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 Blue Sky Miniature Show Horse Farm
Donna and Marion Schmidt
Office: 1710 Canterbury Drive
Hays, KS 67601
785-625-6725
mjschmidt@ruraltel.net
www.blueskyhorses.com
Hours: Tours by advance appointment only.
Approximate length of tour: 1-2 hours
Visit the "Biggest Little Horse Farm" in Kansas! Pet and brush the little horses and see where they live - see what they eat! Several thousand students and adults have visited the miniature show horses.
Field Trip Highlights: See the trophy and ribbon room and where the horse names are exhibited. See the neat "little farm" designed just for the "littlest horses in Kansas". Learn how and why they are groomed and see how they are trained in the lounging (round) pen, the obstacle course and are taught to pull a cart and give cart rides.
Sample Field Trip: Take a cart or surrey ride. Have a "fun time" with all of your miniature horse friends at the Blue Sky Farm. Call 785-625-6725 for information or to arrange a scheduled tour.
SEE YOU SOON!!!
Fee Payment Procedures: Call for rates and payment information.
Handicap Accessibility: Not fully handicap accessible. There are some steps.
Bus parking: We have a large driveway area for free bus parking.
 Ellis County Historical Society Museum
Sharon Behrman
100 West 7th Street
Hays, KS 67601
785-628-2624
Fax: 785-628-0386
codirector@elliscountyhistoricalsociety.org
www.elliscountyhistoricalmuseum.org
Approximate length of tour: 30 minutes
The museum offers a great place to learn about history. Bring your class to learn what Ellis County, Kansas was like years ago. The staff at the ECHSM has several tours designed especially for school field trips.
Field Trip Highlights:
PIONEER DAY – An annual event in the month of May from 9:30 am-2:30 pm.
Recommended for grades K–5. This is a FREE, outdoor event for elementary school students. In years past, we have had hands-on activities such as washing clothes on a wash board, braiding a rug, crossbow sawing, churning butter, a petting zoo, sack races, relay races, a general store, storytelling, milking goats and horse grooming. Students also tour the Volga German Haus and the Harness Shop. This year we will have even more. Please pre-register with your arrival time and the number of students by emailing us at: codirector@elliscountyhistoricalsociety.org. Most classes allow 1-1/2 to 2 hours for this event. You might want to have the students bring their lunches and eat at one of our beautiful local parks.
VOLGA GERMAN HAUS - The Volga German Haus is a replica of a traditional limestone home of the Volga German settlers in Ellis County located on the grounds of the Ellis County Historical Society Museum. Ask for a tour and we will show you how the Germans from Russia adapted to living on the High Plains of Kansas. This one-room building contains all the typical trappings of an early home. We will be happy to share with you this part of our cultural history. Recommended for any age.
HARNESS SHOP - This two-room frame building is the original Younker Harness Shop that stood on West 11th Street in Hays around the turn of the twentieth century. This was once the home to the eleven member family of John F. and Margaret Younker as well as his harness and shoe making business. Now located on site at the Ellis County Historical Society Museum, it houses our collection of saddles from the many local ranches and several other pertinent artifacts. Please mention that you would like to tour the Harness Shop the next time you visit us! Recommended for any age.
Inside the Museum: Exhibits telling the history of Ellis County, Kansas, including Native Americans, George A. Custer, Wild Bill Hickok, Buffalo Bill Cody, Fort Hays, the railroad, buffalo hunters, saloons, the early towns and settlements and more. Your class will enjoy the One-Room School and hands-on area in our Learning Center where children can play with old fashioned toys and dress-up in old fashioned clothing. View one of the oldest church buildings in the area at our Stone Church. Recommended for any age.
Tours: Pre-registration is required for any of the following tours.
- One-Room School. Learn how the students from first-eighth grades were in a single classroom with one teacher for all the students. Learn how they brought their lunches in clean lard buckets or round syrup tins each day. Recommended for any age.
- Toys & Games of Long Ago. This is a hands-on presentation. Learn the history behind these toys and how your great-grandparents played with Graces, Sewing Hornbook, Jacobs Ladder, Hop Scotch, Cup & Ball Catch, Jacks, Marbles and other games. Recommended for any age.
- Early Ellis County & Hays History. Learn about the early history of the area with photos and a presentation. Recommended for 2nd grade to adults.
- Home Remedies. Presentation on the early remedies that were done in the home for various illnesses. Recommended for 2nd grade to adults.
