Heritage Village Education Programs

Step out of the classroom and into the past!

Heritage Village is the ideal setting to engage your students in the history of the United States. Thirteen restored 19th century buildings set the stage for fun and exciting learning opportunities. Programs are presented by trained interpreters in period clothing. Students have the opportunity to handle artifacts for exploration and participate in their own learning.

At Heritage Village Museum and Educational Center, our education programs are developed by certified educators, and have been carefully designed to correspond with state learning standards for each grade level. Immerse your students in history and let them experience what a day was like in the life of their 19th century counterparts. All programs feature multi-sensory activities that help engage students in the social interactions of the past and enable them to relate the past to today’s society.

The Village is situated in the beautiful, natural setting of Sharon Woods Park, which adds to the bucolic atmosphere of life in early Southwest Ohio.

Education Programs

Please note: Heritage Village does not offer education programs or scout programs during the month of October due to Haunted Village. 

Pioneer Program

Various Grades

This program covers daily life for early Ohio settlers. We bring history to life with this program and use the Kemper Family as our model to frame the experiences of pioneers in Cincinnati in the early 1800s. Students rotate between buildings including the Kemper Log House, Kemper Kitchen, our Recreated Flatboat, and the JC Fetter General Store. This gives them the opportunity to learn about family life as we talk about how pioneers had to find, make, or grow things in order to meet their needs. We combine hands on experiences with the stories of Southwest Ohio’s early settlers to teach students about what life was like as a pioneer for the families that used to inhabit the buildings that now reside at Heritage Village. We use many different activities to teach students about the challenges faced by children their own age in the 1800s. Activities may include: carding (straightening & cleaning wool), spinning wool into yarn, food preparation and preservation, fetching water with a yoke and buckets, visiting the Kemper Garden, other children’s chores, dressing in pioneer clothing in our general store, and playing 19th century games.

Roads, Rivers, and Rails

Various Grades

This 90-minute program highlights three major modes of transportation used to reach Cincinnati and Southwest Ohio during the 18th and 19th centuries. Students will learn about waterways as “highways” on a recreated flatboat and learn about how canals were integral to the state of Ohio. They will also visit a wagon, a train station, and compare the different forms of travel: land, water, and railroads.

Past Professions

Various Grades

What do you want to be when you grow up? What if you lived in the 19th century? Find your place in history as you explore popular professions from the past. This program introduces students to a variety of professions from the 19th century. Learn about hearth cooking, learn a lesson in a one-room schoolhouse, learn about keeping a shop and trading goods, and more! Students will learn all about past professions and get some hands-on experience in jobs of the 19th century. Past Professions is brand-new for 2025-2026 school year and incorporates our renovated one-room schoolhouse for the first time.

Peek Into the Past

Kindergarten, 1st, & 2nd Grade

This program introduces young learners to lifestyle characteristics of 19th century southwest Ohio through the concepts of family life, transportation, communication, and changes over time. Students will experience elements of an 1870-era lifestyle through different learning styles. The program provides an opportunity to visit several restored 19th century buildings, participate in hands-on learning activities, comparisons of life today and in the past, how change happens over time, and that certain innovations can be a catalyst for change, and experience elements of an 1870-era lifestyle through different learning styles.

A Lesson in Needs and Wants

1st & 2nd Grade

Students will visit a farmer’s home from the 1830s, a mercantile store, and a reproduction of Mrs. Kemper’s kitchen garden circa 1805, in order to help them identify and relate to the basic human needs of shelter, clothing, and food/water. As the students learn about chores, they will discover a bit about goods and services as well. They will “harvest” food from our garden, fetch water, and visit the 1870s mercantile store.  Students will learn just how hard it was to get a new shirt or even cornbread. The groups will compare the needs of those in 19^th century southwest Ohio and our needs today, as well as how we satisfy those needs.

The Ox-Cart Man

1st, 2nd, & 3rd Grade

The children’s book, The Ox-Cart Man, by Donald Hall sets the stage for this program. The award-winning book provides a look at the work and responsibilities of a typical farm family from America’s past. The farmer and his family  produce goods throughout the year, and the farmer prepares to go to a city far away to trade and sell them. Your students will be able to participate in some of the activities that helped families remain self-sufficient. Wool carding to make yarn is one of the processes students will participate in. Students will also help make a broom. Your class will learn firsthand about the production of goods, the economy of our past, the barter system, and purchasing power. You will also have a new, student-made, round broom to take back to your classroom.

The education programs we offer are sponsored by a grant from the
Charles H Dater Foundation.

Schedule your class to take a trip into history!

School programs can be scheduled Monday to Friday throughout the school year. Programs begin as early as 10:00 a.m. and can go until 2:30 p.m. The cost is $8 per student. Teachers are free. One adult per every ten students is also free. The cost for each additional adult is $8. A minimum of 10 students are required for all education programs. A non-refundable deposit may be required to secure your date.

You can register 2 ways!
1. Call: 513-563-9484
2. E-mail: lwoods@heritagevillagecincinnati.org