When visiting Seal Cove Auto Museum, a variety of take-away activities are available for visitors of all ages. Whether visiting physically or educating from afar, the Museum strives to make its educational resources easily accessible for teachers and students. Explore this section to discover ways to enhance your visit and continue learning in your classroom or at home.

Around America to Win the Vote

Are you planning a trip to Seal Cove Auto Museum and looking for a way to get your students excited for their experience? Before visiting, the Museum encourages educators to take part in this schema-building activity with their students by reading the children’s book Around America to Win the Vote by Mara Rockliff.

The story is set in 1916 and follows Nell Richardson and Alice Burke along their cross-country road trip in a little yellow car, campaigning for women’s voting rights!

Seal Cove Auto Museum incorporates stories from the Women’s Suffrage movement into its exhibits and features a replica of the little yellow Saxon driven by the two women in Around America to Win the Vote. Our 1916 Saxon was donated and built by Seal Cove Auto Museum Board Member, Jerryl Schriever, and husband, Alex Huppe. Students visiting the Museum often get the chance to sit in this car, with the supervision of a staff member.

Around America to Win the Vote can be found online or here in our gift shop. If you are a local educator and wish to borrow one of our copies before your visit, contact us directly!

Image caption: Seal Cove Auto Museum, Richard C. Paine, Jr., Automobile Charitable Trust Collection, some autos pictured in the Museum.

The Bertha Benz Video

As part of one of the Museum’s exhibits, Engines of Change, our 1886 Benz Patent-Motorwagen Replica is on display alongside a video of Bertha Benz taking her famous drive. The video is often viewed by school groups as part of their tour, leading into a discussion about how women influenced the car industry and how the car industry played a role in women’s suffrage.

The video can be viewed before a field trip if educators would like to familiarize their students beforehand.

Widely regarded as the world’s first automobile, the 1886 Benz Motorwagen was first driven on a long-distance road test by none other than Bertha Benz, wife of Karl Benz, the car’s designer. Bertha had lost patience with Karl because he continued to delay road-testing his new invention. Taking matters into her own hands, Bertha and her sons snuck into Karl’s workshop, took his machine, and drove it 65 miles to visit her mother. Along the way, she took meticulous notes about the vehicle and made her own repairs as well.

Watch the video to follow Bertha along her journey!

Video: Film Bertha Benz ENG

Image caption: Seal Cove Auto Museum, Richard C. Paine, Jr., Automobile Charitable Trust Collection, 1886 Benz Patent-Motorwagen Replica.

Lessons and Activities for Download

Electric Battery Homopolar Motor

Duration: 1–2 hours
Recommended age: 10+

To demonstrate the simplicity of electric motor technology, participants are tasked with building a homopolar motor with items that can commonly be found in a household drawer.

Participants will develop an understanding of electrical energy by seeing firsthand how electricity flows through a conductor and, when placed in a magnetic field, results in the “motor” making a full rotation.

Even though the technology is simple, it can often take quite a bit of tinkering to successfully get your motor to run. This project is best suited for children over 10 years of age and requires good hand-eye coordination.

Downloadable PDF: Electric Motor Activity

DIY Balloon Car STEM Activity

Duration: 1 hour
Recommended age: 5+

Experiment with Newton’s Laws of Motion by building a self-propelling vehicle out of items you might find around your home.

This STEM activity is a fantastic way to practice hand-eye coordination and teach students about wind energy and how it can be used to set an object in motion. To demonstrate Newton’s second law of motion, add weight to the inside of the vehicle, causing the mass of the object to reduce its acceleration.

Downloadable PDF: DIY Balloon Car

Automobile Coloring Pages

Download coloring pages featuring different automobiles from the Seal Cove Auto Museum collection.

Downloadable PDFs:

• FRP Coloring Page

• Mount Wagon Coloring Page

• Huckster Coloring Page

• Crane Coloring Page

• Knox Coloring Page

Crossword Puzzle

Download a crossword puzzle featuring questions about Seal Cove Auto Museum.

Downloadable PDF: Crossword Puzzle

Word Search

Download a word search activity for an engaging way to explore automotive history.

Downloadable PDF: Word Search