In between the construction of the Visitor Center and the upcoming restoration of the historic carriage house, the Grover Cleveland Birthplace staff was able to test a new program for larger school groups, Outdoor Fun at the Grover Cleveland Birthplace. So far, three groups of local 2nd and 3rd graders and their teachers have participated in this immersive 90-minute program. The students enjoyed exploring the grounds of the Grover Cleveland Birthplace with an Architectural Scavenger Hunt, touring the museum, investigating replica artifacts up close, and playing with historic games and toys. This program is designed for groups of 25-40 students in grades K-4 and requires a minimum student-chaperone ratio of 6 to 1.

This program is all about fostering curiosity and empowering students to pose their own surprising and delightful questions such as:

Did Grover Cleveland have a pet? Why is there a bathtub in the middle of the kitchen? Why do you use plexiglass to protect certain artifacts? If there is no plumbing, where did people go to the bathroom? Why wasn’t Grover born in the hospital?

The historic educators enjoy fielding these questions because they open the door for deeper conversations about Cleveland’s life, early 19th century living, museum operations and many other topics.

Once the dust has settled next year from the remodeling of our historic carriage house, we will be ready to host more large groups of students. In the meantime, we will be working on developing even more content for our community of learners.