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Peek into prairie life: Chestnut Square offers kids living history at summer camp
Chris Beattie/Staff Photo - Prairie Adventure Camp Director Erin Robbins, front left, teaches the kids how to play marbles Tuesday outside the schoolhouse building.
By Chris Beattie, cbeattie@acnpapers.com
McKinney kids are learning first hand what life on a farm is like this summer at Chestnut Square Historic Village.
The seventh annual Prairie Adventure Camp began Tuesday morning to give youngsters a living history experience filled with butter churning, quilting and square dancing. Kids ages 7-12 can attend the nine-week camp, which enables a history lesson more authentic than one they'd receive through school lectures.
"A lot of kids come around interested in the 'Little House on the Prairie' sort of life,'" Chestnut Square Executive Director Cindy Johnson said. "It gives a hands-on kind of experience to kids, something they can't get anywhere else in McKinney, so they really enjoy it."
Six kids came Tuesday to Chestnut Square, where they put on their overalls or flowered dresses and submersed themselves into prairie-style living. Camp director Erin Robbins took before and after photos of their transformation before she began lessons at the historical schoolhouse.
The lone boy camper had to enter and exit the building through a door separate from the girl campers, just like in the old days. Robbins, who volunteered at the camp the last two years, lives on a farm in Chambersville about 10 miles north of McKinney. She was happy to oblige when the previous director asked her to run this year's camp.
"I already do some of the things we talk about," she said, "and I really love history."
Once in the schoolhouse, Robbins and two volunteers showed the kids how to weave and explained to them Americans' reliance on the craft in earlier times. The campers then traveled through the historic village to the Dulaney House, where they each churned a personal jar of butter.
Robbins got the butter recipe from a family that lives on a 90-acre farm, where members make their own food and use candles and lanterns for nighttime lighting, while relying on solar electricity during the day. One camper said that she thought it'd be cool to make her own food because it wouldn't cost as much money.
The farm life isn't always so appealing, though. Robbins said she gets up at about 5:30 a.m. during the summer, as part of a routine that many kids might dread.
"You have to milk a cow twice a day," Robbins told the campers. "Most people milk their cow at four in the morning and four in the afternoon. I don't think you'd want to get up at four o'clock to milk your cow."
The campers seemed more interested in their present creation as they stuffed their mouths with saltine crackers dipped in homemade butter. They placed half-empty jars in their camp baskets and filed back into the schoolhouse.
Volunteer Danielle Johnson, donning a matching dress and bonnet, came to McKinney for a summer internship. She's in graduate school in Connecticut for museum education and found an ideal opportunity at Chestnut Square.
"I really like living history, dressing up and hands-on activities," she said. "It's what I like to do, so I actually asked to help with the camp."
Campers ended their first day by playing jacks on the schoolhouse floor and marbles outside beneath the village trees. As their parents arrived to pick them up and bring them back into modern society, the kids remained around the marbles circle, eager to stay in another time period for just a few more minutes.
Days ahead will feature homemade ice cream and blacksmithing among other staples of what often seems a forgotten lifestyle.
"It's great especially for the kids," Danielle said. "Sometimes people think history is just in a book and something that already happened long ago, so getting them to actually do what people have done helps them appreciate it more."
Prairie Adventure Camp is open to kids ages 7-12 and costs $100 per child. Camp days run from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. Camp 1 is June 7-9 or June 14-16; Camp 2 is June 21-23 or June 28-30; Camp 3 is July 5-7 or July 12-14; Camp 4 is July 19-21. Chestnut Square Historic Village is located at 315 S. Chestnut St. in McKinney.
For information or to register, visit www.chestnutsquare.org.
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