School Tours

Building Curiosity Through Experience

Field trips at the Chippewa Valley Museum bring students face to face with cultures, artifacts, and ideas that have been important in the Chippewa Valley going back to the 1650’s. During their adventures in history your class will enjoy award-winning exhibits designed to encourage participation, critical thinking, and cooperative learning.

Our Museum Educator will help put together a plan to meet your timeline and goals, and your in museum experience will be led by museum-trained guides. Areas of focus can include:

Changing Currents: Reinventing the Chippewa Valley
 - a journey through six different periods beginning in the 1600s with the fur trade and continuing over the next few centuries up to the now. Changing Currents highlights immigration, economy, and change in the valley.

Farm Life: A Century of Change for Farm Families and Their Neighbors - a 5,000 square foot exhibit exploring dairying, field work, home production of food and fiber, rural gathering places, and rural life. Students explore over 100 years of farming, and what it has meant to the region.

History Quest - a hands-on exhibit for young history detectives with three different zones to investigate called "Let's Eat", "All Dressed", and "At Home," plus a history lab to practice the skills of an historian.

Virtual Field Trips: Contact Karen Jacobson for more info at k.jacobson@cvmuseum.com | (715) 834-7871

Ayers Associates Gallery - This gallery presents travelling, co-curated, and community currated exhibits throughout the year. Contact the museum for more information about what will be showing when you plan to be here.

Experiences  below are available seasonally:

Sunnyview School - a one room school house from the 1880's immersing visitors in the everyday life of rural students. Hands-on history activities like old-fashioned recess, abacus arithmetic, quill pen writing lessons, and more are available upon request.
• Note: some activities carry a small restocking charge to cover the cost of materials.

Anderson Log House - a Norwegian immigrant family's 1860s home that is fully furnished and available for tours. Learn about Lars and Grethe's journey from Norway to Wisconsin and how they raised a family of ten children. Hands-on-history activities like pioneer laundry, toys-n-games, children's chores, and more are available upon request.
• Note: some activities carry a small restocking charge to cover the cost of materials.

Schlegelmilch House - located off-site at 517 South Farwell Street, downtown Eau Claire. Tour this historic home, built in 1871, to explore the lives of a German immigrant middle class family. Longer tours offer an opportunity for hands-on artifact studies.

OTHER THINGS TO KNOW

Museum Store – Find a wide selection of exhibit related, educational and souvenir, items available for purchase in the gift shop. Educators receive a 10% discount on items purchased for classroom use.

Bring a bit of the museum to your classroom with our History Kits.

The Chippewa Valley Museum has gender neutral restroom facilities.

The Chippewa Valley Museum main building is wheelchair accessible – please contact us about accessibility to our historic buildings.

WHAT ELSE IS IN THE PARK?

The Chippewa Valley museum is located in Eau Claire’s Carson Park a 134 acre park on Half Moon Lake offering play ground and pavilion facilities. Contact the City of Eau Claire for more information about pavilions.

Wisconsin Logging Museum - You can channel your inner lumberjack as you navigate your way through the blacksmith shop, barn, heavy equipment shed, bunkhouse, cook shanty, filer's shack, wanigan, and foreman's office.

*Note: Ask the Museum Educator to arrange visits to both museums for your field trip. One call or email request does it all!