This paper described the types and characteristics of educational programs in major natural history museums of the world. Data were collected from the websites, annual reports, and written materials of the Natural History Museum at London, Australian Museum at Sydney, Field Museum of Natural History at Chicago, Smithsonian Museum at Washington D.C, Royal Tyrrell Museum at Canada and American Museum of Natural History at New York. As the result of this study, we presented ten types of educational programs, which were moveable museums, workshops, lecture/courses, festival/events, discovery activities, scientific exploration/research projects, field trips, youth curators/internship, loan materials and camp/tours. We also described the examples equivalent to each program type. The characteristics of educational programs provided by museums as informal learning settings were analyzed in terms of their themes, participation levels, connection with exhibition, relation to curriculum, and learning activity levels. Information in this paper will assist science teachers, museum educators and curators: (1) to design and implement various types and contents of educational programs; (2) to use characteristics of educational programs to assess and develop them; (3) to make important contributions to science education that involves the introduction of various scientific aspects and collections to the public, and the use of programs for science learning and teaching coherent to existing curricula.