Are you looking for a way to engage your museum members? Looking for distance learning activities? Looking for respite amidst social distancing?

Look no further! There are so many museums in the Mid-Atlantic region offering virtual tours, distance learning, activities, webcams, online collections, and much more during COVID closures (and beyond!)

Want to see your museum added to the list? Contact us.

All Over the World

• The 75 Best Virtual Museum Tours Around the World [Art, History, Science, and Technology]: https://upgradedpoints.com/best-virtual-museum-tours/

• Virtual COVID-19 Friendly Field Trips Around the World, CouponFollow: https://couponfollow.com/research/virtual-field-trips
• Interactive Historical Virtual Reality Field Trips: https://vr.space/news/education/vr-educational-field-trips/
• Best virtual tours in New Zealand https://www.topreviews.co.nz/best-virtual-tours-new-zealand/

New York

• New-York Historical Society, Manhattan

  • Discover dynamic education programs and curriculum resources about the history of our city, state, and nation: https://www.nyhistory.org/education/professional-learning/curriculum-library
• Dyckman Farmhouse Museum, Manhattan
  • Dyckman at Home: Coloring pages, Luna Activity Book, and DyckmanDISCOVERED
• Cayuga Museum of History and Art, Auburn
  • Digital Exhibition Program and more to come!
• The Strong National Museum of Play, Rochester
  • Delight in Storytime Club, Animal Encounters, DIY Projects, and More Daily on The Strong’s Facebook Page
  • Read Playful Blogs from Museum Curators
  • Watch ‘Stories Behind the Stuff’ Every Thursday at 3 p.m. on The Strong’s YouTube Channel
  • Discover Museum Collections through Google Arts & Culture
  • Take an Audio Tour of the Museum Using Your Smartphone
  • Get Playing with the Original Mobile Games App
• Corning Museum of Glass, Corning
  • CMOG YouTube Channel: hundreds of hours of glass-making
  • Explore the digital collection
  • Glass conservation videos
  • 150 Demonstrations from Glass Artists
• The Metropolitan Museum of Art
  • Met Stories
  • MetPublications: a portal to The Met’s comprehensive publishing program with over 1,500 titles, including books, online publications, and Bulletins and Journals from the last five decades.
  • Behind the Scenes
• The Frick Collection
  • Virtual Tours
  • Video Library
  • The App
  • Digital Archives
• Brooklyn Historical Society, Brooklyn
  • Online Resource Guides, Blogs, Photos, and more! Scroll down to, “Explore Online”
• Guggenheim Museum,Manhattan
  • Access over 200 art books online for free! https://archive.org/details/guggenheimmuseum
• Museum of the City of New York,Manhattan
  • Explore New York’s past through nearly 205,000 objects from the collection of the Museum of the City of New York.

Pennsylvania

• State Museum of Pennsylvania, Harrisburg
  • Online Exhibits

• Pottsgrove Manor, Pottstown

  • 360 virtual tour of Pottsgrove Manor: https://www.montcopa.org/3421/360-Experience-of-Pottsgrove-Manor

