Field Trip! Today we went to the Vision Heirs Living History Day. It’s a fun re-enactment of the signing of the Declaration of Independence and a great way to see what it was like to live in the days of the pioneers. As we are going through this in our curriculum, timing was great. There are lots of pics in this post, so bear with me ;0)
They start with a play where they explain the Declaration of Independence and why we are at war with the British:
Then we went outside to their different stations, our visit was with the long hunters, named that due to the long trips (6 months at at time) they would take to hunt and trap furs. We learned how to load a rifle, why it was called a rifle (due to the spiral inside the barrel) and how to set animal traps and tan a hide. Did you know that God created the animals to have just enough brains to tan their own hides? Me neither, but apparently they would kill the animal, then soak it in their own squished up brains to make it nice and soft…ewe right?
Then we visited the blacksmith, who showed us how to make a musket and bullets.
We then moved to the militia, got a pep talk to rally the troops to fight against the British, then went to battle. The “pioneers” won and the British retreated screaming like sissies ;o) Notice the couple kids lying down who got shot! It was hysterical!
While the men were off at war, the women learned how to tend to their wounds and make some very dry crunchy bread thingy…Sorry I’m light on the details I was watching the war 🙂
After that was a trip to the farm, where we saw the animals, and kinds of food they grew and sold or traded. I think this was the best part for my 2nd grader as it involved her holding a live bunny. We tried to catch a chicken, but man those things are fast!
We also learned how to spin wool and make blankets.
Stopped for a quick photo op between stations, my 2nd yr old and our friends, minus my kindergartner who was determined not to be photographed today.
Next up was the wood working, where we sawed logs, whittled wood, and I forget the name of this big thingy that spun table legs, but it was cool to watch.
while the men sawed their logs, the women went off to basket making, this was fun and my daughter is doing it for her Keeper’s group on Monday night, so it was nice timing!
Then off to the mud house building, they got to help put up mud to seal the cracks between the logs. I asked what happened when it rained, and they told me that if it could set for a week or so without rain, it would bake in the sun like brick almost and stand up to the weather quite well…talk about a dirty house! LOL! (notice I got my kindergartner when he wasn’t looking, he’s in the black shirt)
Next up was the music section, here we heard stories of men off to war, and songs inspired in the time. We learned about the instruments as well.
Finally was candle making, we had to exit this one quickly because they also had a bee-hive to show how they got the wax and my 2nd grader is allergic so we dipped our candle quickly and bailed out, I’m happy to report sting free!
And though the Teeny Tiny Tot couldn’t come with us, It appears she had a grand time with her Nana!
So that was our field trip on the Pioneers. If you ever get a chance to do something like this go! It was lots of fun, and full of hands on fun for the kids.