Looking for a meaningful way to connect students with history, art, and storytelling? There’s a brand-new virtual resource designed just for classrooms that might be exactly what you need. The Norman Rockwell Museum has launched a free, interactive virtual field trip—and it’s a fantastic way to bring social studies, civics, history, or art lessons to life.
I’ve had the chance to visit the Norman Rockwell Museum in person, and it’s such a special place. Getting to see the iconic art up close and learning more about Norman Rockwell’s work made the trip super memorable. That’s why I’m so excited they’ve created a virtual option for classrooms. Now students can explore the Museum’s galleries, no matter where they’re learning.
This free virtual field trip experience is both student-friendly and ready for teachers to use right away. Whether you’re wrapping up the school year over the next few weeks, preparing for fall, or collecting ideas to explore over the summer, this virtual museum tour is worth bookmarking.
Let’s take a closer look at what makes this virtual field trip opportunity from the Norman Rockwell Museum so special and how you can use it with your students right away!
Explore the Norman Rockwell Museum—Without Leaving the Classroom
At the heart of this free virtual field trip experience is a guided journey through the Norman Rockwell Museum’s galleries. Students can explore over 250 pieces of artwork, including original paintings, studies, and behind-the-scenes photographs. The Museum’s digital tour lets students zoom in and take a closer look at the details that make Rockwell’s storytelling come alive.
It’s easy to navigate and flexible enough for both teacher-led and self-guided experiences. That means you can use it during a live lesson, build it into an asynchronous activity, or offer it as a resource during choice time or extension periods. If you have an interactive whiteboard in your classroom you might launch this on the “big screen” or you might have students check it out on their individual devices.
If you’re teaching virtually, this format works great, too—there’s no need to install anything or set up logins. You might even recommend it to families to check out over the summer, too.
Sign up for the free virtual field trip!
What Makes This a Must-Try Resource?
There are lots of reasons to add this free virtual field trip to your teaching toolkit. The content is designed to help students make connections between the past and present. Students will see how Rockwell used art to capture complex themes like democracy, freedom, and identity.
As soon as you dive in, you’ll see how it’s the type of resource that invites conversation and encourages critical thinking. When students dig into the resources and explore this virtual space, you can ask them to consider how stories are told through images as well as words.
The Norman Rockwell Museum provides educators with built-in teaching tools. This includes standards-aligned lesson plans and discussion questions. With these fantastic free resources, you don’t have to start from scratch. The materials are ready for you to use in your classroom right away. And you can connect the lessons to both media literacy and civic skills.
Ready-to-Use Teaching Materials Included
Regular readers of the blog know that I love sharing free resources that are ready for you to use right away. The team at the Norman Rockwell Museum has created lesson plans you can use as is or quickly customize to the needs of your group. The content is aligned with standards and works across subject areas.
You’ll find materials that:
- Encourage students to think critically about visual storytelling
- Support thoughtful conversations around civic themes
- Help students draw connections between their own experiences and what they see in the Museum galleries
Whether you’re teaching fifth-grade civics (like I did as a classroom teacher) or high school U.S. history, these resources are easy to adapt to your students’ needs.
Ideas for Bringing the Virtual Tour into Your Curriculum
Want to make the most of this virtual experience for students? Here are a few classroom integration ideas to try:
- Connect it to your current unit: Are you exploring topics like American history, civil rights, or 20th-century culture? Use the field trip as a visual companion to your lessons.
- Launch a student writing project: Ask students to choose one piece of art from the tour. Then they can write a narrative or opinion piece inspired by it.
- Use it as a conversation starter: Begin a classroom discussion with a gallery image. Explore how it reflects or challenges students’ ideas of identity, fairness, or democracy.
- Inspire student artwork: Invite students to create their own illustrations or comic strips. These can tell a story about their lives or a moment in history they’ve studied.
These activities are a great way to combine visual literacy and high interest resources with your current learning objectives.
Free Virtual Field Trip for Students
Ready to give it a try? You can access the free virtual field trip to the Norman Rockwell Museum by visiting this link to their homepage. It’s simple to use, thoughtfully designed, and perfect for helping students see themselves in history.
With just a few clicks, you’ll get access to a museum experience without the cost or logistics of a field trip. It’s an excellent way to place these resources in the hands of your students and get up close to iconic pieces of artwork.
This interactive experience is open to all educators! Whether you’re planning for the end of the school year, setting up summer activities, or looking ahead to fall, it’s worth diving into today. And if you’re sharing this resource with colleagues, be sure to check out the full collection of images and educator resources available through the Museum’s website and social channels. Sign up for the free virtual field trip!
