Tryon Palace
By donnabc on
Instead of an Easter Party this year, my son's third grade class took a field trip to Tryon Palace in New Bern, NC.
The kids and adults were all captivated by our tour of the palace and adjacent properties. In fact, I did not even here the kids complain about being hunergy or tired the whole 4 hours we were there.I would say the best part is the hands on exhibits that the kids did.They learned how to pick out cotton seeds and comb the cotton.They actually all stitched 10 or more stitches into a quilt that was in a quilting frame.They made corn husks dolls and learned how spices came and had to be prepared for use in the olden days (and even graded some nutmeg and grinded some pepper).
The cook showed them how the fire was used to cook and what jobs they might do if they lived during that time (ie. start the fire and haul in the wood).
An eye opener for quite a few of the kids (and some grown ups) was the absense of running water.They learned all about slop buckets and how, that would likely be a chore for someone of their age as well.
The girls all loved the clothing of the time.But, the boys were distressed to learn that boys and girls all wore dresses until about age 6 when boys began wearing knickers.
Our last activity was lawn bowling.Everyone loved this game and several of the parents talked about buying it for home.
Now for the negative:I was upset that there are numerous exhibits that were not operating on this day at ALL during the entire time we were there.The blacksmith shop was closed.There was no one to operate the spinning wheel or loom.We were not given a tour of the gardens, which is one of the things that Tryon Palace is known for.No pictures could be taken inside...a bummer since I love to document my trips:0(And finally, the kids were supposed to make candles but were unable to do this because of the wind.
This sounds exactly like a place where I went with my class called Museum Village in Monreo, New York. There are all types of hands on thngs which my students did. We too took the seeds out of the wool and comber the cotton, made candles, helped with a printing press, saw brooms being made, viewed a one room schoolhouse, and saw many other exhibits. I am sorry to hear tha the blacksmith shop was closed, no one was there to run use the loom or spinning wheel, and you did not get to tour the beautiful gardens. I sounds like they had a terrific time despite the few negative things. Educational trips are so much more fun as they have fun while learning. Excellent details. Nice job!
What a great field trip! Too bad about some of the exhibits that were closed, but it sounds like there were lots of other things that the kids got to do. I have lived in NC all my life, but have never made my way to Tryon Palace. Now that I know all the other stuff there is to do there, I might have to make plans to go.
I live in NC too, but have never been to New Bern. It sounds like a great educational day for the kids!
These places are so vitally important in a child's education. Instead of the text medium, they can see and participate in a good slice of daily life as it was really lived back then. What a priceless experience:)
You should try the candle light tour around Christmas.
This sounds really fun, even though not everything was open. Re the spinning wheel; my aunt used to live in Maryland, and they had a museum nearby similar to this. The people that did the actual spinning were all volunteers, and she was one of them (amazing woman, knits, spins, weaves, you name it! -- now she makes pottery too!), and they take turns, but if somebody gets sick, or has an emergency, there isn't always a substitute, and that may have been the problem. While a couple of local museums here have some hands-on displays, I really wish there were more of them. Froggy is so right!
This does sound like a fantastic place to tour despite some exhibits not being opened.