By Elke Thoms
As the summer dwindles and the heat continues, you might find your kids begging for just one more ice cream trip. Sully Historic Site’s Dairy Days, happening on the next three Fridays, aim to satisfy your child’s cravings—so long as they learn that getting the sugary treat wasn’t always as easy as the ice cream truck makes it out to be. For a small price, children can spend an hour making ice cream, churning butter, and playing very old-school games in and around a home built circa 1794.
“We use a hand-crank ice cream maker and a small butter churn. After the hard work of making the ice cream and butter, everyone gets to enjoy both treats,” says Tammy Higgs, a Historian at Sully Historic Site.
While the dairy products are being made, children get to play games with one another—but these games are a far cry from Candy Crush and Temple Run.
“We play games like Hoops and Sticks, the Game of Graces, Ball and Cup… No batteries, just manpower, which is great because it gets kids outside,” says Higgs.
In times of electronic games on phones tablets, and televisions ruling summertime for many kids, it’s difficult to imagine lives spent playing games like Hoops and Sticks, which isn’t much more complicated than its name. To play it, children race each other by rolling hoops commonly made from old barrels with a stick or an iron crook.
Still, you might just catch your child having fun playing these games.
“It reminds you of what life would have been like for our ancestors,” Higgs says.
Kids aren’t the only ones who are guilty of overloading their summer with too much technology. The learning likely won’t be limited to those under the age of 12, as a parent must accompany a child attending Dairy Days. Sign up online for a timeslot beginning on the hour between 1-3 p.m.
Dairy Days at Sully Historic Site
3650 Historic Sully Way, Chantilly
August 15, 22, 29, 1 – 3 p.m.
Tickets: $5 in county, $7 out of county
