School Tours and Programs

Bring your class to the Museum of Industry and explore how work and industry have shaped life in Nova Scotia—from early settlement to the computer age. Our exhibits and artifacts help students see how technology and innovation have changed how people live and work.

Each program blends hands-on activities, crafts, and real artifacts to make learning active and engaging. Students can explore, ask questions, and discover answers as they connect the past with the world around them today.

Programs are led by friendly, knowledgeable museum staff and volunteers. All sessions support Nova Scotia curriculum outcomes and can be tailored to suit different grades and learning needs. Self-guided and specialized tours are also available year-round.

To plan your visit, check out our Planning Your School Visit resources or contact us directly. Once your booking is confirmed, you’ll receive an Educator’s Guide to the Museum of Industry with pre-visit materials.

The Museum of Industry is part of the Nova Scotia Museum family, where sites across the province offer unique school programs and learning opportunities.

For Teachers

Booking Programs:

All programs are booked on a first come, first served basis. Bookings can be made for the time and date that best meets your needs. To reserve your program, please call 902-928-3657 or email [email protected].

Group Size:

Tours and programs can accommodate two classes, or a total of 60 students. To arrange for larger student groups, please call 902-928-3657 or email [email protected]

Admission Payment:

The cost for each program is $3.85 per student (tax included). Payment can be made by cash, cheque or credit card.

Chaperones:

1 chaperone for every 5 students
Extra chaperones $3.85
Teaching assistants for students with special needs and the bus driver will be admitted free.

The role of teachers and chaperones is explained on school program page. Teachers and chaperones must stay with the group of students assigned to them at all times. Teachers and chaperones are responsible for the safety and behaviour of students during their visit.

Lunch:

Lunch space for students may be available by prior arrangement. Please inquire about availability at the time of booking. In good weather, picnic tables are available on the museum grounds. Students should bring lunches that do not require refrigeration or heating.

What to Expect:

Prior to your visit

Confirmation of school program booking, date and time will be forwarded by e-mail, along with a Teacher’s Guide to Tours and Programs and post-visit activities.
Teachers should divide students into small groups, as indicated by the pre-visit information, prior to arrival.
If possible, students should eat recess snacks on the bus, prior to arrival.

On Arrival

You will be met on arrival by Museum staff and volunteers, who will conduct your program or tour.
Coats, backpacks and lunches should be left in the coatroom located along the left wall of the reception desk.
Students should not enter the Museum Shop prior to the start of the program.

School Programs

Train Time (Gr. P-1)

The Train Time program introduces young children to the Museum as part of our community. Through play on our Kids’ Train, a tour of our galleries, and stories, children experience the Museum as a place that tells us about who we are, what we do, and how we make things.

Train Time (Gr. P-1)

Pioneers: Life Before Steam (Gr. 2)

In this popular program, kids learn about how things were made in pre-industrial Nova Scotia as they make their own traditional crafts. The printing press is featured as an example of technology used in early 19th century Nova Scotia. Students also accompany a Museum interpreter on a tour of the pre-industrial exhibits and use interactive displays to learn about the use of hand tools, simple machines, and water power in manufacturing products.

Pioneers: Life Before Steam (Gr. 2)

Structures (Grade 3)

Give your students a strong foundation and build their interest in science with the Structures program. The program, led by Museum interpreters, is designed to support Grade 3 Science curriculum outcomes for the Materials and Structures unit. During the program, students engage in activities that explore how shape, and the forces of compression, tension and gravity act on structures.

Structures (Grade 3)

Simple Machines (Gr. 5)

Lift, move, power, connect and shape. The program, led by Museum interpreters, is designed to support Grade 5 Science curriculum outcomes for the Forces and Simple Machines unit. Students review the six types of simple machines, and engage in discovery activities using levers to understand how simple machines make work easier through mechanical advantage.

Simple Machines (Gr. 5)

Electricity (Gr. 6)

A great supplement for units on Electricity. The program, led by Museum interpreters, is designed to support Grade 6 Science curriculum outcomes. The program uses hands-on activities build skills like investigation, construction and testing, and to answer questions about what electricity is, where it comes from, and how we use it.

Electricity (Gr. 6)

Christmas Pioneers (Gr. 2-6)

Discover what Christmas was like for children of the past. Before big-box stores and on-line shopping, home-made toys and simple gifts expressed the spirit of the season. Crafts, stories and candy canes melting on the tongue will transport students two hundred years back in time.

Christmas Pioneers (Gr. 2-6)

Remembering Black Loyalists (Gr. 7)

Students follow the footsteps of Black Loyalists as they make the epic journey from slavery to freedom. The program begins with a survey of the origins of the Black Loyalists, their experience of slavery, and their arrival in Nova Scotia. Students are then divided into small groups to examine real artefacts and draw conclusions about the daily life of Black Loyalists in the late 1700s.

Remembering Black Loyalists (Gr. 7)

School Tours (P-12)

A guided tour of the Museum of Industry brings Nova Scotia’s working history to life. Led by our staff and volunteers, students’ journey through time—from early grist mills and the Age of Steam to the arrival of electricity and the service industry. Along the way, they’ll explore how work, technology, and how everyday life have evolved.

School Tours (P-12)

Child Labour (Gr. 7)

Punch in for your first shift at the Museum of Industry and discover the roles children have played in the workforce since the 1880's. The shift boss will orient the students to their first day at work in a factory during the Industrial Revolution. Students are then guided through the Museum exhibits to discover how children have participated in the Nova Scotia labour force, from pioneer settlement to the computer age. Students discuss themes of economic empowerment and the conditions of everyday life for workers in the 19th and 20th centuries, and record their learning by completing a questionnaire.

Child Labour (Gr. 7)