Due to construction, the second-floor galleries at the Michigan Historical Museum are currently closed. However, new hands on activities, costumed interpreters and engaging, interactive stations give visitors the chance to learn about pre-20th-century Michigan in the museum's first-floor education room. 

"This program allows the visitor to step back in time and experience life in early Michigan through fun and educational activities," said Museum Director Phil Kwiatkowski. 

Visitors - young and old - will be able to visit with costumed interpreters and observe and participate in demonstrations of traditional crafts and other activities like making butter, creating corn husk dolls, weaving wheat, and enjoying old-fashioned toys and games.

Programs change daily and schedules are posted on the museum Web site at www.michigan.gov/museum.  The schedule this week (9 a.m. to noon) includes:

July 13
Meet the French Voyageur
Old-Time Toys
Traditional Crafts

July 14
Meet the French Voyageur
Tools of the Trade - Agriculture
Pioneer Chores
Old-Time Toys

July 15
Meet the French Voyageur
The One-Room School
Traditional Crafts
Old-Time Toys

July 16
Meet the French Voyageur
The One-Room School
Tools of the Trade - Agriculture
Mining Activity

July 17
Pioneer Chores
Old-Time Toys
Lumbering and Mining in Michigan

For more information, contact the Museum's education curator, Tami Averill, at (517) 241-4060 or averillt@michigan.gov.

The Michigan Historical Museum is located inside the Michigan Library and Historical Center, 702 West Kalamazoo St., two blocks west of the State Capitol in downtown Lansing. The main entrance and visitor parking are located off of Kalamazoo Street, just east of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. Museum hours are Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.; and Sunday, 1 to 5 p.m. Admission and weekend parking are free. The Michigan Historical Museum, the flagship of the Michigan Historical Museum System, is fully accredited by the American Association of Museums. For more information, visit www.michigan.gov/museum or call (517) 373-3559, TDD (517) 373-1592.

The Michigan Historical Museum System is a division of the Michigan Historical Center, an agency of the Michigan Department of History, Arts and Libraries (HAL).  Dedicated to enriching quality of life and strengthening the economy by providing access to information, preserving and promoting Michigan's heritage and fostering cultural creativity, HAL also includes the Library of Michigan, the Mackinac Island State Park Commission and the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs. For more information, visit www.michigan.gov/hal.