School Tours
The Skirball Cultural Center’s school outreach programs offer museum and performing arts experiences for Pre-K–Grade 12 that celebrate community and diversity and explore shared values. Public schools as well as private secular and religious schools of all denominations are welcome to participate in these highly interactive, California State Standards–aligned programs. Our programs focus on building understanding across cultures and inspiring students to engage in improving the world around them.
For information about registering for School Programs or obtaining bus and admission scholarships, please visit Frequently Asked Questions.
If you have already taken a tour or attended a performing arts program and would like to provide us with feedback about your experience, please click here.
School Tours for 2013-14
Noah's Ark at the Skirball
The Snowy Day and the Art of Ezra Jack Keats
Journey Through Time: Stories of the Jewish People
At Home in L.A.
Architecture at the Skirball
Americans and Their Family Stories
Archaeology of the Near East
Ordinary Objects, Extraordinary Stories: Immigration Journeys to America
American Identity: Immigration in the Age of Diversity
Stories of Struggle and Resilience: The Journey of Modern European Jews
Global Citizen: The Architecture of Moshe Safdie—Self-Guided Tour
ONLINE REGISTRATION BEGINS AT NOON ON JULY 16, 2013.
|
Suggested number of students: 15–50
Duration of visit: 1 1/2 hours (10:00–11:30 a.m., unless otherwise noted)
CA state standards covered: Language Arts, Science, Social Studies, Visual and Performing Arts
Welcome aboard! Inside the Skirball's award-winning, kid-friendly destination—filled with animals crafted from recycled materials and everyday objects—students and teachers participate together in a variety of hands-on learning activities: making music, interacting with the animals, climbing the rafters, and collaborating to care for the ark's inhabitants.
To register for Noah's Ark at the Skirball, click here.
To download Noah’s Ark at the Skirball pre-visit materials Pre-K–Kindergarten, click here.
To download Noah’s Ark at the Skirball pre-visit materials Grades 1–2, click here.
This tour is also available during the summer! Book your summer 2013 Noah’s Ark tours NOW by clicking here. Tour dates are limited!
Be a Build a Better World School!
Interested in integrating service learning into your curriculum? Be a part of the Skirball’s Build a Better World initiative. During select Noah’s Ark tours, students will complete a service project related to helping animals, people, or the environment and will receive support from Skirball staff to complete a classroom-based project back at school.
Apply by checking the Build a Better World box on the online registration form when you register for your Noah’s Ark tour. Selected schools will receive admissions scholarships for their tours of Noah’s Ark.
Note: The Build a Better World school initiative is open to Grades 1 and 2 only.
 |
|
April 22, 2013–June 13, 2014 only!
Suggested number of students: 15–50
Duration of visit: 1.5 hours (10:00–11:30 a.m.)
CA state standards covered: Language Arts, Social Studies, Visual and Performing Arts
Take an imaginative journey into the world of award-winning picture book creator Ezra Jack Keats! Through interactive stories and an examination of the colorful illustrations and urban landscapes of The Snowy Day and other classic books, students will explore Keats’ art techniques, his groundbreaking inclusion of diverse characters, and his creative inspirations. The tour includes a 45-minute gallery experience designed to build students’ visual literacy skills and a 45-minute workshop led by a teaching artist in which students will experiment with drawing and collage techniques.
To register for The Snowy Day and the Art of Ezra Jack Keats, click here.
The Snowy Day and the Art of Ezra Jack Keats pre-visit materials coming soon.
 |
|
Suggested number of students: 15–50
Duration of visit: 2 hours (10:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m.)
CA state standards covered: Social Studies, Visual and Performing Arts
Through interactive stories, students gain a greater understanding of Jewish culture and the value of learning from the past. They travel a route to Ancient Israel to tell the Hanukkah story, become merchants at a trading post along the Silk Road to China, visit fifteenth-century Spain during the reign of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella, and move into a crowded house in an Eastern European village. The tour experience culminates in a communal take-home art project inspired by Patricia Polacco’s The Keeping Quilt as well as objects in the Skirball’s permanent exhibition Visions and Values: Jewish Life from Antiquity to America.
To register for Journey Through Time: Stories of the Jewish People, click here.
To download Journey Through Time: Stories of the Jewish People pre-visit materials, click here.
 |
|
Suggested number of students: 15–50
Duration of visit: 2 hours (10:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m.)
CA state standards covered: Social Studies, Visual and Performing Arts
On this tour, students explore the diverse communities of Los Angeles and are introduced to three universal values that figure prominently within the Jewish tradition: welcoming others, caring for the world around us, and teaching and learning. While exploring the Skirball’s permanent exhibition Visions and Values: Jewish Life from Antiquity to America, students discover how these values are shared by many cultural communities across the city. Students make music together, discuss family celebrations around a holiday table, explore major life events through objects, and create a community service-related work of art to take home.
