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Educating Tomorrow’s Leaders through Design Education
Youth education is a hallmark of the Museum, where teaching about innovation, science, and arts serve our national priorities.
 For more than 27 years, the National Building Museum has taught children about architecture, engineering, urban planning, and construction through programs that enhance critical thinking, problem-solving, and communication skills. The programs meet content standards for math, science, social studies, language arts, technology, and art. The Museum's education programs teach youth about civic involvement and cultivate life-long interest in the built environment.
The National Building Museum partners with federal agencies such as the U.S. Department of Labor, private corporations such as Turner Construction Company, and associations such as the American Planning Association to develop programs that engage children through problem-solving and hands-on activities, a central component of design education. These partners share the Museum's vision to link design education with careers in the building industries by supporting the Museum's education initiatives:
In addition to the on-site offerings, the Museum is focused on bringing programs to schools across the nation:
- In the fall of 2006, the Museum launched the Bridge Basics Program Kit, the first of a series of curriculum kits bringing design education to classrooms around the country.
- The Museum introduced the Design Apprenticeship Program (DAP): Building Blocks curriculum to students across the country in summer 2007.
- In April 2008, Museum teachers brought programs to a local D.C. school, enabling students to participate in the City by Design and Patterns: Here, There, and Everywhere programs without leaving their school.
Learn more about design education and the design process.
Learn more about the tools the National Building Museum offers to assist educators in their classroom.
Learn more about the variety of educational programs that encourage our youth to investigate the world and teach them how they can impact the environment:
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Activities & Program Sampling |
Description |
| For our youngest visitors (ages 2-8) |
Building Zone (ages 2–6) |
A hands-on introduction to the building arts in an exploratory gallery where children can build, read, imagine, and more. |
| School Program: Patterns, Here, There and Everywhere (grades Pre-K–2) |
Pattern recognition helps students organize information. |
| Book of the Month Literacy Program (ages 3–5) |
A monthly read-aloud, with books that explore themes such as patterns, city planning, construction, and celebration of other cultures. |
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For elementary school students (ages 5-11) |
School Programs:
City by Design (grades K–5);
Washington: Symbol and City (grades 3–5);
The Lifecycle of a Building, a Street, and a City (grades 3–6)
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An introduction to the variety of forces and people that shape communities;
an investigation of the issues and conflicts involved in planning and living in the nation’s capital;
a joint field trip that traces how buildings, streets, and whole cities change as the needs of people change. |
| Summer Camp (entering grades 3–5) |
Three unique sessions of two-week, full-day summer camp that offers campers a chance to experience the world we build for ourselves through building, visual, and performing arts. |
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For teens and young adults (ages 12-18) |
School Programs:
Be a Green Builder (grades 5-9);
Fuller's Fantastic Geodesic Dome (grades 5-9) |
Students act as carpenters and use power screwdrivers to assemble an 8 x 11’ house from the ground up.
Students work together to construct a 6.5 x 13’ geodesic dome in the Museum’s Great Hall. |
| CityVision |
A semester-long program that prepares students to become active participants in shaping their communities. |
| Design Apprenticeship Program (DAP) |
Presents Middle and high school students with a design challenge for which they conceive, develop, test, and construct a solution. |
| Investigating Where We Live (IWWL) |
A four-week summer program in which students interpret Washington, D.C. neighborhoods through photography and creative writing. |
| Careers in Construction EXPO |
Geared toward high school students, this free program is a great chance for students and educators to learn first-hand about numerous career opportunities in the building industry. |
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Family Learning |
Discover Engineering Family Day |
Families, scout groups, and all curious visitors can debunk the myths of engineering and discover how professional engineers turn an idea into reality. |
| Festival of the Building Arts |
The Festival exlores the practical and artistic, the traditional and innovative, highlighting the many different and dynamic aspects of the building arts. |
Everyday Family Tool Kits
#1: Patterns, Here, There, and Everywhere (ages 3 - 7)
#2: Eye Spy: What Can You Find with Your Little Eye (ages 7 - 10)
#3: Constructor Detector (ages 8 - 11) |
Each tool kit helps families explore the architecture of the Museum's historic home by seeing, moving, touching, and doing! |
Weekend Discovery Carts
Bridging the Gap
Arches and Trusses: The Tension Builds |
Interactive demonstrations where participants learn about bridge types or test different building materials while working together to build an arch. |
| Scout Days |
Girl and Cub Scout Days teach scouts to recognize and solve design problems, test civil and aerodynamic engineering principles, weigh environmental issues, and "read" the buildings around them. |
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