- Hundred Years of Hats. See and hear the history of hats that your grandmother enjoyed wearing. Men and women's hats will be on display. Recommended for 2nd grade to adults.
- This is an ideal laboratory for learning local history and to help meet State Social Studies guidelines. Your students will learn the real history of the west, the railroad eras and history of the early years of Hays City, Kansas.
Sample Field Trip: Elementary instructors typically like to plan for about an hour to visit the museum, see our main gallery, saloon, one-room school, learning center and the stone church. Please plan in advance for a private tour of our outside buildings: the Volga German Haus, the Harness Shop and any of our listed tours.
Fee Payment Procedures: We ask that you pay as you enter the museum. You may make payment in the form of cash, credit card or a school check.
Group rates: K-8th grades = 50 cents
9-12th grades = $1
College = $4
Complimentary passes for teachers, bus drivers, & any adult helpers.
Handicap Accessibility: Not fully handicap accessible. There are several stairs in the building.
Bus parking: We have bus parking (loading/unloading) on the east side of our building with advance notice. Bus parking is available on the nearby side streets.
Letters received from a second grade school tour:
"Dear Ellis Co. Historical Museum, Thank you for having our second grade class come to your museum. I liked seeing the cool clothes that they used to wear. I enjoyed hearing the telephone with the people talking and I liked the big buffalo head. Old stuff is my favorite, especially the Indian pictures. It was fun looking at the old school and I really liked getting to feel the buffalo skin. I had a good time, and I hope I can come back."
 Hays Recreation Center
Missy Droegemeier
1105 Canterbury
Hays, KS 67601
785-623-2650
Fax: 785-623-2657
hrc@haysrec.org
www.haysrec.org
Office Hours: Monday-Friday 8 am–5 pm -- Wednesday open till 6 pm
Gym hours: Monday-Friday 8 am–9 pm
Saturday 9 am–5 pm
Sunday 1–5 pm
Hours vary by season - please call ahead for specific times
Field Trip Highlights: The Hays Recreation Center offers a great indoor option for school field trip groups to utilize the gyms and meeting rooms for various needs. There are two meeting rooms available at no charge for schools to use to eat lunch in or hold a field trip discussion. The smaller conference room holds 10-15 and another meeting room can accommodate 40-50. Three gyms are available at no charge to school groups to allow the students to shoot baskets, do some exercise drills or just run some steam off after a long bus ride.
Sample Field Trip: Bring your school group to the Hays Recreation Center and let the students work off a little energy in our gyms prior to lunch. You may have pizza or sub sandwiches catered to our facility and while the food is getting set up, the students can be playing basketball or volleyball in the gyms. Groups are welcome to bring their own sack lunches as well.
Fee Payment Procedures: School field trip groups can use the Hays Recreation Center's facilities at no charge. Reservations are taken on a first come first serve basis. Teachers must make reservations 2 days in advance by calling the HRC office (the earlier you make your reservations, the better chance you have a securing the date you want). School groups are responsible for any damage, stolen or missing equipment or property of the Hays Recreation Center.
Handicap Accessibility: Fully handicap accessible.
Bus parking: We have plenty of free bus parking on the west side of the building.
 Historic Fort Hays Museum
Bob Wilhelm
1472 Hwy 183 Alt
Hays, KS 67601
785-625-6812
Fax: 785-625-6812
thefort@kshs.org
www.kshs.org/places/forthays/
Hours: Tuesday – Saturday 9 am–5 pm
Approximate length of tour: 1 hour
The Historic Fort Hays Museum is located on the grounds of a former U.S. Army fort active from 1867 until 1889. Four of the historic buildings remain on the site. The officers' home is furnished as if a family were living in it in the 1800s. The guardhouse and blockhouse contain exhibits and displays concerning life at Fort Hays.
 Field Trip Highlights: Tours of the museum are available with emphasis placed on the everyday life of soldiers and others living at the fort during its active period. Special programs on Native Americans and the Buffalo, uniforms, bugle calls, and women's fashions are also available that can supplement tours. Benchmarks for Kansas History Standards can be met by visiting Fort Hays.
Sample Field Trip: The general field trip first involves an orientation around a large model of the fort. The tour group is then escorted to the officers' home where a discussion takes place on living conditions and activities. The group is then allowed to tour the guardhouse and blockhouse on their own to view the displays and exhibits. A full tour takes approximately 45 minutes to one hour. In the event a special program is requested, the guided tour can be eliminated or reduced so as to fit into the allotted time available or the tour time of one hour can be extended to approximately two hours.
