Pre-K Group Visits
Book Your Visit
To book your group visit, submit the appropriate request form. For questions, please email earlychildhood@vmfa.museum.
Self-Directed Group Visits
We love to hear when you are bringing your group to the museum! Self-directed groups explore VMFA’s campus without a Tour Guide. Prior to your group's visit, we will send you suggestions for gallery experiences, guidelines to review, and resources for classroom learning.
Submit the Self-Directed Request Form, which is for children aged infant to 5 years. If the majority of your students fall outside of that range, please fill out the K–12 form.
We strongly encourage you to submit your request three (3) weeks in advance. If you plan to bring more than 20 students, please break up into smaller groups of fewer than 20 students in each group, and enter the museum one group at a time. Groups should plan to rotate through the galleries.
Guided Group Visits
Students and teachers engage their natural curiosity and sense of wonder as they explore the Virginia Early Learning and Development Standards through interactive gallery tours and hands-on art projects. Browse our themes to find the best programming for you and your students.
Requests for a visit must be made in advance and are subject to availability. To book a guided group visit, submit the Guided Group Visit Request Form.
Available October–May, on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Fridays, at 10 am or 10:30 am:
Students aged 4–5 years
Maximum 18 children, one chaperone required per five students
Up to four adult chaperones can be accommodated. Additional chaperones must be approved.
The program fee is $10 per child. Payment for a minimum of 10 children is required per visit. Adult chaperones are free. Scholarships are available on a limited basis.
Length: 90 minutes / Tour + Art Project
Themes
1-2-3-4-5 Senses! Students use their five senses as a framework for discussing works of art and practicing spatial concepts as they assemble a textural collage.
You, Me & Our Community: After discovering connections between their community and different cultures, students create expressive portraits with paint, paper, and reflective materials.
Shapely Sculptures: Students identify shapes, investigate sculptures and engineering concepts, and create a 3D work of art by combining wooden shapes and modeling clay.
Lunch
If your group would like to bring bag lunches and eat indoors, a lunchroom is available, on a limited basis, and must be reserved in advance. Contact Special Events at 804.340.1590 or specialevents@vmfa.museum to reserve the lunchroom. If the lunchroom is not available, you may eat your bagged lunches outdoors in the Robins Sculpture Garden, weather permitting.
Playdate and Create (for Playgroups)
Gather your group of children and caregivers for a fun and educational experience with music, movement, stories, gallery exploration, and expressive art making.
Requests for a visit must be made in advance and are subject to availability. Available on select Monday and Friday mornings. The 90-minute visit runs from 10 am to 11:30 am. Choose one of the following:
90-minute preschool playgroup for children ages 2 1/2–5 years
60-minute visit for toddler group for children ages 18 months–2 1/2 years
Developmentally appropriate tour and art project, focused on a theme of your choice
A minimum of 10 children and a maximum of 18, per program
$18 per child/caregiver pair, paid in advance upon registration
Themes
1-2-3-4-5 Senses! Students use their five senses as a framework for discussing works of art and practicing spatial concepts as they assemble a textural collage.
You, Me & Our Community: After discovering connections between their community and different cultures through works of art, students create expressive portraits with paint, paper, and reflective materials.
Shapely Sculptures: Search for shapes in paintings and sculptures. Make a masterpiece by mixing math with art.
Registration is accepted year-round. Requests must be made in advance and are subject to availability. To book a Playdate and Create, submit the Playdate and Create Visit Request Form.
Lunch
If your group would like to bring bag lunches and eat indoors, a lunchroom is available, on a limited basis, and must be reserved in advance. Contact Special Events at 804.340.1590 or specialevents@vmfa.museum to reserve the lunchroom. If the lunchroom is not available, you may eat your bagged lunches outdoors in the Robins Sculpture Garden, weather permitting
Plan Your Visit
Experience a world-class art museum with hometown hospitality. The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts houses a remarkable permanent collection of more than 50,000 works of art from almost every major world culture.
We’re open 365 days a year and general admission is always free.
