History Time

A Newsletter for Kansas Educators

February 2025

Kansas Day 2025 Recap

Kansas Day 2025 was a great success! Education staff presented a total of three programs for the Kansas Day Edventure event hosted by Wichita Public Schools. We want to say a huge thank you to the 10,000+ students across Kansas who watched our programs live! For those who missed the live event, you can still access the recorded programs here. WPS hosts several different Edventures during the school year, so make sure to check out their future events!

Education staff had a blast with everyone who attended our in-person Kansas Day event at the Kansas Children’s Discovery Center. Visitors enjoyed songs, make & take activities, and hands-on materials relating to Kansas history. This event was just the beginning of a great community partnership with the Discovery Center. If you were unable to make it to the event, don’t worry! There will be more collaborative events like this one in the future.

Make & Take:

American Buffalo Puppet

If you missed the make & take activity at our in-person Kansas Day event, you can easily make your own buffalo puppet at home or school with just a few materials. Students can adapt the craft to create a stick puppet for other state symbols. Partner this fun craft with our Kansas State Symbols video to learn about all official symbols in Kansas.

KANSAS Kids! Magazine

The Kansas Historical Society collaborated with Kansas Tourism to bring 25,000 subscribers a special edition of KANSAS! magazine. KANSAS! Kids inspires young Kansans to fall in love with their home state and encourage exploration throughout Kansas. This kid-focused edition represents attractions, history, and communities across the state, highlighting locations that kids and their family can explore today.

KANSAS! Kids is designed for students in grades 4 through 6. Digital copies are available online and you can request free print copies while supplies last!

Standards Based Lesson:

Who Was John Brown?

Standard #3: Societies are shaped by beliefs, ideas, and diversity

Did you miss our Kansas Day Edventure program on John Brown? Check out the recording of the program here and use Read Kansas! lesson M-14 as an extension activity. This lesson uses the mural, Tragic Prelude, by John Steuart Curry, to give students an understanding of John Brown as a controversial figure. The students will evaluate Tragic Prelude as a secondary source and then analyze primary sources that present conflicting perspectives on John Brown. Based on their findings they will use the primary sources to create their own interpretation of John Brown. The lesson is designed to be completed over two class periods.

2025 Museum After Hours

Our monthly Museum After Hours speaker program will look a bit different in 2025. To help celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Kansas Historical Society, we will be presenting programs that highlight the work of our agency and our employees’ continuous efforts to preserve Kansas history. These special programs will be in a hybrid format, meaning individuals can watch online or register to attend in-person. Make sure to follow us on social media for more information regarding these events.

March – KSHS overview and history

April – Archeology

May – Historic Preservation Office

June – Archives

July – Historic Sites

August – Kansas Tourism

Special Exhibit

September – Museum & Education

Don't Forget!

State Historic Sites now have free admission! Look for one in your area. Call ahead as some are only open seasonally.

Read Kansas! lessons are available free of charge for primary, intermediate, middle, and high school students while supplies last.

A variety of virtual tours, videos, and Nearpod lessons are available to use in your classroom. 

Traveling resource trunks are available to borrow. Reserve one now for the school year.

The Kansas Museum of History is closed for renovations. Although the museum is not available for field trips, our staff is here for you.

Zephyr, our newest publication, provides information on events, programs, updates on the museum renovation, and highlights a variety of state historic sites.