EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS

The Department of Educational Programs tries to convert the children's visit to the museum to a pleasant educative experience. It has organized 7 educational programs up to now and continues to generate new programs.
The programs are built around the three main themes of the museum: Folk culture and traditional life, environment and folk art.

The objectives set for them are: To familiarize the children with the museum exhibits and the sense of tradition. To make them realize the interrelation between man and nature. To nurture their aesthetic criterion. To encourage them to undertake action for the preservation of our folk culture and environment. To cultivate the children's special skills and competences (imagination, creativity, critical thinking, initiative, autonomy, social interaction).

Theoretical basis and methods

The educational programs are based on constructive learning. The children are not considered as passive receivers of information but as active creators of knowledge. They are called to discover and generate knowledge, which is built gradually upon their previous experience. The learning is child-centric, dialogic, and connected with the national curriculum. It is achieved through the activation of all the senses in role games, acting, dancing, story telling, artistic creation etc. The educational material consists of audiovisuals, cases with educational objects, leaflets and questionnaires. The latter are in the form of multiple-choice test and are used as a knowledge game.

The educational programs -generally concerning children between 4-12 years old- are the following:

1. "The aroma of tradition". This program is based on aspects of the Cretan folk culture and environment and its interrelation with the local people. It is applied in the museum's windmill, threshing- floor and herb garden, and introduces the traditional occupations of milling and threshing as well as the fascinating world of Cretan herbs and rhymes. Period of realization: April-October

3. "The rainbow of nature". The program takes place in the gallery of recyclable material. It concerns environmental education. At first the children observe and identify plants and then they come to realize how useless material can be converted to useful objects with a different use through recycling. Period of realization: April-October

4. "The coastal lily returns to the coast".
This program is in the context of environmental education.
Lilies where flourishing in the coasts of Hersonisos before the development of "package tourism".
The program contains the re-planting of the endangered species at the coast around the museum through a team activity with specific roles for each participant.

Period of realization: November- December

5. "Child and tradition"
The program takes place at the open-air theater and the museum courtyard. It contains the theatrical version of a local tale and an activity about traditional toys.

Period of realization: September

6. "Feast with the bees"
It attempts to familiarize the children with the bees' society and the production of honey and wax. Using the "spider strategy" the children gather information, create the "tale of the honeycomb" and act it.

Period of realization: April-October

7. "Hersonisos, the history of a sunk town".
The program concerns adolescents between 12-14 years old. It takes place at archaeological sites and monuments of Hersonisos.
It attempts to make the students realize the historical continuity of the area and to re-conceptualize life during the Classical, Hellenistic, Roman and Early Christian years. It motivates the students to gather information from various sources, -using also oral history-, and prepare a short publication or poster.

Period of realization: October