Indiana State Museum and Historic Sites

Jan. 25-May 4, 2025 

Visitors will learn how to positively impact the future and become empowered agents of change through fun, immersive experiences! Become a STEM recruit in a Future Lab where you’ll slide into the future, complete problem-solving activities, build inventions in a Maker Space and design your future city. A bright future depends on you – are you ready? Educators will find these resources helpful in their planning: Educator Guide, Post From the Future, POV Statements and Future POV Types.

Sensory Play

Sensory activities are popular with young children for a reason – they are fun! Embracing messy sensory play is an important part of the early childhood experience, as children can direct their own learning as they experiment with new materials and tools. By providing a variety of sensory experiences, you can encourage your students to think creatively and approach problems in new ways. 

STEAM Activities

STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art and math) are a primary focus for children at all levels of their schooling. How can early childhood educators support young children as they experiment with STEM concepts in new and exciting ways? By using real tools and looking at common objects in new ways, you can learn to incorporate STEM concepts into your current lessons to extend the learning for all your students. 

Native Americans
What role have Native Americans played in shaping Indiana? What did these earliest residents leave behind and what can we learn about how they lived, worked and played?

Rocks and Minerals
Rocks and minerals are all around us. Did you know they can tell us stories about the past? Learn more of these stories and how a rock can change over time.

Simple Machines
Simple machines make the work we do so much easier! Check out some cool ways that we’ve used simple machines from the 1800s through today.

Vincennes & 19th State
How did one of the oldest Indiana settlements come to be? How did the Native Americans and Europeans live and work together to create a community there? Learn how Vincennes became the capital of the Indiana Territory and helped guide us to statehood.

Lincoln’s Impact on Indiana
While Abraham Lincoln lived in Indiana during his formative years, he is most remembered for his lasting impact as a president on Indiana and the United States.

Human Impact on Earth
Indiana was once covered by water and then ice. How did those ecosystems change as the climate changed? Explore how climate change impacted those ecosystems and what we can learn about humans impact on Earth.

Women of Indiana
Indiana’s past and present are home to women that helped shape our state through their creative, entrepreneur and political work. Learn more about their impact and how it shaped our future.

Indiana Black History
Dive into our stories of African Americans that have called Indiana home and made their mark as entrepreneurs, performers, world class citizens and more. We will discuss some of their challenges and triumphs as laws and society changed.

Immigration in Indiana
Do you know the story behind the school’s façade? Join us as we share how immigration has shaped Indiana.

Amy Williams – Expert Perspective
Dr. Amy Williams is a pediatric psychologist for youth who experience chronic or recurrent pain. Learn about the gate control theory for pain and three strategies to control pain. Dr. Williams is also an associate professor of clinical psychiatry at Indiana University School of Medicine.

Emily Israel – Expert Perspective
Emily Israel, Pharm.D., shares how and when opioids are used and how healthcare providers seek the right treatment to help with pain management. Dr. Israel is a clinical associate professor at Purdue University College of Pharmacy.

Nate Moellering – Expert Perspective
Nate Moellering is a community outreach coordinator with Fort Wayne Recovery and Allendale Treatment. He was injured as a high school and college athlete and shares his journey through opioid use disorder, overdoses and recovery. With help from his family and a police officer who encouraged him, Nate entered recovery. He urges others to reach out because there are always people in the recovery community that care and want to help.

Manon Voice
Spoken word poet Manon Voice shares her experience with the power of words and stigma. Are the words we use about others the words they would choose to describe themselves and their experiences? She calls for compassion and empathy and performs a poem about stigma in its entirety at the end of the video.

Madison Weintraut
Madison Weintraut is a program manager for the Safe Syringe Program in Marion County. How does language and word choice create stigma? Weintraut explains that we shouldn’t define an individual by one aspect of their life.

John Lee
John Lee is a peer recovery coach and an individual in long term recovery. Lee shares the stigma and negative bias of some recovery language and how it impacts individuals trying to get help.