Fee Payment Procedures: Payment due at the time of the tour unless other arrangements are made prior to tour date. School tour fees are $1 per student with teachers and bus driver free.
Handicap Accessibility: Guardhouse, blockhouse, Officers' Quarters II and the Visitor's Center are all wheelchair accessible. Officers' Quarters III is not.
Bus parking: We have plenty of free bus parking on the museum complex grounds.
Precision Valley Golf
Landon Paul
1500 West 27th
PO Box 575
785-625-4900
877-253-7754
landonpaul14@hotmail.com
www.precisionvalley.com
"Precision Valley Golf Center where the golf season never ends."
Hours: Monday–Friday 8 am-11 pm
Saturday 8 am-11 pm
Sunday 9 am-11 pm
Average length of visit: 2-4 hours
Precision Valley includes 4 indoor golf simulators, pro shop, 18 hole mini golf, pool tables, full service concession stand, and lighted grass driving range.
Field Trip Highlights: Students will benefit most from the miniature golf course and driving range. This is an inexpensive way for children to have a "hands-on" experience. Students can also take a tour to see how everything is performed at Precision Valley.
Sample Field Trip: A complete tour of the facility - mini golf, driving range and simulators.
Fee Payment Procedures: Call for current pricing details and group rates.
Handicap Accessibility: Yes
Bus parking: A large parking lot is on site that can accommodate several buses.
Sternberg Museum of Natural History
Mark Kellerman
3000 Sternberg Drive
Hays, KS 67601
785-628-4286
mkellerm@fhsu.edu
http://sternberg.fhsu.edu/
Home of the world renowned Fish-Within-A-Fish fossil. Step back 70-80 million years ago and see how Kansas might have looked when it was part of an inland sea and dinosaurs such as T. rex roamed the land.
Amenities include optional billed admission, full handicap accessibility, and ample, convenient car and bus parking.
Customizing field trips and tailoring them to meet your specific wishes and needs are our specialty. What unit are you currently having your students study? Care for a full-fledged guided tour or simply a brief welcome and orientation followed by a self-directed tour? Need an educational presentation to augment your visit? Need a place indoors to eat sack lunches? Care to include the museum gift shop in your visit?
Thousands of students, teachers, and chaperones visit the Sternberg Museum of Natural History, one of the most impressive museums between Kansas City and Denver. What we can do for you?
Contact person: Mark Kellerman, Reservations Manager
785-628-5298
mkellerm@fhsu.edu
Fee Payment Procedures: $2.50 per student.
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To ensure your group will receive a VIP welcome, we will be happy to provide souvenir gifts, make available a step-on guide, arrange a welcome from our staff or include a reception at your hotel. Perhaps when your group arrives to check into the hotel they would like to try a favorite local delicious German pastry – kuchen - or later in the evening, dine at one of our restaurants that features German food. We encourage you to e-mail us and request your copy today. 
To learn about the life of the Western Kansas farmer and rancher, you need to get out in the field and pastures and experience first hand what it is like to work with the land and cattle as your livelihood. There are ten agriculture attractions in Ellis County that are available for tours or provide hands-on farm and ranch activities. 
oughout the year. Downtown Hays is becoming a magnet for artists and galleries. Our multi-million dollar performing arts center showcases a wide variety of events from Broadway shows, to dance troupes, to symphonies and more. Theatre productions are presented several times throughout the year in Felten Start Theatre.
Ellis is know as the "Antique City of the High Plains" and Hays has over a dozen craft, antique and wonderfully unique specialty shops that are always fun to explore. One of the first attractions to the Chestnut Street District is our very own general store – C. S. Post – featured in many national home décor magazines.
Hays City, founded in 1867, earned a reputation as a wild frontier town and was a gathering place for scouts, gamblers, buffalo hunters, railroad workers, soldiers and desperadoes. Tours to Historic Fort Hays, Ellis County Historical Society Museum, and the Volga-German House will allow you to step back in history and see what life on the frontier was like.
On September 20, 2003, Ellis County was proclaimed the official German Capital of Kansas. There are more German festivals, Oktoberfests and German attractions in our communities 
The military history of Hays began in 1866 with the arrival of Fort Hays, a U.S. military supply depot. Hays is also fortunate to have one of 49 boxcars given to the United States by the citizens of France in 1949 to say "merci" for the generosity Americans showed in providing assistance to their country rebuilding from the ravages of World War I. I. 
was an inland sea.