• Whitaker Center for Science and The Arts, Harrisburg
  • At Home With Science videos – https://www.whitakercenter.org/at-home-with-science
• Westmoreland Museum of American Art, Greensburg
  • • TheWestmoreland, Twitter: @TheWestmoreland, Instagram:@westmorelandmuseum)
• Erie Art Museum, Erie
  • Explore the 3D Gallery, “Everything But the Shelves”
• Erie County Historical Society, Erie
  • Museum Blog for the Latest News
  • Learning Modules for Primary, Middle School, and High School
• expERIEnce Children’s Museum, Erie
  • WordBank Guides for Young Learners
• The Frick, Pittsburgh
  • Virtual Experiences from the Frick: Exhibtions, collections, stories, activities, and more!
• Heinz History Center, Pittsburgh
  • Virtual Tours
  • “History at Home”: While you’re practicing social distancing at home, the Heinz History Center has you covered with an array of virtual history offerings.  
• Carnegie Museum of Natural History, Pittsburgh
  • We <3 the Assistant Curator of Mollusks videos!
• Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh
  • Check out “Things People Wear,” a lesson about medium, clothing, and personal expression using a photo by #TeenieHarris.
• Brandywine River Museum of Art, Chadds Ford
  • “Brandywine at Home” features new weekly content including virtual video tours and curator-led gallery talks of the Museum’s American art collection and special exhibitions, including “Votes for Women: A Visual History;” at-home art activities and projects for all ages; mindful nature videos from around our campus and preserves; and other helpful resources and activities.
• Penn Museum, Philadelphia
  • View the Penn Museum At Home programs
  •  Digital “Daily Digs”, short video explorations of a different artifact each day
  • Living Room Lectures broadcast each week with a Museum expert
  • Virtual Tours of our galleries and Museum spaces
  • At-Home Anthropology activities for families
    …Along with much more, which we welcome you to explore here.
• Science History Institute, Philadelphia
  • Explore our digital collections: https://digital.sciencehistory.org/
  • We have created a new centralized portal for our educational resources, including historical biographies, role-playing activities, and virtual chemistry games: https://www.sciencehistory.org/learn
  • We have a digital exhibits page through the Google Arts & Culture project, with more exhibits coming soon: https://artsandculture.google.com/partner/science-history-institute
  • Our online magazine “Distillations” has articles, podcasts, and videos, including special video highlights from our collections: https://www.sciencehistory.org/distillations
• Barnes Foundation, Philadelphia
  • Barnes online
  • Start with our new YouTube series, Barnes Takeout: Your Daily Serving of Art
  • Online Collection
  • Online Courses: We’re offering new online courses to enjoy from home. As you can see, we’ll have courses running every day of the week. Scholarships are available.
  • Research Notes: our new online publication highlighting recent discoveries made by our team of researchers and curators about individual works of art. The latest entry explores the source of the surreal forms in Giorgio de Chirico’s Mysterious Swan.
• Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts (PAFA), Philadelphia
  • PAFA From Home: Inspiration Everywhere, Anywhere: Among PAFA’s various current online programs are:
  • Regular online talks with members of the museum’s curatorial staff, including the recurring series “PAFA Pours,” an online “art happy hour” series; “Art at Noon” talk series; “Culture & Coffee” morning art talk series; and more.
  • PAFA’s world-renowned collection of American art can be accessed and explored online.
  • PAFA offers a weekly online quiz related to art, history, and PAFA’s collection.
  • For young learners, PAFA offers downloadable, at-home activities that are fun for the whole family.
  • PAFA offers a variety of pre-recorded talks, programs, and other videos that can be viewed online at any time.
  • All of the above resources can be found at the following link: https://www.pafa.org/museum/education/resources
  • PAFA is also offering a wide array of Continuing Education classes online, including Oil Painting for All Levels, Plein Air Painting – Indoors, Realistic Drawing Techniques, Observational Perspective Drawing, and more. Details and registration information is available at: https://pafa-ce.coursestorm.com/category/online
• Museum of the American Revolution, Philadelphia
  • “Beyond the Battlefield” Virtual Field Trip
• Eastern State Penitentiary, Philadelphia
  •  @easternstate
  • Online tour of the prison
• The Rosenbach,Philadelphia
  • Online at home activity resource for children
  • Gateway to the museum’s Herman Melville exhibition: We highly recommend it with the soundtrack(s) on!
• John James Audubon Center at Mill Grove
  • Visit their site above and explore bird calls!
  • Historic House Tour in 3D
• Valley Forge National Historic Park,Valley Forge
  • Virtual Tour
• The following institutions will be expanding their collections access and/or social media presence in the Philly area:
  • Free Library of Philadelphia  @freelibrary
  • Mutter Museum @mutter
  • Franklin Institute @TheFranklin
  • Academy of Natural Sciences @acadnatsci
  • Penn Museums @pennmuseum
  • Philadelphia Athenaeum @philaathenaeum
  • Constitution Center @constitutionctr
  • Independence Seaport Museum @phillyseaport
  • Philadelphia Mural Arts Program  @muralarts
  • Philadelphia Magic Gardens @phillymagicgardens
  • Fireman’s Hall @firemanshall

New Jersey

• Wheaton Arts and Cultural Center, Millvale
  • Connecting Artists & Audiences
    https://www.wheatonarts.org/learn/connect/
  • Family Art Workshops
    https://www.wheatonarts.org/learn/family-activities/family-art-workshops/
  • Virtual ECO Week
    https://www.wheatonarts.org/virtual-eco-week/
• Alice Paul Institute, Mount Laurel
  • “For Democracy:  Celebrating 100 Years of the 19th Amendment” Online Exhibition
• The Old Barracks Museum, Trenton
  • New online exhibit titled “When Women Vote: The Old Barracks and the Anti-Suffrage Movement” https://www.barracks.org/whenwomenvote.html
  • Online exhibit, “Necessary and Proper for the Public Good” How the American Red Cross and the Old Barracks Association partnered to contribute to the WWI War Effort: https://www.barracks.org/necessary-and-proper-for-the-public-good-world-war-i-exhibit.html
• Grounds for Sculpture, Hamilton
  • Explore the Collection Online
• Princeton University Art Museum, Princeton
  • Explore the Collection Online
  • Join an Evening Online Event
• Museum of Early Trades & Crafts, Madison
  • Webpage with activities for children and adults: www.metc.org/at-home

