Press release from Swannanoa Valley Museum and History Center:
Starting on Saturday, August 22nd and running through mid-October, the Swannanoa Valley Museum & History Center will be hosting hour-long children’s activities every other Saturday morning. The museum’s History Explorers series will help children delve into a variety of topics on the ecology and history that make up the legacy of the Swannanoa Valley and the Appalachian mountain region. Taking place outside in a shaded, socially distanced environment, the activities will challenge children to ask questions about historic artifacts, help them color their own quilt squares, and explore the life cycles of butterflies.
The History Explorers series will be the first in-person programming that the Swannanoa Valley Museum has been able to offer to the public since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. “We are very excited to be able to share these fun activities to kids in an open-air environment so that parents will have some options for in-person learning as the school year progresses this fall,” says LeAnne Johnson, director of the museum.
Five events will be offered. The first program- History’s Mysteries: Ancient American Indian Artifacts and Cherokee Traditions will take place Saturday, August 22nd, 10:00am to 11:00am, and is designed for K-4th graders. This program will encourage children to be “history detectives” as they use their observation skills to infer the uses of ancient American Indian tools and contemporary crafts made by the Cherokee. Children will also learn how to play the butterbean game, a historic Cherokee counting game. The program will include a blowgun and atlatl demonstration. This program will also repeat on Saturday, October 17th, 10:00am to 11:00am, as the last event in the fall series.
The second program, taking place on Saturday, September 5th, from 10:00am to 11:00am, will be Butterflies & Pollination, aimed at children from Pre-K to 2nd grade. In this program, children will learn about the life cycle of the butterfly and use colored paper, tempera paint and other crafts to make representations of each stage of the butterfly’s life cycle. Children will also do a short activity in which they act as pollinators, moving pollen from flower to flower.
Taking place on Saturday, September 19th 10:00am to 11:00am will be the third program, Quilts: Colors, Patterns and Symbols, aimed at children from K-2nd grade. In this program, children will get to view different historic, hand made quilts, and learn to recognize quilt patterns. They will finish with an activity in which they color their own quilt patterns, combining squares to reveal a full quilt design.
Saturday, October 3rd, 10:00am to 11:00am, will be the fourth program: History’s Mysteries: Life on a Farmstead, for grades K-4. In this program, students will learn about life in the Swannanoa Valley 200 years ago, and then spend time being “history detectives” and guessing the uses of several historic artifacts. The program will end with a “What would you bring?” activity in which children will plan what tools they will need to bring for their own life on a farmstead.
The cost for each program is $5 per person for members of the general public (taxes and fees apply). The programs are free for museum members. Museum members can email svmvolunteer@gmail.com for a promo code to use for free registration. Adults are expected to stay with their children for the duration of the activity.
All programs will take place in the shaded lot behind the Black Mountain United Methodist Church (101 Church Street, Black Mountain, NC 28711), next to the ca 1938 “Church House.” Public parking is available behind the church. The church faces West State Street in downtown Black Mountain. The lot and public parking can be accessed by turning on to Church Street from West State Street, then turning left into the parking lot.
Each event is limited to twenty attendees and will be held out of doors. The activity takes place in full shade and water will be available for $1. Tables, tarps and chairs will be on site. All museum staff will wear masks and all attendees are required to wear masks except for children under 11 years old, in accordance with Governor Roy Cooper’s mask mandate. In the event of bad weather, the program will be cancelled. Staff will inform attendees of a cancellation by 5pm the day before the program. Registrants can transfer their payments to another upcoming children’s program or receive refunds.
All programs are also available by appointment with the Swannanoa Valley Museum for school or homeschool groups. Contact the museum for more details at 828-669-9566 or info@swannanoavalleymuseum.org.
Tickets for all programs can be purchased at wwww.swannanoavalleymuseum.org/events.
Before you comment
The comments section is here to provide a platform for civil dialogue on the issues we face together as a local community. Xpress is committed to offering this platform for all voices, but when the tone of the discussion gets nasty or strays off topic, we believe many people choose not to participate. Xpress editors are determined to moderate comments to ensure a constructive interchange is maintained. All comments judged not to be in keeping with the spirit of civil discourse will be removed and repeat violators will be banned. See here for our terms of service. Thank you for being part of this effort to promote respectful discussion.