What if your kids could learn about the American Revolution without ever realizing they were having a history lesson?
That’s the idea behind Life in the Upstate: 1776, the newest exhibit at The Children’s Museum of the Upstate. The exhibit takes families back 250 years to experience what every day life might have looked like right here in the Upstate during the Revolutionary era.
This is definitely not a stand-back-and-read-the-sign kind of history lesson. Kids can climb aboard a covered wagon, build a log cabin, create quilt patterns and explore a farm designed especially for the museum’s youngest visitors. There’s even a large interactive map that helps children discover the people, places and events that made South Carolina an important part of the war.
Meet an Upstate Hero
One of our favorite parts of the exhibit is Dicey Langston’s cabin. If that name doesn’t sound familiar, this is a fun way to change that!
Dicey Langston was a young woman from the Upstate who became known for carrying information to Patriot forces during the Revolutionary War. Inside the exhibit, guests get a glimpse of what life must have been like for a young person growing up on the South Carolina frontier. Kids can step inside her cabin, dress up, pretend to prepare a meal and use their imaginations to experience history instead of simply reading about it. Dates and names can be difficult for young children to remember (dates and names are also sometimes difficult for adults to remember, amiright?) Give them a wagon to load, clothes to wear, or a cabin to build and 1776 doesn’t seem so far away.
We have incredible history in our own backyard. Sometimes it’s easy to forget just how much of it took place here. Life in the Upstate: 1776 gives us an introduction to that history in a way that is FUN and engaging. Rather than hearing about someone who lived 250 years ago, for a little while, they get to climb into her world.
“Tell me and I forget, teach me and I remember, involve me and I learn.” Benjamin Franklin
Know Before You Go
Life in the Upstate: 1776 is located on the lower level of the museum (next to the music room).
Hours: Monday – Saturday, 9-4:30 pm; Sunday, 11-4:30 pm.
Admission: South Carolina residents: $15, general admission $20, children under one and museum members are FREE.
The exhibit was made possible with funding from the South Carolina American Revolution Sestercentennial Commision (SC250).