Maryland

• The Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Museum, Baltimore
  • Educational Activities Page “Junior Junction”: http://www.borail.org/JrJunction.aspx
  • Online Exhibit “The B&O Lives on”: https://www.boliveson.org/
• Jewish Museum of Maryland, Baltimore
  • Exhibits
  • Gray in Black and White: https://www.grayinblackandwhite.com/
  • The A-Mazing Mendes Cohen: http://theamazingmendes.com/
  • The Holocaust Memory Reconstruction Project: https://hmrpjmm.tumblr.com/
  • Beyond Chicken Soup: Jews and Medicine in America: http://chickensoupexhibit.org/
  • Scrap Yard: Innovators of Recycling: http://scrapyardexhibit.org/
  • Just Married! Wedding Stories from Jewish Maryland: https://www.marylandweddingstories.org/
  • Family Activities
  • Wondernauts: https://www.wondernauts.org/
  • Themed Family Activity Packs: http://jewishmuseummd.org/tag/museum-from-home/ (all)
  • The Lloyd Street Synagogue http://jewishmuseummd.org/tag/museum-from-home/
  • Jewish American Women’s History http://jewishmuseummd.org/2020/05/celebrating-jewish-american-womens-history/
  • Harry Houdini http://jewishmuseummd.org/2020/04/a-hands-on-houdini-day/
  •  Celebrating Earth Day http://jewishmuseummd.org/2020/04/celebrating-earth-day/
  • Becoming an Upstander http://jewishmuseummd.org/2020/04/becoming-an-upstander/
  • Rediscovering Iraqi Jewish Archives http://jewishmuseummd.org/2020/04/rediscovering-the-iraqi-jewish-archives/
  • History is Now: JMM Collects Stories of the Pandemic – http://jewishmuseummd.org/2020/05/jmm-insights-history-is-now/
• National Archives
  • Online programs, exhibits, and learning activities. Visit the National Archives website.
  • View the newsletter
• Baltimore Museum of Art,Baltimore
  • BMA Stories: Observations from artists, behinds the scenes, interviews, and more!
• National Electronics Museum, Linthicum
  • 360 Virtual Tour

Delaware

• Delaware Museum of Natural History, Wilmington

  • Storytime and live animal presentations live on the Museum’s Facebook page, as well as links to crafts, tours, etc: https://www.delmnh.org/

• Delaware Art Museum, Wilmington
  • @delartmuseum
• Delaware Historical Society, Wilmington
  • Digital Collections: http://dehistory.org/research-collections/digital-collections
  • A Few of Our Favorite Things: http://dehistory.org/research-collections/a-few-of-our-favorite-things
• Winterthur, Wilmington
  • At-Home Education: K-5 and Middle School Activities and Coloring Pages
  • “My Favorite Things” Videos
• Delaware Contemporary, Wilmington
  • “Project C” an online learner space designed to provide comprehensive educational resources in the areas of contemporary art and culture for in-service educators, education-based institutions, and the art-interested public: https://www.decontemporary.org/project-c
  • Discover Color Activity Book, Ages 3-7
  • Discover Color Activity Book, Ages 8-12

Washington, D.C.

• International Spy Museum
  • Virtual Student Workshops:  https://www.spymuseum.org/education-programs/educators/interactive-virtual-field-trip/
  • Virtual Scout Programs:  https://www.spymuseum.org/education-programs/kids-families/girl-scout-virtual-program/
  • Please consult our website for all listings spymuseum.org
• Smithsonian Learning Lab
  • Distance Learning Resources
  • Great resource for teachers!
• Hillwood Estate, Museum & Gardens
  • Online Collection
  • Video Library
  • Guided Tour
• DAR Museum
  • Online Exhibits: Remembering the American Revolution, “An Agreeable Tyrant”: Fashion After the Revolution, A Piece of Her Mind: Culture & Technology in American Quilts
  • Virtual Tours
  • Online Collections
  • Lesson Plans for Teachers
• National Museum of American History
  •  americanhistory.si.edu
• National Park Service Museum Management Program
  • Virtual Museum Exhibits: https://www.nps.gov/museum/
• National Heritage Areas
  • Mormon Pioneer National Heritage Area, Sangre de Cristo National Heritage Area, and Northern Rio Grande National Heritage Area ,partnered with Discovery Road  to create an episode “Hello Neighbor” that examines early Mormon settlement in Colorado and visits with descendants of some of the first families in the San Luis Valley.
  •  Listen to the NHA Podcasts to learn more about the American Indian history of the Lower Susquehanna River and the partnership between the Susquehanna NHA and the Captain John Smith Chesapeake National Historic Trail.
• Washingtonian Magazine, “You Can Still Visit these DC Museums Without Leaving Your House”

Virginia

• Amazement Square, Lynchburg
  • Introducing Amazement Square, Anywhere! Since you can’t come to us, we’re coming to you. Join us for a new video every day!