Liichokoshkomo’
Outdoor play is coming to the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum!
New Outdoor Venue
Opening Spring 2020
A place to learn and play in the Museum’s backyard
The outdoor expansion is a cross-cultural setting with more than 100,000 square feet dedicated to learning and family fun. Plan your journey West for a hands-on, minds-on experience just in time for Spring Break!
Trading Post
Pawnee Structure
Chickasaw Council House
Caddo Structure
Kiowa Tipi
Children's Building
Wagon and Mural
Site Plan
Structures in Liichokoshkomo’
- Intertribal Village will include dwellings that represent seven indigenous groups:
- Caddo
- Chickasaw
- Hopi
- Kiowa
- Navajo
- Pawnee
- Puebloan
- Rodeo
- Express Employment Professionals Railcar and Train Depot
- The Greens’ Pioneer Path Sod Home
- The Greens’ Pioneer Path Interactive Wagon
- Love’s Trading Post
- Friess Family Playground
- Inscription Canyon
- Gaylord Corral and Cattle Ramp
- Annie Oakley Society Center and Statue
- A wild buffalo herd
- Geyser and Waterfall
Prosperity Junction, everyone’s favorite cattle town, will be adjacent to the space, which now includes a new 50-person theater.
About Liichokoshkomo’
Construction is underway at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum. You’re invited to experience hands-on learning in a new space for people of all ages. Liichokoshkomo’ (pronounced Lee-cho-kosh-ko-MO) is a Chickasaw phrase for “Let’s play!” Generations will come together to experience it on-site starting at Spring Break 2020.
Transform a Museum visit into an interactive day outside! Learn about diverse cultures, play traditional games, create art in a space where it’s okay to get messy. Hear storytellers, stargaze, make s’mores and memories under our Western skies.
Fun lives at Liichokoshkomo.’
People. Places. Perseverance.
Experience America’s story as it unfolds across the West.
Heritage. Culture. Community.
Learn by doing! Experience the customs that form traditions and enjoy an urban oasis in the heart of Oklahoma City.
Create Your Own West
STEAM activities, guided learning and expert-led classes give families a different way to experience history and culture. Come experience purposeful play in the Museum’s backyard!
Experiential Learning
Art and preserved artifacts are inside the Museum. Outside, Liichokoshkomo’ shows Oklahoma’s vibrant people, through crafts, cooking and more.
- Plot constellations
- Grind corn
- Add to a weaving on a giant loom
- Load a pioneer wagon to hypothesize your journey West
- Dodge a geyser
- Learn from science experiments
- Hear from cross-cultural storytellers
STEAM
STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math) powers learning at Liichokoshkomo.’ Hands-on activities teach math and chemistry through kitchen science experiments, how a tipi is constructed and other applied engineering concepts.
Art
Art inside the Museum inspires children to become creators within its backyard. As a maker space, there’s room to do crafts and art that imitates a set theme or technique according to a guest artist’s instruction.
Room to Roam
Liichokoshkomo’ is an intentional green space: picnics, playgrounds and free play. Take a break outside with kids in a relaxed area.
Discovery Areas: Hands-on, minds-on
Join us to create within an imaginative outdoor learning environment, a maker space for all generations.
We’re preserving traditional arts and passing along the customs unique to indigenous groups, settlers and ranchers.
Activities
Try new activities in a beautiful setting. Give kids the freedom to play in the Museum’s backyard.
Experience
Experience the cultures that influenced the West.
Plan Your Visit
Mark your calendar: Plan to attend Liichokoshkomo’s Spring Break Sneak Peek Week, Saturday, March 14 through March 20, 2020.
Activities
Parenting in the golden age of the silver screen presents unique challenges. STEAM activities at Liichokoshkomo’ balance technology with its practical application through hands-on minds-on games, experiments and cooperative learning. Participate in cultural arts, from folk dance and basketweaving to decorating a water jar or beading necklaces.
Nature
Acres for running, trees and plants are part of Liichokoshkomo.’ Match up animal tracks, observe pollinators, pitch horseshoes and use binoculars to look for animals in the Museum’s backyard. Encourage healthy habits through active play on our playground within the 100,000-square foot space.
