Educators, parents, and community members are encouraged to utilize our educational kit rentals and specimens/artifact rentals. Through standards-aligned curriculum and hands-on learning, these resources provide unique opportunities to engage with nature — wherever you are.
Educational Kits come with artifacts or specimens, materials to support activities, and suggested curriculum. We strive to make the kits suitable for a range of ages or grades, and the artifacts can be used for the provided curriculum or to support your own lessons! We recommend that teachers rent kits to accompany their Museum-led field trips to deepen the impact of the lessons. $15/week.
*Educational Kit contents will be sanitized between uses. Items that cannot be sanitized will be quarantined for two weeks between uses.*
Ohlone Kit
Best for K-4th grade. Examine Ohlone basketry, uses of native plants, how to process acorns into food, and animals that were important to Ohlone culture. Study oral tradition and storytelling, Ohlone art, and other cultural practices.
Animal Kit
Best for K-4th grade. Learn about animal adaptations and local habitats. Become skull and track detectives using real specimens.
Wetland Walk Kit
Best for 3rd grade. The activities within this kit will give your students a better understanding of such topics as adaptations, the wetland habitat, change in environments, and data collection.
Nature Rangers Kit
Best for 4th grade. Give your students a better understanding of such topics as adaptations, community connectivity, human influences and change over time using unique artifacts and hands-on exploration.
Watershed Walk Kit
Best for 5th grade. The activities within this kit will give your students a better understanding of such topics as watersheds, ecosystem connectivity, human influences, and data collection using unique artifacts and hands-on exploration.
We have a limited selection of specimens and artifacts to rent. We have recently added curriculum and activities to all of the animal specimens available for rent. All of the items listed below are $10/week.
- Coyote*
- Golden Eagle*
- Great Horned Owl
- Mallard Duck
- Ohlone Mortar and Pestle (large)
- Basket Set (replica examples)
- Fossil Kit
- Rock Kit
*Golden Eagle and Coyote specimen are in large cases that require 2 people to carry and do not fit in standard passenger vehicles. Trucks, vans, or hatchback vehicles required.
**Other resources may be made available upon request. Email us at education@santacruzmuseum.org to inquire about other resources you might be interested in.
Supplement your at-home lessons with this collection of hands-on tools related to indigenous connections to nature. Each kit contains the following items for tactile learning:
- Tule reed samples
- A stone point, either jasper or obsidian
- Acorns (5)
- A square of rabbit pelt
- Materials for making your own stave game
- Information booklet
Explore More: Browse our Recommended Reading list.