Step Back in Time and Live Like a Pioneer!

2011's Week 2 group poses for a photo at the Volkmann Cabin during Pioneer Camp.

One of the Dickinson County Heritage Center’s most popular programs, Pioneer Camp, will be here soon, and plans are currently underway to make it a great experience for all youth who participate. If you are not aware, Pioneer Camp is a week-long day camp for young kids to come to the museum and not only learn how pioneers lived, but actually live that way! The kids get to take part in a bunch of educational and physical activities, getting an experience of life in the mid-1800s in Kansas. Many of the activities include crafts, games, a visit to the prairie, class in a one room schoolhouse, and typical chores. What parents often find fascinating about this program is that their kids actually enjoy doing chores! Granted, these are not the types of jobs they normally do at home. Most kids don’t have to fetch a bucket of water or stuff sausage. With all of these different unique activities, Pioneer Camp is quite an experience.

As always, this should prove to be a fantastic event this year, and I’ll be sure to post images and a recap in June. The activities for this year’s camp are already planned out, and we are going to try a few new activities throughout the week. Since we are a small county-based museum, we would love to hear new ideas on how we can continue to make Pioneer Camp a great experience. If you have any thoughts, comments, or new activity ideas, feel free to comment below. Together, we can create great programming at the Heritage Center.