A whole new experience! The Oyster Bay Historical Society invites you to experience an innovative educational program at our landmark Earle-Wightman House Museum, located at 20 Summit Street in the hamlet of Oyster Bay.

Students taking the tour are transported back in time to a circa 1740 one-room settler's dwelling, shown below, where they learn, through period activities, how a family might have lived. Then, stepping through a time portal, the students are thrust ninety years into the future, into the 1830 parlor of the Reverend Marmaduke Earle and his family.

Catering to a child's natural curiosity and utilizing the benefits of tactile learning experiences, the Exhibit Room houses a Discovery Center, featuring items from the Revolutionary War era. Here the students dress up in a soldier's uniform, as shown above, play period games, and handle reproduction articles. A cased exhibit holds actual artifacts of the Revolutionary War, including a rare Loyalist uniform coat, worn by a resident of Oyster Bay during the war.

Tours of the Earle-Wightman House last approximately one and a half hours. Outdoor lunches may be eaten near our formal 18th century garden, weather permitting. Indoor lunches can also be arranged. Follow-up activities are provided to reinforce the lessons learned in the course of the tour.

Here's what teachers who visited recently said about the Earle-Wightman House Kid's Tour:
— "A wonderful hands-on experience!"
— "One of the best trips we have ever taken!"
— "We will definitely come back next year!"

Admission is $3.00 for children and $5 for adults. Please call 922-5032 for further details, or to make reservations and receive your teacher's guide.

P.S.  Educational tours aren't the only activities "just for kids" at the Oyster Bay Historical Society! Check our Calendar of Events for the crafts workshops -- there are winter workshops for wreath-making, box decorating, theorem painting, silhouette portraits -- for kids and their parents. Other programs take Revolutionary War, Holiday, and Oystering themes. And then there's the Old Fashioned Country Fair for Children; it's so much fun, kids won't realize they're also learning a bit of history!

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