We’re so glad you are considering bringing your student group (K-12) to the CAC for a learning experience.
We’re so glad you are considering bringing your student group (K-12) to the CAC for a learning experience.
Looking, touching and making are essential for learners of all ages. CAC field trips include tours and hands-on workshops that will engage your students with the built environment and their role in it. Together, we’ll transform Chicago into a learning laboratory. We'll explore the city’s amazing architecture and support content learning standards while we're at it.
On foot or by bus, CAC tours are a great way for your student group to learn and appreciate the past, present and future of Chicago’s world-renowned architecture. Your students will embrace the power of skyscrapers while knowledgeable education guides captivate them with stories of the men and women who built America’s greatest architecture.
Design thinking isn’t just for architects, designers or engineers, so bring your students to our collaborative studio learning lab. Studio programs use LEGO® bricks, model-making materials, technology and other hands-on tools to apply science, technology, engineering, art and mathematics (STEAM) skills and practice design thinking.
Please make your request for a reservation at least four weeks in advance. Once we've received your reservation request, we’ll send a confirmation agreement specifying the date and time of your field trip.
Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays
10:15 a.m. - 11:45 a.m.
*Contact CAC Group Sales about alternative times if these do not meet your needs.
$5 per youth *no charge for required chaperones.
Indoor field trips (workshops, exhibit experiences) accommodate up to 40 youth. Fully outdoor walking tours accommodate up to 60 youth.
One adult chaperone is required for every 10 youth.
To discuss what best fits your learning goals, email our Group Sales department.
Read and Build is a 90-minute that workshop combines interactive storytelling with a "make and take" project! Students hear a story with an architecture or design twist and then create a project based on the story.
LEGO Inspiration is a 90-minute workshop, hosted at the Chicago Architecture Center. Using creative thinking and The Design Process, students are guided through a STEM-based activity to learn how architects take an idea (or sloppy sketch) and turn it into a masterpiece. Architecture Series LEGO is used as a building medium.
This hands-on workshop explores themes of urban planning, community development and city systems through students designing and building their own neighborhoods.
Reflecting on their own experience, students will consider the question, "What makes a good neighborhood?" and use the design process to create neighborhoods from scratch with a team.
Each participating group will receive a classroom edition of No Small Plans, CAC’s graphic novel that features students from the past, present and future who help shape their city.
Science of Architecture is a 90-minute STEM-based field trip where students discover how tall buildings defy gravity. Students take part in an interactive 45-minute workshop, then go on a 45-minute walking tour of the Loop to spot the science. This is the only field trip that starts at the CAC but ends at the Chicago Cultural Center.
City of Architecture is a 90-minute walking tour that explores Chicago history through the lens of the city's architecture. It includes visits to iconic structures that showcase why Chicago is the city of architectural innovation.
High school and college student groups are welcome to take some of our most popular docent-led walking tours (listed below). For a different tour that better fits your lesson plan–email our Group Sales department to discuss your options.
Walking tours occur throughout the week, and begin on the quarter hour. Provide preferred days and times when requesting your reservation.
$27 per student
Price includes admission to the CAC's exhibits, in addition to the walking tour.
Walking tours can accommodate 50 students or less.
One chaperone is required for every 10 students (high school groups only). No charge for required chaperones.
90 minutes to 2 hours
Discover the great architectural landmarks of Michigan Avenue and State Street, with glimpses inside beautiful buildings from the 1890s-1930s.
Compare and contrast the histories and styles of buildings located within sight of each other at seven stops in downtown Chicago.
Get an up-close look at some of the world's earliest skyscrapers, learn about innovations used to build them and discover how they transformed Chicago into a center of skyscraper design.
Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays
10:15 a.m. - 11:45 a.m.
*Please contact us about alternative days and times if these do not meet your needs.
$5 per student
No charge for required chaperones.
Workshops and experiences can accommodate 40 students or less. One chaperone is required for every 10 students.
Workshops and experiences occur at the CAC, 111 E. Wacker Dr.
This hands-on workshop explores themes of urban planning, community development and city systems through students designing and building their own neighborhoods.
Reflecting on their own experience, students will consider the question, "What makes a good neighborhood?" and use the design process to create neighborhoods from scratch with a team.
Each participating group will receive a classroom edition of No Small Plans, CAC’s graphic novel that features students from the past, present and future who help shape their city.
This Experience is a 90-minute interactive guided field trip through the Chicago Architecture Center’s galleries, ending in a design challenge. Activities illustrate how history, architectural design and environmental science shape past, present and future Chicago, using the example of the Loop. The CAC’s signature Chicago Model and new Loop as Lab: Reshaping Downtowns exhibition will be the focus of this learning experience.
Bus tours are available upon request.
Please contact our Group Sales department for details.
