Fort Calgary

Booth 209

Visit the Fort Calgary booth to learn about our new school programs for students in Grades 1-6. Our education team looks forward to discussing the engaging and interactive ways that a field trip to the Fort connects students with our complex histories by exploring the important stories that shaped our city. Stop by to enter to win a free Fort Calgary program for your class or two tickets to Country Thunder music festival in August 2023!

Our interdisciplinary programs are designed to encourage inquiry-based learning and critical thinking about our history, while connecting to the existing program of studies for Social Studies and Science, and the new elementary curriculum for English Language Arts and Literature and Physical Education and Wellness. 

Program Descriptions  
Grades 1 & 2  

CALLING A PRAIRIE COMMUNITY HOME 

Our most popular program celebrates the lands at Fort Calgary and the diversity of people who have called this area home. Students build a 3D map of Calgary to learn different ways that Indigenous peoples, fur traders, settlers, and the North West Mounted Police have lived on the prairie lands at Fort Calgary throughout time.  

BUILDING COMMUNITY OVER TIME 

This active program explores the location of Fort Calgary to learn about the significance of the land and the communities that have called this area home. The journey continues throughout the museum, where students will learn more about the different materials used to build homes and work together to build a child-sized log cabin. 

Grades 3 & 4 

LIVING HISTORIES OF CALGARY 

Fort Calgary’s unique collection of artifacts help tell the story of early settlers in Treaty 7 territory. Students will learn proper artifact-handling techniques as they investigate diverse stories about the past and look for clues to determine characteristics that affected quality of life and the different ways of living in the Calgary area. 

CONNECTING PLACE AND ARCHAEOLOGY 

Students will learn about oral traditions and take part in a hands-on archaeological dig to uncover the layered histories we have come to know about Fort Calgary. They will sharpen their listening and observational skills as they think critically about their learnings from Indigenous perspectives. 

Grades 5 & 6 

MARCHING THROUGH HISTORY: THE NORTH WEST MOUNTED POLICE 

Follow the Mounties through important events and factors that led the North West Mounted Police to establish forts in Western Canada during the time of Confederation. Students play the Marching Through History board game, and study artifacts, stories and images to investigate the impacts of settlement in the West from Indigenous and settler perspectives. Learners work together in teams to load a Red River Cart with important items.  

Settling Stories of the West 

Embark on a journey where stories from the past and present connect students to place and community. Students will see how learning about lived experiences provides historical context and understanding, encourages a shared responsibility for our collective future, and guides the steps we take now towards living together in a good way.  

Grades 1 - 6 

MUSEUM AND SITE TOUR AND INDIGENOUS GAMES  

If weather allows, students go outside to tour the confluence of the Bow and Elbow rivers, the Hunt and Métis cabins, and Marking, the art installation outlining the footprint of the 1875 North West Mounted Police fort. Students love stretching their bodies and minds with Indigenous games that have been played for generations and encourage cooperation, concentration, strength, endurance and survival skills. 

Pricing, Scheduling and Group Capacity   

Each two-hour program costs $210 and is open for up to 30 students. Individual two-hour programs are available to book in the morning (9:30-11:30 am) or the afternoon (noon-2 pm), or you can book two programs for $420 to make it a full day with a 30-minute lunch break in an indoor space provided.