March 19, 2019
By Kelli Gile, WVUSD Office of Community Resources
WALNUT, CA--During the 29thannual Colonial Faire celebration, over 120 Westhoff Elementary fifth graders spent an entire day immersed in activities from the 1700’s.
The children learned lively colonial dancing, created cornhusk dolls and calligraphy, made whirligigs and hand-dipped candles, and sampled fried apple Johnny Cakes topped with powdered sugar.
“It was fun!” commented Conrad Akerboom about joining the rotating hands-on stations.
“We got to do things colonial kids got to do in their time, like playing outdoor games similar to baseball, but different.”
“We got to try new things with lots of old materials that we normally wouldn’t get to use,” shared fifth grader Izzy Wang.
Classmate Amelie Wang said she also learned that it was important for colonial children to follow directions.
“They lived dangerous lives compared to kids today,” she said.
Many of the Westhoff students dressed in the authentic style costumes of the past.
The girls wore long lace trimmed gingham and floral ruffled dresses and crisp white bonnets and boys sported waist coats and breeches.
The March 15 event tied in with recent studies on the Colonial period of American history.
Teachers Kary Penzes, Kevin Curtin, Joanne Lee, and CaSandra Hennessy with a team of 80 parent volunteers hosted the event that has become a tradition at the school.
“It was fun watching students move through the colonial activities appreciating and realizing that although it seemed like a hard life back then, the children could still express their own creativity and actually survive without our modern-day technology,” Penzes said.
Shown:
Westhoff Elementary fifth graders join games and activities of the past during 29th annual Colonial Faire on March 15.