Teacher-led Tours
Our docents are skilled at engaging students through interactive questioning strategies and we encourage you to schedule a docent-led tour. If you elect to do a teacher-led tour, your group must be scheduled and adhere to the following guidelines:
- Dates: Thursday–Friday
- Times: Noon or later
- Cost: FREE
- Group size: Maximum 150 students
- Chaperones: One adult must accompany every 10 students under the age of 18.
- Students are NOT allowed to tour independently. One adult must accompany every 10 students under the age of 18. Groups without sufficient adult supervision will not be admitted. A written confirmation will be mailed to you for your teacher-led visit within two weeks of your request.
BEFORE YOU ARRIVE
Schedule your Teacher-led tour at least three weeks in advance and review your confirmation letter when it arrives in the mail.
Review the Visit Guidelines
Determine what you want your students to see during their Teacher-led tour
- Tour the galleries on your own or use the museum website to plan what students will see. Download the mobile guide naguide.org or search the website nelson-atkins.org
- Visit the Educator Resource Center and borrow resources to help you plan your visit.
Review the Museum rules with your students and chaperones
- Arrive on time
- Preview the tour with your class. Discuss what will be explored at the Museum.
- Wear name tags during your Museum visit
- Stay with your chaperone or teacher
- Look but don’t touch the art
- Use pencils in the Museum
- Leave coats, backpacks and bags on the bus or check them at coat check in Bloch Lobby
- Food, drink, candy or gum are prohibited in the galleries
- Photography is welcomed in the permanent collection galleries, but please do not use a flash
- Use cell phones only in Kirkwood Hall, Bloch Lobby and food service areas
- Be considerate of others
Watch the pre-visit video with your students and chaperones.
PLEASE NOTE: If the Museum has reached maximum attendance and your group has not been scheduled, your group may not be admitted. Audio–guided tours are currently not available to school groups.
AT THE MUSEUM
Arrive at the designated time and bring the completed form that was mailed with your confirmation letter.
Check in with visitor services officer and receive your Teacher-led tour identification
Make chaperones active participants by providing them with questions to discuss with students (Choose questions you would like to discuss and remember there are no right or wrong answers to these questions)
- Do you like this work of art? Why or why not?
- How would you describe the colors, lines and shapes that you see?
- Do you think there is a story in this work of art? What is the story?
- Does anything in this work of art remind you of your life today?
- What can you tell from this work of art about the person who made it or the time or place in which it was made?
BACK IN THE CLASSROOM
Discuss what you saw and talked about during your Teacher-led tour then write about your experience.
Lunch
Rozzelle Court Restaurant offers $7.50 box lunches for school groups. Orders must be placed and paid for in advance. Call 816.751.1234 or email events@nelson-atkins.org.
School groups may bring sack lunches and picnic on the grounds of the Kansas City Sculpture Park; there are no facilities for students to eat sack lunches inside the Museum. Teachers are responsible for making alternate arrangements in inclement weather.
