Register For History Camp

The Newtown Historical Society announces that registration is open for its 2012 Summer History Camp. The camp will take place at the Matthew Curtiss House on Main Street, the week of July 23–27. This camp is for children ages 8–10. It will offer these children the chance to step back to 1750 and spend some time living the life of a Colonial child.

The camp, in its eighth year, is the brainchild of historical society trustee and former history teacher Gordon Williams. The camp had been a dream of his for many years. After he was no longer president of the Newtown Historical Society, Mr Williams had time turn his dream into a reality.

For the five days that the camp is in session, Mr Williams and three other adults, all educators, will guide the campers through hands-on pursuits. From the moment they cross the threshold of the historic house until they go home, children are engaged in activities from another era, each day offering new adventures.

By the time last year’s campers had written their names with quill pens on name tags, they were at ease. By the time the girls had decorated “mop” caps sharing buttons and bows, and the boys had cut out and sewn their own vests, they had begun to make friends. Like last year’s children, this year’s campers will learn the real meaning of “Sleep tight, don’t let the bedbugs bite” and other homilies from the Colonial era.

 Every summer the campers make their snacks the old-fashioned way. They shake jars of cream to make butter and crank the grinder of an old-fashioned ice cream maker. They also help prepare the fruit cobblers that are baked on an open hearth.

Campers also get to play some of the games their Colonial counterparts played. Graces, an activity that involves throwing small hoops into the air and catching with sticks, hoop rolling and cat’s cradle are just a few of the games that engage the campers on the lawn of Curtiss House. One of the highlights of these activities is learning to play marbles with their own handcrafted and painted marbles, made as they were centuries ago.

Children also learn to weave their own baskets, make bricks, as well as practice the art of tin smithing, creating their own lanterns.

Parents and campers alike have praised the History Camp experience as one that has enriched their knowledge and view of a bygone era.

The cost of the camp is $135 for members of Newtown Historical Society and $150 for nonmembers. To reserve your child’s opportunity to attend, send a nonrefundable $25 deposit (which will be applied to the camp fee) to Newtown Historical Society Summer Camp — Attention Gordon Williams, PO Box 189, Newtown CT 06470. For additional information, call 203-426-6443.