A visit to Cape Fear Museum is a fun way to enhance your students’ classroom learning with interactive history and science exhibits and hands-on field trip programs aligned with the North Carolina Standard Course of Study.

Field trips to Cape Fear Museum are available to traditional, public, and private schools, daycares, afterschool programs, homeschoolers and others. Groups must have a minimum of 10 students to schedule
on-site field trip programs and receive student/teacher admission rates.

Admission

• Schools in New Hanover County: FREE
• Schools outside New Hanover County: $5 per student, age 6 and up

Museum admission is FREE for teachers & chaperones visiting with students.

Field Trip Program Fees

• Schools in New Hanover County: $4 per student
• Schools outside New Hanover County: $7 per student, age 6 and up (includes Museum visit)

Field trip program fees INCLUDE the cost of museum admission.

Can’t visit the Museum? The Museum will come to you!

Outreach Program Fees

Outreach programs are available for groups of 20 or more students. Programs available as outreach are noted below in orange.

• Schools in New Hanover County: $6 per student
• Schools outside New Hanover County: $7 per student (additional mileage fees may apply)

Field Trip Programs

Click here to download a printable rack card of our field trip & outreach options.

Prehistoric Cape Fear
(Best suited for Pre-K through grade 1)
Journey back in time to explore dinosaurs and more.
Science: K.L.1; 1.L.1, 1.L.2
Mathematics: K.MD; 1.MD

Cape Fear Wild (program also available as outreach)
(Best suited for grades K-1)
Discover native plants and animals.
Science Standards: K.P.1, K.L.1; 1.L.1, 1.L.2

Forces and Motion 
(Best suited for grade 1)
Play with folk toys to explore Newton’s Laws of Motion.
Science: 1.P.1

What’s in Your Backyard
(Best suited for grades 1-3)
Explore Lower Cape Fear ecology.
Science: 1.E.2, 1.L.1, 1.L.2; 2.L.1; 3.E.2, 3.L.2

Weather Wonders (program also available as outreach)
(Best suited for grade 2)
Investigate different elements of weather.
Science Standards: 2.E.1

Native Americans 
(Best suited for grades 2-4)
Discover the first inhabitants of the Lower Cape Fear region.
Social Studies Standards: 2.H.1, 2.G.2, 2.E.1; 3.G.1, 3.C.1; 4.H.1, 4.G.1

Math Madness
(Best suited for grades 3-8)
Investigate mathematics with hands-on exhibits.
Mathematics content standards vary by grade level

People of the Past
(Best suited for grades 3-4)
Delve into Lower Cape Fear history.
Social Studies: 3.H.1, 3.G.1, 3.E.1; 4.H.1, 4.G.1, 4.E.1

Electricity and Magnetism (program also available as outreach)
(Best suited for grade 4)
Experiment with circuits, magnets and energy.
Science: 4.P.1, 4.P.2, 4.P.3

Wild Weather (program also available as outreach)
(Best suited for grade 5)
Explore local weather patterns and phenomena.
Science Standards: 5E.1; 5.P.2

Simple Machines
(Best suited for grade 7)
Discover the power of simple machines.
Science: 7.P.2

Violence in 1898
(Best suited for grade 8)
Analyze historic photographs and documents, examine the timeline of national and local events and explore the museum’s 1898 exhibit.

This program is possible with support from the 1898 Memorial Fund, a component fund of the North Carolina Community Foundation.

Exhibit Tours
Explore Wilmington’s history with a guided walk through the museum’s exhibits. Exhibit tours examine the region’s history from its earliest inhabitants to the beginning of the 21^st century.

Register

All group visits to the museum require advance registration. Call 910-798-4361 or email CFMprograms@nhcgov.com.

Bus Parking
Bus drivers should drop off students at the designated bus pull-in area along 8th Street. Bus parking is available along 9th Street, beside the Museum.

Need a space to eat?
Picnic lunches are allowed in the Museum Park. Please check the availability of this space for picnics when making your reservation.