To register for At Home in L.A., click here.
To download At Home in L.A. pre-visit materials, please click here.
 |
|
Suggested number of students: 15–50
Duration of visit: 2 hours (10:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m.)
CA standards covered: Mathematics, Science, Social Studies, Visual and Performing Arts
Students discover the art and science of architecture through an interactive tour of the Skirball campus, designed by internationally renowned architect Moshe Safdie, then participate in a collaborative building project. They consider the form and function of different structures, give special consideration to the qualities of communal buildings and complexes, and apply what they learn through sketching, discussion, and design.
NOTE: Due to the outdoor nature of the program, Architecture at the Skirball will only be available October 2–November 1, 2013 and March 4–May 31, 2014.
To register for Architecture at the Skirball, click here.
To download Architecture at the Skirball pre-visit materials, click here.
 |
|
Suggested number of students: 15–60
Duration of visit: 2 hours (10:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m.)
CA state standards covered: Social Studies
What was it like to be an immigrant to America at the turn of the twentieth century? Students find out by exploring the stories of immigrant families from different countries, eras, and cultures through their heirlooms and personal narratives. Students travel on an imaginary journey by boat across the Atlantic, undergo the intake process at Ellis Island, attend school in a 1908 classroom, and seek jobs in a bustling New York City neighborhood. Using their imaginations, students reflect on the challenges and opportunities we face collectively as a nation of immigrants. This tour connects with topics studied in U.S. history.
To register for Americans and Their Family Stories, click here.
To download Americans and Their Family Stories pre-visit materials, click here.
 |
|
Suggested number of students: 15–60
Duration of visit: 2 hours (10:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m.)
CA state standards covered: Social Studies, Science
At the Skirball’s simulated archaeological site, modeled after an actual ancient town discovered in the Near East, students use authentic tools of the trade to explore the history, commerce, religion, and cultural practices of people from the Iron Age. Through cooperative learning, critical thinking, and hands-on activities, students reflect on the shared needs of all peoples, past and present.
NOTE: In case of rain, an indoor alternative is substituted for the dig-site activity.
To register for Archaeology of the Near East, click here.
To download Archaeology of the Near East pre-visit materials, click here.
 |
|
Suggested number of students: 15–60
Duration of visit: 2 hours (10:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m.)
CA state standards covered: Social Studies, Visual and Performing Arts
What do contact lenses and a Hanukkah lamp have in common? Or a makeup compact and a Turkish tea set? On this tour students discover how daily objects and ritual artifacts can shed light on the ways immigrant groups become part of the diverse fabric of American culture. Students participate in small-group investigations and dynamic discussions as a way to explore their own identities in relation to family and cultural traditions.
To register for Ordinary Objects, Extraordinary Stories, click here.
 |
|
Suggested number of students: 15–50
Duration of visit: 2 hours (10:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m.)
CA state standards covered: Social Studies
Using the Skirball’s permanent exhibition Vision and Values: Jewish Life from Antiquity to America as a springboard, students delve into the immigrant experience and explore commonalities and differences among immigrant groups in the U.S. Students will explore how immigrants contend with culture clash, family challenges, and the struggles and opportunities of living in a new place. In this dialogue-based program, issues of immigration policy, legislation, and integration are explored as part of contemporary American life.
To register for American Identity: Immigration in the Age of Diversity, click here.
 |
|
Suggested number of students: 15–50
Duration of visit: 2 hours (11:15 a.m.–1:15 p.m.)
CA state standards covered: Social Studies
The Jewish experience in Europe from the mid-nineteenth through the mid-twentieth century was marked by persecution, struggle, and resilience. Students explore various facets of this momentous era and learn about the rise of totalitarianism in Europe by viewing copies of the Nuremberg Laws—which became the blueprint for the Third Reich—and related artifacts. The tour also features a viewing and discussion of newly-installed video testimonies of Holocaust survivors from the Shoah Foundation. Includes lunch on site.
To register for Stories of Struggle and Resilience: The Journey of Modern European Jews, click here.
 |
|
November 2013–February 2014 only!
Suggested number of students: 15–60
Duration of visit: 2 hours 12:00–1:30 p.m.)
CA state standards covered: Social Studies, Science, Visual and Performing Arts
Lead students through a self-guided tour of the magnificent Skirball campus, designed by Moshe Safdie, and the special exhibition Global Citizen: The Architecture of Moshe Safdie. Explore the design and building process of this internationally renowned architect.
Note: teachers will receive preparatory materials and guidelines for organizing their self-guided visit.
To register for Global Citizen: The Architecture of Moshe Safdie, click here.
Pre-visit materials for Global Citizen: The Architecture of Moshe Safdie coming soon!
Education
