SCHOOL EVENTS and FESTIVALS

Tinkerfest is a two-day celebration of curiosity and creativity for all ages! Explore more than 30 interactive, hands-on activities hosted by innovative community exhibitors designed to engage and inspire your students to build, code, make art, tinker and more. As part of our America 250th celebration, grab a map and tour the galleries to find the diverse stories of Hoosiers’ contributions to our nation.

November is Native American Heritage month. Join us for a special day of learning and exploring Native American’s continued impact in the community, Indiana and beyond through performances and activity stations.

Enjoy the sounds of the season in a spectacular holiday atmosphere as school and community choirs, bands, ensembles and soloists perform holiday music daily in the museum’s Great Hall!

We invite you to come celebrate Indiana’s birthday at the Indiana State Museum with fun, interactive activities that encourage students to think about what it means to be a Hoosier! Join us in the Great Hall for our Statehood Day presentation that includes a reading from the winner of the Statehood Day essay contest and learn what it means to serve from officials from state agencies and offices. We’ll finish the presentation by singing ‘happy birthday’ to Indiana!

There is limited space so register early!

Statehood Day programs will also be held at the Indiana Statehouse. The Indiana Statehouse Tour Office, in conjunction with the Indiana Center for the Book, holds an essay competition to commemorate Indiana Statehood Day each year. More information can be found here.

Bring your students to explore Paleozoic seas, discover mysteries in Ice Age caves, test their knowledge of Indiana’s geology and investigate the world under their feet. Hands-on activities and million-year-old specimens in our galleries help illustrate Indiana’s geological past. Shopping for gems, fossils and minerals from around the globe is available.

Students will connect to the museum on a deeper level as they interact with hands-on, minds-on activities throughout the museum on these special STEAM Days. Explore and discover Indiana’s connections to science, technology, engineering, art and math through community exhibitors, interactive activities and design challenges.

There is limited space so register early! Only STEAM-related field trips are offered during this time. No self-guided field trips are available on these days.

On your mark, get set … for the second-greatest spectacle in racing! The Indiana State Museum invites you to race Pinewood Derby® cars down the two-story, 125-foot racetrack and watch them speed across the finish line!

Innovative Hoosier students are invited to get involved in becoming the solution to global climate issues. They can submit science challenge projects either for competition or to exhibit and share with fellow students, on a range of topics including aquaculture, vermiculture, composting, social awareness, urban farming, alternative energy and recycling initiatives in their schools and communities. Categories include both individuals and groups in grades K-4, 5-8 and 9-12, as well as a community impact award (see Rubric button below for more details). Monetary prizes will be awarded to the schools of the winning students to assist in continuing eco-science-related work.