GREELEY, Colo. — What’s summer without summer camp? History Colorado’s Hands-On History Camp will be at Centennial Village Museum for four weeks this summer, giving kids in first through fifth grades a fun way to learn about Colorado’s heritage.
This will be the first year the camp is offered in Greeley, and is one of only two pilot camps run between History Colorado trusted partners this summer. The other camp is taking place in La Junta. The camp is an expansion of History Colorado’s Hands-On History program, which reflects History Colorado’s ongoing commitment to providing local communities with high quality, history-based enrichment and educational programs for children of working families.
“Hands-On History came about due to a shortfall of affordable childcare opportunities in the community of Pueblo and rapidly expanded throughout the state as a core educational offering of History Colorado,” said Tamara Trujillo, Hands-On History program director.
Chris Bowles, Ph.D, museums manager for the City of Greeley, says that the camp offers Greeley Museums an opportunity to reach kids throughout the community and provide them with access to history. “The beauty of the Hands-On History program is that, for the kids who attend, it both creates new awareness and understanding of the past and how it influences the present – and allows their parents to go to work knowing their children are doing something worthwhile,” Bowles said. “By making the entry point accessible for families, History Colorado is putting history to work in combating some of the social and educational inequalities that the past has wrought.”
Trujillo explained that access to enrichment programs like Hands-On History is an important part of the program. “Many families either don’t have access to enrichment programs like Hands-On History or can’t afford them,” Trujillo said. “This makes parents have to choose between going to work or staying home to make sure their children have a safe place to be, and that is a situation no one should ever be put in.”
To reduce financial barriers, all of History Colorado’s Hands-On History programs offer various automatic tuition assistance options, including assistance for families on free/reduced lunch programs, those with multiple children and for guardians who work in education, military or as first responders, among other discounts.
Four Weeks, Four Themes
Camp will run from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, and each week offers a different theme:
July 15-19: Adelante! Experience the Past
Kids will experience the hands-on processes people in the past used to create everyday items, diving hands-first into history as they learn to make their own toys, obtain items without money, create light without electricity, cook without a stove and build homes without nails.
July 22-26: Full STEAM Ahead
Campers will “move” through history as they make pictures with just sun and chemicals, send messages without a phone and print pages without electricity or computers. They’ll explore how people used science, technology, engineering, art, and math to survive and thrive throughout history.
July 29-August 2: Greeley: Our Town, Our People
Kids will learn about Greeley and the people who helped build the community, visiting the houses they lived in and learning the lessons taught to children 100 years ago.
August 5-9: Colorado Changemakers
Have you ever seen Greeley’s Meeker House and wondered what happened there? How do we learn about others and how changes are made? Every town and family has changemakers, and campers will become historians, learning about local people who impacted life in Colorado and beyond.
To learn more about camp, tuition assistance or registration, go to historycolorado.org/greeley-hands-history.
Centennial Village Museum is located at 1475 A St. in Greeley. Visit GreeleyMuseums.com for more information about Centennial Village Museum.
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