Experiential Workshops

San Diego Children's Discovery Museum offers a wide variety of hands-on, educational group workshops that immerse students in an engaging environment of exploration and experimentation to promote lifelong learning and discovery.  Bring your class, camp, or homeschool group to SDCDM for a one of a kind learning experience!  See below for experiential group workshop options:

Scholarships are available for teachers in San Diego County to bring their class on a field trip to the Museum! Download our Scholarship Application form here.

Garden Senses: Grades K-2

A garden setting is a perfect way to surround your class with the beauty of nature.   Join us as we discover the different ways our brain plays a part in revealing how day to day tasks embark on a journey through our body before we even have to think about it!  Your brain is sending signals all day every day.  Sometimes we need to think about how our body works, while other times we don't.  In this workshop, students will discover how their brain plays a part in their daily lives and the benefits of having a garden at home to promote health.

Owl Pellet Dissection: Grades 3-5

Discover the unique characteristics of raptors. Examine owl and hawk specimens and their adaptations for hunting. Find out what was on the “menu” during a small group dissection of owl pellets.

Spectroscopy Hands-On Workshop: Grades 3-5

Tools like the spectroscope help us see the hidden patterns within the glow of light from the planets. This light carries information about its source and provides hints about the atmospheres that shroud planets in the known galaxy. Although from far away all stars appear to emit the same white light, stars actually give off white, red, orange, yellow and blue light, creating a pattern that contains information about the star. Students make their own spectroscopes and view these patterns to learn how the properties of light help us crack open the secrets of the stars!

Hands-On Earth Science Workshop: Grades 3-5

Earth is constantly changing. Some changes happen over thousands or millions of years; others happen in an instant! Here, students will create stream tables to explore how water slowly changes our landscape and investigate instantaneous changes produced by both volcanic eruptions and earthquakes.

Native California: Grades K-3

Explore the ways that California Indians of the region used materials found in their natural environment to survive, to make a living, to fashion art, and to shape their various cultural identities.

Masks Around the World: Grades PreK-2

Take your class on a journey through varying cultures as they build a mask.  Masks are used in many cultures to represent happiness, sadness, and celebration.  

A la C’Arts’ and Culture: Grades K-4

Students are introduced to the concept of folk art and cultural traditions. They learn about cherished artistic practices and how they have been preserved through generations. They explore an international array of folk arts, such as Chinese lion dances, Mexican papel picado, and Papua New Guinea gope boards. After investigating authentic art objects from the Museum’s collection, students create a craft based on the folk art studied in the lesson. 

For information on pricing or to book your visit, please email education@sdcdm.org or call 760.233.7755 ext. 1002.  A non-refundable deposit of $30.00 is required to reserve the date of your visit.  Please note that this deposit amount will be deducted from your final payment due on the day of your visit.