Education Programs
Please Note
Education program bookings will not be available January through February 2025.
Grades 1 to 3
Have you ever wondered where your food comes from? Experience a day working in our gardens and with our livestock, while the farmers share their knowledge of 19th century farming and agriculture.
Availability: September to October | May to June
Duration: 1.5 hours
Cost (+HST): $150 per class
Capacity: 30
Discover how the inhabitants of Fort William worked together and the special skills they needed to survive. After tracing the routes colonists took to different settlements in Upper Canada, students will work in groups to build their own frontier communities.
Availability: September to June
Duration: 1.5 hours
Cost (+HST): $150 per class
Capacity: 30
Discover the machines that advanced life in the 1800s and how these devices have evolved over time. Investigate how simple machines and tools use force and reduced friction to move heave objects. Have fun using wheels, levers, pulleys, and screws to move different objects to complete a series of challenges.
Availability: September to October | May to June
Duration: 1.5 hours
Cost (+HST): $150 per class
Capacity: 30
Discover the various animals that were important to the fur trade from the perspectives of the North West Company’s fur traders and the Anishinaabe hunters and trappers. Learn which furs were valued for fashion or winter survival, and why. Examine the skulls of these animals to learn about their anatomy, behaviours, diets, and habitats.
Availability: September to June
Grades: 1 to 3
Duration: 1.5 hours
Cost (+HST): $150 per class
Grades 4 to 8
Get introduced to the Global Positioning System (GPS) and take on a field challenge. Using the provided GPS units, each team must locate waypoints, avoid decoys and correctly answer clues to complete the challenge.
Availability: September to June
Duration: 1.5 hours
Cost (+HST): $150 per class
Capacity: 50
This hands-on culinary workshop is fun and informative! Learn about the diets of the Anishinaabe, Europeans and French-Canadians during the fur trade. Roll up your sleeves and cook period recipes over an open fire or in the historic bake oven. At the end of the program, enjoy a sampling of all the prepared recipes.
Availability: Afternoon only — September to October | May to June
Duration: 1.5 hours
Cost (+HST): $150 per class
Capacity: 25
Learn about the daily and seasonal cycles in Anishinaabe life, including customs and rites of passage for adolescents. Examine domestic items, such as a tikinagan, tools and furs, before bartering for trade goods. As a parting gift, students will receive a bundle of beads to take back with you.
Availability: September to June
Duration: 1.5 hours
Cost (+HST): $150 per class
Capacity: 30
Grades 9 to 12
Explore the connections between Anishinaabe culture and the natural environment. Learn about the important roles of plants in medicine, ceremonies, food, and shelter. Discover perspectives on nature, biodiversity, and environmental sustainability.
Availability: May and June | September and October
Duration: 1.5 hours
Cost (+HST): $150 per class
Capacity: 30
A unique cultural experience! Students will be immersed into the traditional and cultural practices of the Anishinaabe. Select from a menu of learning experiences that meet your curriculum requirements including, making a traditional craft, learning about traditional plants and medicines, and preparing traditional foods.
Availability: September to October | May to June
Duration: 1.5 hours
Cost (+HST): $150 per class
Capacity: 30
Get introduced to the Global Positioning System (GPS) and take on a field challenge. Using the provided GPS units, each team must locate waypoints, avoid decoys and correctly answer clues to complete the challenge.
Availability: September to June
Duration: 1.5 hours
Cost (+HST): $150 per class
Capacity: 50
Students will learn about the role of black powder firearms in early Canada, how to collaboratively and safely discharge a cannon, and try firing a flintlock musket. Please note, participants must be 13 years or older to fire a cannon or musket.
Availability: September to October | May to June
Duration: 1.5 hours
Cost (+HST): $150 per class
Capacity: 25
Grade 2+
Fort William’s proprietor has a challenge for you! Teams of students, teachers and chaperones will take part in historic games and tour the Fort William historic site.
Grades: 3+
Availability: September to June
Duration: 2 hours
Cost (+HST): $225 per class
Capacity: 50
It was “work hard, play hard” during the fur trade. Learn about the history and importance of recreation and leisure activities by participating in various games from Anishinaabe, French-Canadian and Scottish cultures.
Grades: 3+
Availability: September to October | May to June
Duration: 1.5 hours
Cost (+HST): $150 per class
Capacity: 30
Examine different styles of snowshoes and their design features. Then strap on a pair and try out the most common form of winter transportation invented by Indigenous Peoples. Complimentary hot chocolate included.
