Tag Archives: Summer Camp

The 1860s Will Never Be the Same

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Hannah_SummerCamp2-72Update: We’re sad to say that we didn’t get enough campers to offer this event, but we’re regrouping and planning our next steps. Stay tuned for some pop-up family events pulled from the summer camp’s curriculum.

Original story: How can you engage your child with history while strengthening their literacy skills and letting them have a ball? Give them the gift of a weeklong trip to action-packed 1863 at the New Mexico History Museum’s summer camp, Time Trekkers. Children 9-11 will enjoy VIP access to the museum and get daily doses of hands-on learning—braiding horsehair bracelets, gathering a picnic lunch at the Santa Fe Farmers Market, practicing calligraphy, roping a calf dummy, hand-stitching their own book, playing old-time games and more. Make new friends, strengthen literacy skills, explore different kinds of artwork and learn how history connects the past to the present.

Time Trekkers takes place 10 am–4 pm, Monday–Friday, June 15–19. Cost is $125 (10 percent discount to children and grandchildren of Museum of New Mexico Foundation members). Space is limited. For info on how to register by June 1, contact René Harris at rene.harris@state.nm.us or Melanie LaBorwit at melanie.laborwit@state.nm.us.

Each day has a different focus—Historical Clothing, Traditional Foodways, Cartography and Calligraphy, Ranch Work and Civil War Life, and a Fantastic Field Day. Scheduled activities include:

  • Try on clothes from the 1860s and master the craft of horsehair braiding.
  • Take a field trip to the Santa Fe Farmers Market to gather fresh fruits and vegetables and help prepare old-style recipes.
  • Go behind-the-scenes at the museum’s Fray Angélico Chávez History Library and Photo Archives to check out fascinating maps.
  • Practice the art of writing with a quill.
  • Learn how to make a rope, then rope a cow. Be part of a bucket-brigade contest. Make adobe bricks.
  • Step inside the Palace Press to learn a simple bookbinding technique.
  • Play! Participate in historic games such as hoops, marbles, three-legged races and the game of graces.

Art projects are woven into daily activities, and all supplies are included in camp fee. A short playground/snack break is scheduled each day.