The Kalona Historical Village kicked off its first week of summer camp June 19-22 for kids who completed grades K-5.  The hands-on activities, placed in historical context, provide a much-needed antidote to our increasingly digital and virtual world.

On Wednesday, June 21, campers made ice cream by shaking baggies of salt and cream inside larger baggies of ice, learning that a sweet treat could be made simply and need not only be purchased at a supermarket.  While they were dealing with cold fingers, older kids worked on creating their own lanterns from aluminum cans; they poked holes, painted the outside, and beaded the handle of their useful creation.  Later in the day, they would make candles to go inside.

Earlier in the week, the campers learned from Grace Tully how to weave on a loom.  

“Some of them have been here all three years, so they just go to town,” Tully said, showing off what the kids had made during two 20-minute sessions.  What they do with the tapestries they take home is up to them, but Tully has lots of practical ideas; the kids might use their work as a coaster, wall decoration, doll house blanket, or even stuff and finish it to make a pin cushion.

Ice cream wasn’t the only edible campers learned to make during the week; they also made bread, butter, and jam cooked over a fire.  

“They’re able to eat what they’re making,” Sydney Bowlin pointed out, which contributes to the satisfaction and accomplishment in learning a new skill.

Emily Marner, who started helping at the camp three years ago when she came to take photos for The News, said this year they are trying some new things with campers to “switch it up,” and they’re providing more of each activity’s history. 

There are fewer campers during this first week, which helps the staff refine the program for next week, when a more robust group of 18 kids will attend.