Spring break is here, and although we are all social distancing to help flatten the curve, that doesn’t mean it can’t still be chock full of fun.
The Museum of the American Revolution is offering all Philadelphians a way to enjoy a virtual spring break with them featuring a variety of activities ranging from at-home crafts, virtual adventures, history activities and much more. The fun starts April 6 and will be featured online until April 17.
Weekdays during the MOAR’s spring break, a new unique craft or coloring activity will be posted online and will be available for anyone to download—and these activities are truly one-of-a-kind. A few highlights include learning the art of paper cutting, “scherenschnitte,” brought to America by German immigrants, creating paper decorations inspired by artifacts in the Museum’s collection, coloring a wampum belt like those used by Native American communities, and making your own whirligig—a popular colonial toy made with string and cardboard.
Every Monday and Friday, spring breakers can also view virtual ‘Artisan Field Trips’ featuring video interviews with living history artisans and makers. The artisans and makers include a shoemaker, seamstress, carpenter and bookbinder—all will demonstrate their Revolutionary-era crafts for the video field trips (available through the MOAR’s Facebook and Instagram pages.)
Be sure to check out the MOAR’s Facebook page Tuesdays and Thursdays at 11 a.m. for virtual story-telling as well. The events will feature children’s books about the American Revolution and its ongoing impact, including “What Can Citizens Do?” by Dave Eggers and “Now and Ben: The Modern Inventions of Benjamin Franklin,” by Gene Barretta.
The Museum’s Instagram page will also feature live Q+A’s with their curators and historians (Wednesdays at noon) and on Thursdays, colonial cooking demonstrations featuring how-to’s on how to make hard bread like those eaten by Revolutionary War soldiers and how to make cooked pumpkin, inspired by the memoir of Continental Army soldier Joseph Plumb Martin.
Other ongoing virtual experiences for the MOAR’s spring break includes virtual field trips where viewers can go behind-the-scenes at the Museum, virtual museum tours featuring the Museum’s award-winning, immersive galleries in a 360-degree view, and digital collections where viewers can explore selected treasures from the MOAR’s collection of Revolutionary-era objects, works of art, manuscripts and printed works.
According to the release, the Museum will also offer free comprehensive lesson plans full of primary sources, images and provocative questions, a “Color the Collection” coloring book based on treasures from the Museum’s collection, and a rich archive of Read the Revolution book excerpts as well.
The fun, however, doesn’t stop on April 17. On Sunday, April 19, the MOAR will be celebrating its 3rd birthday, and Philadelphians are invited to help commemorate the occasion by visiting the Museum’s Facebook page and signing a digital birthday card. If you sign the card and also share your favorite Museum memory you will be entered in for a chance to win four tickets to visit the MOAR when it reopens. The Museum will also be sharing 18th-century cake and cocktail recipes on April 19 and then will be observing the anniversary of the “Shot Heard ‘Round the World” that ignited the Revolutionary War on April 19, 1775 as well.
To learn more information and to donate to help support the MOAR, visit amrevmuseum.org