Grades: 3+
Availability: December to March
Duration: 1.5 hours
Cost (+HST): $150 per class
Capacity: 30
Step back in time and explore Fort William in this interactive tour, led by one of the people who lived and worked around Fort William. Learn the business of the North West Company and visit some of the interesting places that made Fort William the hinge of a global empire. Customized tours highlighting specific themes can be requested at the time of booking.
Grades: 2+
Availability: September to June
Duration: 1.5 hours
Cost (+HST): $150 per class
Capacity: 30
Our vast universe has been a guiding force for cultures and explorers for centuries. Anishinaabe culture and storytelling is greatly influenced by the natural cycles of our solar system, and David Thompson, a fur trade cartographer, used the sun, stars and other celestial bodies to create maps that would shape the borders of North America. Join our astronomers as they demonstrate how the marvels of the Earth, solar system and the unknown influence our lives.
Grades: 1 to 6
Availability: September to June (day or night)
Duration: 1 hour
Cost (+HST): $135 per class
Step back in time and explore Fort William in this interactive virtual tour, led by one of the people who lived and worked around Fort William. Learn the business of the North West Company and visit some of the interesting places that made Fort William the hinge of a global empire. Customized tours highlighting specific themes can be requested at the time of booking.
Grades: JK to 3
Availability: September to June
Duration: 45 minutes
Cost (+HST): $135 per class
Learn about Anishinaabe life, including daily and seasonal routines and the contributions of Indigenous Peoples to the fur trade. Discover building materials such as spruce root and birch bark, technologies such as the birch bark canoe and snowshoe, and foods such as berries, wild rice and maple sugar. Learn about trading practices and how the knowledge and technologies shared by Indigenous Peoples with Europeans helped expand the fur trade across North America.
Grades: 4 to 6
Availability: September to June
Duration: 45 minutes
Cost (+HST): $135 per class
Discover the various animals that were important to the fur trade from the perspectives of the North West Company’s fur traders and the Anishinaabe hunters and trappers. Learn which furs were valued for fashion or winter survival, and why. Examine the skulls of these animals to learn about their anatomy, behaviours, diets, and habitats.
Grades: JK to 3
Availability: September to June
Duration: 45 minutes
Cost (+HST): $135 per class
With so much to see, do and learn at Fort William Historical Park, consider an Overnight Adventure! Designed for Grades 5 through 12, tailor your Overnight Adventure to meet a variety of curriculum topics. Staying for one night, choose one education program; staying for two or more nights, select multiple programs.
Grades: 5+
Availability: September to mid-November | mid-February through June
Duration: 24+ hours
Capacity: 15 to 50
We have two facilities available to accommodate Overnight Adventures, the Bell House and the East House. Both facilities are located on the Historic Site and are equipped with bunk beds, showers, washrooms, and a common room. The East House is also equipped with a kitchen and accessible sleeping accommodations, shower and washroom.
We offer in-person programs on location at Fort William Historical Park. Our virtual programs are offered live through a variety of platforms.
Fort William Historical Park makes every effort to accommodate the needs of all our visitors. When making the program booking, please let us know how we can make the visit successful and enjoyable for your entire group.
When you purchase two (2) education programs for the same day, the second program is half-price!
Contact us for French program availability.
If you have a unique programming request that you want to explore, please contact us.
Teachers and chaperones are required and expected to assist Park employees with group management. Please follow your School Board’s internal ratio requirements. Admission fees are waived for support persons accompanying students with disabilities.
Once your booking request is processed, you will receive a confirmation email with your booking information and invoice. Please review the email to ensure all the booking information is correct. Fort William Historical Park must receive any changes to the booking and final participant numbers three (3) business days prior to the program start date.
Full payment is due upon receipt of Invoice. Payment can be made by cash, Debit, Visa, Mastercard, or cheque payable to the “Minister of Finance.”
Your visit is confirmed once you receive the confirmation email, which includes the booking information and invoice. If you haven’t received a confirmation email within one (1) week of submitting the booking request, please contact us.
All rates are subject to 13% HST. Fort William Historical Park offers a fair exchange rate on the U.S. dollar. All products and services are subject to availability. Programs, prices and policies are subject to change without notice. School Group rates are already discounted, no additional coupons, passes, or membership discounts apply
If your trip must be cancelled due to inclement weather, we will try to reschedule the program, subject to available dates.
Refunds for program cancellations must be requested in writing. Cancellations made 15 days or more in advance of the program date will be refunded in full, or 50% within 4 to 14 days. Refunds will not be provided for cancellations made within 3 days of the program.
