We had so much fun at the Huronnia Museum, you should go some time! While we were at the museum, we made dream-catchers, made whizzers, went into a Wendat village and had a treasure hunt.

First, when we got into the museum we dressed up as pioneers. The girls had long skirts and aprons and the boys had vests. We pretended that we were from France and went to Canada because we were poor and were looking for a better life. The boat ride lasted 8 weeks.  Lots of people died because of sea sickness and rats spreading diseases.  It was extremely cramped and unpleasant.  When we arrived in Canada, we had to stay in quarantine before we were allowed entry. We liked the activity but we are glad that we weren’t really settlers making the journey.

Next, we made whizzers. We used string and a wooden button and tape. We put string through the holes of the button and made a knot. Then we put the button in the middle of the loop. Finally, you spin it and lightly tug on the ends to keep it spinning.  It was hard for some of us to make the whizzer work.

Then, we made dream-catchers and went out to the Wendat village. The first nations people were here before the early settlers came. So, it is important to learn about them as well. We heard the story of the dream-catcher. A chief was having bad dreams and they made a plan of how to get rid of them. They made a dream-catcher to catch the bad dreams and turn them into good dreams. It was hard to make the dream-catchers. It required a lot of patience. But, they were beautiful in the end. Going out to the Wendat village was a lot of fun. We saw a longhouse and played some games.

Lastly, we did a scavenger hunt/treasure hunt in the museum. It was hard to find some things because they look very different today. The old-fashioned toilet was just a chair with a pot underneath and the ladies’ bathing suits looked like dresses. The hunt was challenging and fun!

We liked our day because we learned a lot about early settlers and were challenged.

Written by: the grade 3 students