Children traveled back in time and spent a week in the 1750s at Newtown Historical Society’s Summer History Camp. Held at The Matthew Curtiss House and set to run from Monday through Friday, August 19-23, the annual offering is designed to bring the past to life and to show children ages 7-10 what life was like way back when.

This year marked the historical society’s 19th year of running the camp, according to Head Instructress and Newtown Historical Society President Melissa Houston.

The first day of camp was cancelled due to the storm a day earlier, but that did not stop everyone from having fun the rest of the week. Guided by the camp’s docents, children learned how to sew and make their own clothes, bake food they made on an open hearth, play a wide variety of historical games, and more. The camp also included a trip to the town’s historic Meeting House, helping children further connect to and learn about life in Newtown.

It is through that hands-on experience, Houston says, that children can hopefully gain an appreciation for the history of their country and see how far the world has come.

According to Master Tom Evans, one of several camp instructors and assistants, that love for bringing the past to life for the next generation is shared by everyone who helps run the camp.

“The whole idea behind the historical society is to help bring the past and history to life and make it not just dates and numbers, but let people see how people really lived; to make it real,” Evans said. “Many of these kids go on to love history and really see it not just as dry facts, but as the stories and the people behind it. And that’s really what this is all about. It’s living history as opposed to paper history.”

His son Sam Evans-Oquendo was one of those people who fell in love with history because of the camp. He returned to History Camp to help as a junior docent this year, running around answering questions and helping the campers in case they got stuck with something

“I just love sharing my love of history with other people, and this was the camp that really introduced me to it. So it’s very important to me,” Evans-Oquendo said.

Tuesday had campers weaving their own baskets and making marbles the way they used to be made long ago and playing games with them.

On Wednesday, campers learned how to sew and made their own costumes to wear and keep after camp. The girls made aprons and mobcaps — a 1970s inspired interpretation of the cap since they used elastic — while the boys got to make vests and wear their own hats.

They then walked to Newtown Meeting House to learn about early town history. Upon returning to The Matthew Curtiss House the group made butter by shaking small jars of cream. Since it took several minutes of shaking for the mix to turn into butter, children eagerly kept handing over their jar to the docents to check if there was butter inside. In case their arms got tired, they would hand it over to the docents, who happily took over shaking for them.

When they opened up the jar to finally see butter inside, the campers excitedly put it onto their bread to have as a snack.

Things heated up on Thursday, as the big activity of the day was hearth cooking. Campers split up into two teams and worked together to make different classic meals. One team made an apple pie, while the other made a blueberry pudding cake. These were eventually taken to the hearth stove and placed in different Dutch ovens to cook.

Evans also led tours of the barn out behind the Matthew Curtiss House, where campers learned about the different tools hung up inside, from anvils to scythes, and how they were used.

Everyone celebrated the last day of camp by doing a bucket brigade and making punched tin lanterns.

Newtown Historical Society Vice President John Renjilian said the society decided nearly two decades ago that offering the camp was one way to keep history alive. The organization wanted to start the camp, he said, because history “is a part of our education.”

“Kids get to learn something about what life was like when the house was first built or was first active,” Renjilian continued. “They each take away something different.”

Reporter Jenna Visca can be reached at jenna@thebee.com.