When I Was a Kid
A lesson placing students in the shoes of Minnesota children growing up in the Great Depression.
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Overview
About Minnesota History Center
The museum offers active discovery experiences alongside access to extensive collections, a research library, museum shops, and event rental spaces.
Made for
- The History Center hosts exhibits, programs, live performances and discovery activities.
- The site includes several exhibits plus a library, shops and dining.
- Exhibits suit all ages, with active discovery for children and cultural explorations.
- One exhibit presents 25 objects drawn from MNHS collections.
- An exhibit shares Minnesota Native communities' stories in their own words, experiences and perspectives.
- Youth groups get a staff introduction followed by self-guided time in the exhibits.
- School groups get an educational visit with hands-on activities.
- A generation exhibit includes a C-47 combat flight on D-Day and a 1930s soda fountain counter.
- A weather exhibit lets visitors experience the 1965 Fridley tornado in a basement and learn about the Minneapolis Weatherball.
- A hands-on Minnesota history exhibit includes a tipi, a sod home, a street car and a fur post.
The packages
Native Americans and the Fur Trade
Students learn the roles of people who lived and worked in the fur trade, using artifacts and images.
Dakota Wakanyeza / Dakota Children
Students use storytelling, role-play and artifact analysis to explore Dakota children's lives around 1860 and today.
They Chose Minnesota
Students examine factors influencing immigration to the state and look at trunks holding cherished family objects.
Minnesota’s State Symbols
Students learn the stories of official state symbols through a quiz show and the process of creating one.
Summer Programming: Historic Games
Children play Great Depression-era games in a 25-minute outdoor program for school aged care groups.
Event experiences
- A museum store sells Minnesota-inspired products, gifts, jewelry and books, including MNHS Press titles.
- Cafe Minnesota offers a meal or snack during a visit.
- Cafe Minnesota menus change weekly with sandwiches, wraps, subs and snacks.
- Cafe drinks include coffees, blended drinks and smoothies, alongside a daily salad bar and soups.
- Special events staff assist from start to finish, whether an event is black tie or casual.
- The Whitney and Elizabeth MacMillan Education Center offers meeting, program and event space.
- Students may add classroom lessons to museum visits, using documents, photos and objects.
How it works
Request a field trip
Field trip booking requests are submitted via the request form.
Billing and cancellation
Field trip payment is not accepted on the day of the visit.
Good to know
- The Gale Family Library offers on-site research by appointment, and distance services are available.
- Building visitors, members and the public may use the parking lot when spaces are available, entering from Kellogg Boulevard.
- Visitors need a ticket unless stated otherwise.
- Cancellations are not refunded, except day camps requested up to 3 weeks ahead and education workshops requested up to 24 hours ahead.
- Online sales for programs and events end two hours before they start.
- Each person on a multi-ticket order must show a separate ticket for admission.
- School groups on field trips cannot use vending machines, refrigerators or microwaves.
- Group lunch needs a reservation because space is limited.
- Outdoor lunch space for school groups opens beginning mid-April, weather permitting.
- Lunch periods last 25 minutes and run on weekdays only.
Details from mnhs.org