Classes and Programming
Planned Offerings Include:
- Dutch oven cooking
- Basketmaking
- Candle dipping
- Leatherwork
- Sewing
- Fishing 101
- Applied engineering concepts through Native American structures
- Family campout with s’mores and constellation mapping
- Pet a Horse Equestrian Day
Spring Break Sneak Peek Week Themed Activity Days
A Spring Break Sneak Peek Week will be open to the public each day from March 14 through March 20, with a variety of activities available to the public and included in the cost of regular Museum admission. Live entertainment, storytelling and food sampling will take place rain or shine. Museum admission for children ages 5 and under is free.
Plan to visit for these themed activities:
Saturday, March 14: Taste of the West – A day of food demonstrations with traditional cuisines from throughout the American West. Sample foods like hardtack, cornbread, fry bread and grape dumplings.
Monday, March 16: Crafts at The Cowboy – Children can become makers by participating in crafts, including pottery, basket weaving, beading, silversmith arts and leatherwork.
Tuesday, March 17: Perked-Up Playdate on the Friess Family Playground – Plan to meet up with friends to play together on the new playground equipment. Lattés for parents and hot cocoa for children will be offered without charge, thanks to our sponsor: EÔTÉ Coffee Company.
Our first session will be held indoors February 18.
Register here.
Wednesday, March 18: Rhythm and Rhyme – Children can touch and try musical instruments, listen to music, watch folkloric and native dance demonstrations, participate in square dance and more.
Blackbird Dance Troupe, Jim Garling, Eterna Primavera Guatemalan dance group and Estrella Chapina marimba band will be among the live performers present.
Thursday, March 19: Picnic and Planting Day – Pack a picnic and experience the first official day of spring in Liichokoshkomo,’ with seasonally-themed activities that celebrate the outdoor space’s natural elements and intentional greenspace. Plant wildflowers seeds along Liichokoshkomo’s tree line with provided seed packets. Check out how they’re growing at a future visit!
Friday, March 20: World Storytelling Day – Families can explore the art and methods of storytelling and the passing on of oral traditions from one generation to the next. Listen to cowboy poetry, tell your story at the open mic session and create your own travel journal and six-word story.
Follow the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum on social media for class schedules, updates and additional events.
#askacurator
#howdoyoumuseum
#visitmywest
April 15 – For Museum members: Private ribbon cutting ceremony
An event will be hosted Wednesday, April 15 at 5:30 p.m. for the new 100,000 square-foot venue, with a private ribbon cutting ceremony. Annie Oakley Society National Co-Chairs Cathy Keating, former first lady of Oklahoma, and Lynn Friess will be present to celebrate the culmination of the Society’s fundraising efforts. Museum Board Members, Annie Oakley Society members and donors will also be in attendance.
Liichokoshkomo’ was made possible in part by the Annie Oakley Society through a decade of related philanthropic campaigns.
Find out about Museum memberships here.
F
ree admission for foster families
We recognize the important role foster families play in our community for children to grow and thrive. Here at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, we encourage imaginative play and learning through science, technology, engineering, art and math (STEAM) experiences.
Come visit us as we work together to make happy childhood memories. Free Museum admission is made possible for foster families by the Arnall Family Foundation. Show your Foster Parent Exclusive Benefit card at your next visit and come experience the Museum without charge. Find more information here.
Annie Oakley Society
Liichokoshkomo’ is a project of the Annie Oakley Society. Its mission is to build and sustain world-class educational experiences for children and families to teach the rich history of the American West for generations to come. Special thanks to the Annie Oakley Society’s members, who have helped make the space possible.
Press
Press inquiries: Gina Anderson, (405) 478-2250, ext. 284 or Callie Collins, (405) 478-2250, ext. 293
Liichokoshkomo’ – Where play and culture meet
Experiential learning in the Museum’s backyard
Liichokoshkomo’ is the Museum’s premier outdoor education experience and playscape. STEAM activities meet cultural diversity in the Museum’s backyard.
Find the Liichokoshkomo’ press kit here.
Liichokoshkomo’ centers on three key themes: people, places and perseverance.
Experiential learning transforms a Museum visit into a hands-on, minds-on adventure within a space dedicated to making history and culture more accessible than ever. Engaging activities and learning by doing bring history to life for museum guests of all ages, with emphasis on purposeful play.
The world-class educational setting opens at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in time for Spring Break 2020.
Groundbreaking, November 2018
