On their last day of camp the kids painted their hand-print keepsakes, decorated picture frames, and made old-fashioned optical-illusion toys called thaumatropes. Then they played outdoor games at the Oberlin Heritage Center’s Little Red Schoolhouse. At the end of the day they welcomed family to an end-of-camp program and proudly displayed their exhibits and all of the things they’ve been crafting. It’s been a wonderful week!
These were the photos that campers chose to have scanned to be digital history records. Everyone has a history and it’s important to preserve and share yours too! Take photos, keep a journal, write down names and dates, create a family tree, jot down your favorite things and places, and keep telling those family stories.
Campers got dirty making molds and mixing plaster to create hand-print keepsakes. Tomorrow we’ll paint the dried casts. The ancient game of marbles was a hit. Campers also enjoyed making mini-oral histories using the laptop sound recorder. In the afternoon campers made tangram sets, an ancient Chinese puzzle game, and wrote stories set in historic times (although ninjas crept into one plot-line, as they tend to do).
Campers have been busy preparing mini history exhibits about Queen Elizabeth I, Queen Elizabeth II, Laura Ingalls Wilder, knights and armor, their grandfathers’ participation in World War II, and the history of Nascar.
Today we walked to the Oberlin News-Tribune to see how newspapers are made. Thanks to Kathleen Willbond, Paul Morton and Tom Hutson for the first-class tour of the office and archived newspapers! After the visit, campers returned to the Depot to carve and print with linoleum blocks. Then we played a classic game called “Drop the handkerchief” and sewed homemade bean bags – filled with real beans.
Day 2: Campers walked downtown and took photographs of current businesses to match old photos from the Oberlin Heritage Center’s “Our Common Center” photo database. History Explorerers campers even got behind the scenes tours of the Midas shop and Ben Franklin basement. Back at the Depot they tried writing with feather quills and ink and made historic toys called “whizzers.”
Thank you to the following individuals and businesses for letting us take photos:
Midas Muffler: Steve Jennings, Keith Konnerth, Regis Metheney, Barry Jones
Watson Hardware: Jerry Anderson
Herrick Jewelry: Malcolm Fowler
Manuel’s: Manuel Espinoza
Ben Franklin: Krista Long
