Discovering Democracy - Please Touch Museum

Introducing Discovering Democracy, a new civics-focused field trip program for students in grades K-2.

Discovering Democracy at Please Touch Museum is an interactive field trip program focused on civic engagement for students in grades K-2. Using the “Roadmap to Educating for American Democracy,” students will be asked to consider their identities and communities and what role they play in becoming engaged, active, and responsible citizens.

Program Overview

Discovering Democracy combines guided field trips, Museum-led classroom lessons, and a story-driven digital game to help young learners practice empathy, speak up for fairness, and understand rules and responsibility to practice being active members of a community.

Grades: K–2 Group
Size: Up to one class (~25 students) per session
Standards: Aligned to PA/NJ/DE Standards
Flexible Engagement: Choose a tier of participation to fit your schedule and budget

Choose Your Engagement Level

Discovering Democracy is designed to be flexible! Choose a tier of participation to fit your schedule and budget.

Tier 1 – Foundational SEL Community Building Skills – $23/student
Tier 1 is ideal for school groups that are interested in building foundational social-emotional learning (SEL) community-building skills.

What’s Included:
- Pre‑visit digital game “Community Play”
  - Students play an interactive story about school and home communities, making choices that teach empathy, cooperation, and how to help others.
- Guided field trip “Speak Up”
  - At the museum, students role-play community challenges with puppets and building activities, practicing how and when to speak up to make things better.
- Post‑visit digital game “Rule Play”
  - Back in the classroom, students explore fairness, responsibility, and community rules through stories where they decide on just solutions.
Tier 2 – Deeper Dive into Learning Topics – $23/student + $150 for materials
Tier 2 is ideal for school groups that want a deeper dive into learning topics and a Museum educator to visit their classroom.

What’s Included:
- Pre‑visit digital game “Community Play”
  - Students play an interactive story about school and home communities, making choices that teach empathy, cooperation, and how to help others.
- Guided field trip “Speak Up”
  - At the museum, students role-play community challenges with puppets and building activities, practicing how and when to speak up to make things better.
- Post‑visit digital game “Rule Play”
  - Back in the classroom, students explore fairness, responsibility, and community rules through stories where they decide on just solutions.
- Two Museum educator-led classroom lessons: “Community Kick-Off” and “Responsibility Reflection”
  - Classroom sessions that help students explore identity and community (“Community Kick-Off”) and reflect on fairness, rules, and responsibility (“Responsibility Reflection”)

Digital Learning Games

Every engagement tier includes pre- and post-visit digital games that build civic skills. Through scenarios with six diverse characters, students explore civic participation, community dynamics, and multiple perspectives, sparking in-class discussions about the impact of their choices.

Why Educators Love It

“The field trip supported classroom goals around social interaction, problem-solving, and experiential learning. It also reinforced themes from recent lessons on community helpers, storytelling, and cooperation. Overall, it was a successful educational trip that balanced fun and meaningful learning in a developmentally appropriate environment.” – First Grade Teacher, Philadelphia

Designed with educators in mind, our packages offer easy-to-use, classroom-ready resources that save you time planning. By preparing students with pre-visit materials, you can help maximize their field trip experience and improve engagement on the learning material.

Perfect for kindergarten through second graders: