You may take the fam to the South Carolina State Museum for the exhibits (don’t tell me you haven’t been to the Hall of Heroes yet), but DYK SCSM also has dozens of free STEM education opportunities for S.C. students + children? And not boring stuff: we’re talking robots, virtual reality + explosions.

In fact, 67,000 students from all 46 S.C. counties visited the museum for free last year, and 20,079 students + teachers participated in 993+ educational classes (in-house at the museum + via outreach programs).

Outreach programs consist of 18 SCSM programs, taken directly to schools in 46 counties across S.C. that may not be able to come to the museum for reasons like financial barriers. One of the coolest outreach programs? The Starlab Portable Planetarium – an inflatable dome + star projector designed to transport students through the solar system (from right in the classroom). Learn more about hosting an SCSM outreach program here.

Back to the in-house programming offered to students at the museum, here are 4 programs we think look extra cool (and we not-so-secretly wish we could take):

- 👩‍🔬 Small Scientists | Kindergarten-2nd grade | Every kid dreams of making their own volcano science experiment – why not make it a reality? This program explores using scientific instruments, measuring with fraction cups + color mixing in test tubes.
- 🤖 Ballin’ Bots | 3rd-5th grade | Think: basketball – but with robots. Students will learn about robotics from SCSM’s little blue robot Dash, who will shoot some hoops with the help of a little encoding.
- 🏛 State Museum Highlights Tour | all grades | Take a tour through all of the exhibits + learn everything about our state’s natural history, cultural history, science, technology + art.
- 👨‍🔬 Matter Matters | 2nd, 3rd + 5th grade | This program is for the kids who want to know more about explosions. Learn about the properties of each major state of matter, the reactions that make them change + what happens to the molecules.
- See the full list of educational programs here.

To celebrate S.C. educators, SCSM is hosting a Teacher Appreciation Night on Tues., May 7 from 5-8:30 p.m.; a free event for teachers with a preview of upcoming programming, professional development opportunities, night-sky viewing + more (plus a gift). Register here.

This content was created in partnership with the South Carolina State Museum.