90 minutes
Grades 3-6, Indoors
For hundreds of years, the rich lands along the banks of the Gowanus Creek were home to a large settlement of the Lenape people that was called Marechkawick. The low lying tidal estuary provided a bounty of fish, oysters, tobacco and corn, birds, turtles, beavers and muskrats.
What did the Gowanus look like then? How has it changed through industrialization? What actions can we take to help to clean and restore it to its former bounty?

90 minutes
Grades K-2, Indoors
Explore daily life from long ago. Try out traditional crafts and toys! After an an interactive discussion about food preservation, textile production, and other typical household chores, students rotate through play stations that highlight wool production, weaving and traditional European and African games.

90 minutes
Grades 3-8, Indoors
An intimate slice of daily life in Brooklyn in the 1700’s. How did age, gender and race inform your role in the home? How did family life differ from our routines in the 21st Century?
Classes divide into small groups, with each group trying their hand at one traditional household craft. Activities include wool production and weaving, sewing and candle making.

90 Minutes
Grades 4-8, Indoors
The American Revolution began with the ratification of the Declaration of Independence in the summer of 1776. But the majority of those who signed it were slaveholders. Once the British took control of New York City, they offered freedom to some, but not to those enslaved by Loyalists. Slavery was central to the economy of all 13 colonies and remained legal in New York State until 1827.
Explore the stories of individuals who began the struggle for civil rights in the mid 1700’s. Each of them had left behind a rich legacy as an early abolitionist. Students work collaboratively within small groups to retell these biographical stories.

90 minutes
Grades 4-7 Indoors
OSH was the site of the culmination of the Battle of Brooklyn on August 27, 1776. When the battle ended, Brooklyn and its environs were occupied by British forces until November 1783.
After an interactive chat about the causes of the revolution and its effect on the local community, students work in small groups to create their own strategy for defending Brooklyn from General Howe and the British army.

90 minutes
Grades 1-4, outdoors
October 1-November 15
April 30-June 15
Plants and garden spaces were at the center of daily life for the Lenape people as well as European and African settlers of the 17th and 18th Centuries.
While touring our historic gardens, students learn about plants used in food, fragrance, textile dyes and medicine. Some are native to the Americas. Others were imported by settlers from faraway places.
Then we learn ways to identify common plants in the gardens through size, shape and other characteristics. At the end of the program, we sample some refreshing herbal tea.

Examine Brooklyn in the 17th and 18th Century through the voices of those who lived it! From Dutch explorers to patriot generals to early abolitionists, students have the opportunity to interact with original texts and develop critical thinking as they learn to interpret maps, periodicals, broadsides and journals.