of our favorite things about art is the way it can enrich the entire curriculum. Whether you’re a language arts teacher interested in how painting might inspire poetry, or a STEAM instructor turning to sculpture for a conversation about balance and design, these lessons are perfect for educators looking to make connections across subject areas.

• European Art History (Grades 4–12)
  From Renaissance iconography to Impressionist landscapes and modern assemblage, these tours introduce students to the art of Medieval Europe through the Global 21st Century.
  • When booking this tour, let us know if you would like to focus on one of the following eras: Medieval, Renaissance, Baroque, Impressionism, or Global Modern and Contemporary Art
• Language and Literature (Grades 4–12)
  How does art inspire language and vice versa? These lessons focus on the ever-expanding relationship between text and image.
  • Art and Language Arts
    In this lesson, students use a variety of language arts skills (such as comparing, describing, interpreting, and expressing opinions) as they share their observations and ideas about works of art. Activities might include writing poetry, generating narrative, or even drafting hip-hop lyrics.
  • Greek and Roman Mythology
    At the museum, references to Greek and Roman myth abound! Students will explore these ancient and captivating stories as retold by artists from medieval Europe to the present day.
• Social Studies (Grades 4–12)
  What can art tell us about societies present and past? These tours explore history, civics, and culture through the lens of art.
  • Resistance and Resilience in United States History
    On this tour, students will use art to activate untold stories from the history of the United States. They will hone historical thinking skills while analyzing objects that represent multiple perspectives.
  • Arms and Armor
    Learn about the history, development, and craft of armor-making. Students will have the opportunity to handle and even try on armor as they explore how it might have felt to be a knight!
• STEAM (Grades 4–12)
  How is being an artist like being a scientist or a mathematician? Students on this tour will practice core Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math (STEAM) skills, studying objects in the collection to learn how artists create innovative solutions to complex problems.
• World Languages (Grades 4–12) (60 Minutes)
  These tours are designed for language classes looking to expand their understanding of related cultures through art.
  • Art of the Spanish Speaking World
    From colonial Mexico to twentieth-century Spain, this tour focuses on the art of Spanish-speaking cultures.
  • French Art
    A medieval cloister, a Louis XVI salon, an Impressionist painting, and twentieth-century sculpture are just some of the possible stops on this tour of art from France.

Click here to book a school tour

For more information or for help booking your tour, please email schoolprograms@philamuseum.org.

The Time is Always Now (November 2024 – February 2025)

This tour invites students into our special exhibition The Time Is Always Now: Artists Reframe the Black Figure. Featuring paintings, drawings, and sculpture by contemporary artists from around the world, including Kerry James Marshall and Amy Sherald, the show celebrates the complexity and richness of Black life through figuration. Depending on grade level, students will explore the exhibition’s main themes—from Double Consciousness to Our Aliveness—all while engaging in close-looking and discussion-based activities.

On the days the tour is offered, the exhibition will be open to school groups only. In other words, along with their museum educators, students and teachers will have the galleries to themselves!

Key information:

• Tours are available on the following Tuesdays and Wednesdays:
  • November 12, 13, 19, 20
  • December 3, 4, 10, 11, 17, 18
  • January 7, 8, 14, 15, 21, 22, 28, 29
  • February 4, 5
• Tour Times:
  • 9-10:30am, 10:30-12:00pm, 12:00-1:30pm
  • Each 90 minute timeslot includes an hour tour with a museum educator and 30 minutes for your group to explore the exhibition on your own.
• Grade level: K-12
• The museum is closed to the public on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Groups that visit on those days will not be able to tour outside the exhibition or eat lunch in the museum.
• Guided Tour Fees
  • $180 lesson fee per guided tour (30 students maximum)
  • Maximum tour size is 30 students. If your group is greater than 30, book an additional tour ($180).
  • Maximum group size is 90 students per school per day. Student admission is included in the lesson fee
  • One adult admission per 10 students is free; each additional adult is $28
  • School District of Philadelphia and Title I: Please contact schoolprograms@philamuseum.org or 215-684-7608 for FREE tour and bus.

Use our post-visit resources to help your students reflect on their museum experience when they return to school.

In addition to the below activity sheets, here are some fun ways to encourage your class to reflect on their museum visit:

• Invite students to record their impressions from the museum in a journal using words and/or images.
• Send students’ responses, in the form of drawings or letters, to the Division of Learning and Engagement, Philadelphia Museum of Art, 2600 Benjamin Franklin Parkway, Philadelphia, PA, 19130
• Review the ”When I visit the Museum, I want to…” activity sheet from the Pre-Visit Resources section above to see which predictions were true and what new ideas students came away with.
• Create a class mural by passing around a large sheet of paper where students can write or sketch what stands out from the museum visit.
• Invite students to research any issues or questions that came up during their tour.