Getty Villa Museum Field Trip Learning Resources
Pre-Visit Resources
Prepare your students to engage deeply with artworks in the museum through pre-visit activities that foster observation, interpretation, and communication skills.
Grades K–2
Be an Art Detective at the Getty Villa Museum
Invite your students to build observation and critical thinking skills by looking closely, asking questions, and using visual clues to make meaning from works of art.
Help your students connect their own treasured belongings to the museum's role in preserving objects that tell stories and hold meaning.
Grades 3–5
Develop your students’ observation, evidence-based reasoning, and discussion skills as they practice analyzing artworks like curators and learning from multiple perspectives.
Prepare your students to explore how museum objects tell stories by creating personal time capsules with objects that reflect their identities, interests, daily lives, and communities.
Grades 6–8
Invite your students to create and share a personal artwork that expresses their ideas, experiences, and interests, giving them firsthand insight into how artists use creative choices to convey meaning.
Engage your students in a hands-on conservation activity to develop a personal understanding of why people value, protect, and preserve works of art.
Post-Visit Resources
Extend your students' learning beyond the field trip through post-visit activities that encourage reflection, creativity, and critical thinking.
Grades K–2
Engage your students in collaborative artmaking that transforms individual field trip memories into a shared experience to encourage reflection, strengthen observation, and inspire new questions and insights.
Grades 3–5
Develop students’ reflection, communication, and discussion skills as they share, explain, and lead conversations about their favorite part of the field trip.
Grades 6–8
Help students practice creative, organizational, and critical thinking skills as they create and curate a themed art exhibition that communicates a big idea.
Self-Guided Tour Resources for Grades 9–12 (Coming Soon!)
Engage students with the ancient world through creative writing and sketching, an exploration of museum objects, and activities that build historical understanding and meaningful connections to artworks.
Ancient Connections: Roman Architecture
Explore the Getty Villa and discover key features of ancient Roman architecture. Students will examine how architects used space, depth, and balance to reflect Roman culture and values.
Ancient Connections: Greek and Roman Mythology
Discover the gods, heroes, and creatures of Greek and Roman mythology through works of art. Students will analyze how artists used visual attributes and storytelling to identify mythological figures and communicate ideas about the ancient world.
Ancient Connections: Roman Gardens
Explore the Getty Villa’s gardens and learn how ancient Romans used similar spaces for leisure, reflection, and daily life. Students will investigate how gardens connect nature with the built environment.