Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts
Guided tours and hands-on programs at Jamestown Settlement and the Yorktown Victory Center offer opportunities for Boy Scouts and Girls Scouts at various levels to have fun and learn while meeting requirements for badges and awards.
To schedule a Scout Program, call Group Reservations at (757)253-4939.
Guided Tours
At Jamestown Settlement and Yorktown Victory Center, guided tours offer scouts the opportunity to engage in hands-on activities while learning about Virginia’s role in the creation of the United States of America. A variety of tour offerings are available to fit your troop’s age level, schedule and interests. Choose from program offerings at Jamestown Settlement and the Yorktown Victory Center.
Virginia Indians - 2.5 hours
Scouts can explore the culture of the Powhatan Indians in the Powhatan Indian Village, galleries and living history areas at Jamestown Settlement. Through demonstrations and hands-on activities, explore aspects of Powhatan life: how the Powhatan farmed, hunted and fished to obtain food, and how they used natural resources to build homes and make clothing and tools. Scouts are invited to try their hand at using Powhatan fire-starting tools. In the reconstruted fort, view a musket demonstration, try on armor and discuss the tenuous relationship and intermittent warfare between the settlers and Powhatan Indians. In the museum galleries, trace the impact of English settlement on Powhatan culture, and learn about Powhatan Indians in Virginia today. This program supports or meets requirements for the Indian Lore merit badge.
American Cultures - 2.5 hours
This Jamestown Settlement hands-on program introduces Scouts to the Powhatan Indians, West Central Africans and English colonists - cultures that met and interacted in early colonial Virginia in the 17th century. In the classroom, analyze and compare reproduction artifacts from each culture and learn about their customs and geographical origins. In the galleries, Powhatan Indian Village, James Fort and ships, demonstrations such as comparative weaponry and hands-on activities like cordage making reveal important aspects of warfare, technology, and trade. This program supports or meets requirements for the American Cultures merit badge.
American Heritage - 2 hours
This hands-on Yorktown Victory Center tour introduces Scouts to the people, events and issues of the American Revolution. In the gallery, view a July 1776 printing of the Declaration of Independence, and engage in a debate about the ideals, grievances and actions of colonists as stated in the Declaration. In the recreated Continental Army Encampment and 1780s Tidewater farm, demonstrations and hands-on activities such as drilling and marching bring to life the impacts of the war and its aftermath on people both ordinary and famous. This tour supports or meets requirements of the American Heritage merit badge.
Hands-On Programs
At Jamestown Settlement:
Scouts participating in Life at Jamestown will assist with cooking corncakes in a 17th-century open hearth fireplace, and learn from a costumed interpreter about the weapons and military tactics used by the English to defend the colony. Recommended for youth ages 6 – 12.
Participants in Powhatan Indian World will try their hand at scraping a deer hide to prepare it for tanning, grinding dried corn in a wooden mortar and pestle, and making rope from dried plant material.
In Cultures at Jamestown the cultures of the Powhatan Indians, English and West Central Africans are compared and contrasted through role play, clothing try-on, and examination of tools and trade items that were important to each group. Recommended for youth ages 8 -14.
Voyage to Virginia provides older scouts the opportunity to learn the basics of dead reckoning and celestial navigation, along with life aboard a 17th- century sailing ship. Recommended for youth ages 11 – 18.
At Yorktown Victory Center:
Learn about daily life on a 1780’s Tidewater farm in Colonial Life, through stories, a craft, and a cooking activity. Recommended for youth ages 6 – 12.
Life of a Private offers participants the opportunity to try on the uniform and equipment of a Continental soldier and learn why soldiers joined the army, what they experienced in camp, on the battlefield, and when they were sick or wounded. Recommended for youth ages 8 -14.
In Colonial Medicine, examine reproduction medical tools and learn how wounds and illness were treated in the military and on the farm, while learning about scientific theories of medical treatment in the 18th century. Recommended for youth ages 11 – 18.
To schedule a Scout Program, call Group Reservations at (757)253-4939.
