A popular summer offering, the five-day Newtown Historical Society History Camp will return to the historical society’s headquarters, The Matthew Curtiss House, on Main Street in July. Children ages 8-10 are invited to join historical society members and visiting guests for the opportunity to explore the life of a colonial child living in Newtown back in 1750 through lots of hands-on activities as well as interactive lectures, discussions, and demonstrations.

Cost of the camp is $175 per child for the week ($150 for Newtown Historical Society members). Registration is open, and currently filling the morning session of 9 am-noon, Monday through Friday, July 11-15.

The camp traditionally opens with campers making pieces of clothing they will then wear all week. Girls decorate aprons, and boys cut and sew felt jackets. These pieces go with mop caps and tri-corner hats the historical society provides to campers.

Gordon Williams and Patty Graves co-coordinated the summer program nearly two decades ago.

“We created ours after visiting many others,” Williams recently told The Newtown Bee. Near the top of the list of favorite programs was the one done at Keeler Tavern Museum in Ridgefield, he said. “They had a really great History Camp,” he said.

Those who attend Newtown’s offering spend part of their first morning writing name tags with feathers, and touring The Matthew Curtiss House including its grounds, barn, and traditional herb garden.

Additional activities during the week include a visit to and tour of Newtown Meeting House, within walking distance of The Matthew Curtiss House; basket weaving (“which is always terrifically popular,” according to Williams), tin lantern making, marble making (which takes a few days to complete); playing games including hoops, jacks, graces, and gunny sack races; and making ice-cream, lemonade, and root beer.

A recent addition to the program is a presentation by Miles and Donna Ball. Miles, now a volunteer firefighter in Newtown, and his mother Donna, an artist, discuss Colonial era firefighting before inviting campers to participate in a bucket brigade.

Donna provides cardboard painted to look like flames, which are set up in front of The Matthew Curtiss House to mimic a fire. Campers then go to work dousing the “flames” with buckets of water.

“It’s always so much fun,” Williams said. “We do this usually on the last day, and the kids have so much fun with it. We’re hoping the Balls are available to come for the presentation again this year.”

For organizers, History Camp means months of planning and a week of intense presentations. The effort is worth it, however.

“It’s so encouraging to hear so many children at the end of the week talking about how much they’ve learned and how much fun they’ve had,” said Williams. “For us, that’s the best thing we can hope for.”

To register a child/children or for additional information concerning Newtown Historical Society’s History Camp, contact Gordon Williams at 203-405-6392 or gmwllw@charter.net.