Teacher Resources
Bring history to life in the classroom with multimedia tools, and in-person at Colonial Williamsburg.
Teaching the Past for the Future
Teaching the Past for the Future
Teaching Teachers
Colonial Williamsburg’s mission that the future may learn from the past doesn’t stop at the boundaries of the Historic Area. The living past that fills the streets and homes here ripples out to classrooms through all 50 states, thanks to the Colonial Williamsburg Teacher Institute.
Resources for Students
Bring history to life with our multimedia resources, including games, videos, interactive timelines, and more.
Bob & Marion Wilson Educator Resource Library
Download lesson materials developed by historians and educators to address educators’ needs for engaging, inclusive, relevant American history and civics resources. This free resource library also includes primary sources, multimedia content, lesson plans, and additional materials for use by teachers, students, and scholars of all ages.
Uncovering Loyalties
It's 1774 in Williamsburg, and tensions in the British American Colonies are rising. You're invited to engage with young people around the city to see if independence is in the air... or not?
Professional Development
Join us online or onsite. Our experts will provide classroom-ready instructional resources, including lesson plans, primary sources, and other media.
Onsite Residential
During week-long onsite residential programs Teacher Institute participants are immersed in an interdisciplinary approach to teaching social studies with American history as the focus.
Online Courses
Join Colonial Williamsburg for online courses where teachers can engage with Teacher Institute staff, hear from experts in the field, explore digital resources, and network with fellow educators.
Workshops
The Colonial Williamsburg Professional Development staff can customize arrangements for your teacher group's (of 15 or more) visit to Colonial Williamsburg.
Onsite Opportunties
School, Youth & Adult Day Group Tours
Special Offers for Teachers
Homeschool Experiences
What the Huzzah is That?
Explore the community of Williamsburg through this animated series of videos entitled “What the Huzzah is That?” Designed for early grade-schoolers, each video highlights a different facet of 18th-century community life, encouraging children to think about and find relevance in their communities today.
Trend & Tradition Magazine
CW’s full-color quarterly magazine offers articles, photography and art that showcases the life of Williamsburg’s historic core and its people — then and now.
Videos
Step into 18th-century life with our Emmy award-winning virtual education programs.
Virtual Tours
Explore the sites of Colonial Williamsburg in 360 degrees from anywhere in the world.
History.org
Bringing teachers primary sources that are easy to find, ready to use, and totally free. Coming soon!
View the Art Museums Collection Online
The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation's vast collections comprise more than 70,000 examples of fine, decorative, mechanical and folk art.
John D. Rockefeller Jr. Library
Whether you are a historian, a student, a museum professional, an independent scholar, an artist, an interpreter, or simply interested in learning more about history, we welcome you to use our growing collection of resources.
More Resources
Slavery & Remembrance
This online resource tells the story of the creation and evolution of the transatlantic slave trade, slavery, and their legacies.
Museum Exhibits and Interactives
Engage with the The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation's vast collections through these online interactive activities.
Our American Revolution
Join us to explore the causes, character, and consequences of an American Revolution that continues to shape lives around the globe.
Only at CW
Nation Builders
From recognizable names like Jefferson and Washington, to people whose names did not grace your history book, meet the Nation Builders who helped shape their time, and whose legacies continues to influence and inspire American ideals.
Historic Places
The Historic Area includes 89 original 18th-century buildings, as well as hundreds more buildings reconstructed based on historical records and archaeological research.
Historic Trades & Skills
Discover craftsmanship in more than 20 trades, where modern-day practitioners use 18th-century tools and techniques to apprentice in — and eventually master — blacksmithing, woodworking or gunsmithing, just to name a few.
Fifes & Drums
Standing along Duke of Gloucester Street as the Fifes and Drums march by, today’s guests experience exactly what the soldiers of the 18th century felt as the vibrations of sound resonate not just in their ears, but through their whole bodies.
Art Museums
Discover colorful and whimsical folk art made by amateur artisans in the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Museum to objects that are useful as well as beautiful in the DeWitt Wallace Decorative Arts Museum.
Rare Breeds
Colonial Williamsburg’s Rare Breeds program helps promote genetic diversity in livestock that research shows thrived in 18th-century colonial British America.
