Teaching kids about Archaeology at Fort St. Joseph

On August 3rd, we had the Summer My Way Kids that consisted of 4th and 5th graders come out to see Fort St. Joseph! They were broken off into two groups because there were so many kids that came to see us. While one group got to go a fantastic walking tour with Erika, the other group got to tour the units and try some hands-on wet screening with Lucy!

Lucy wet screening with some of the kids!

The students got to see Father Allouez's grave and check out the commemorative boulder, and the other half of the students got to experience wet screening and check out the units. At the wet screen station, Lucy, myself, and a couple other students got to teach the kids about the purpose of wet screening and some demonstrations. They stood around the stations and watched us as we sprayed the dirt away. Even some of the kids were willing to get soaked and muddy for the experience of finding something in the wet screen. Many of the kids asked some excellent questions during the whole process, such as "How do you know its bone" or "What is an artifact." We would explain that the color, texture, and weight are things we look for, and I had mentioned that once you start something new, you can become good from practice. I liked the kids who had the imagination to ask questions like, "do you find dinosaur bones or gold," or the ones who would get very involved in finding artifacts. A lot of the kids would look extensively into the screens and point to a possible artifact, and I even had one kid find a seed bead in mine! In addition, they got to check out all the units in the floodplain and trenches, as other students described their hard work and answered more questions.

Jim Clark explaining his unit to the students

One of the many great things about archaeology are that children are always curious and can carry that curiosity as they grow older. When I was a child, I did not have this particular experience, but these kids do and maybe this will spark their interest in the camp or field school. Curiosity keeps the passion and project alive for all ages to lead to discoveries and teaching moments. Overall, the kids had some fantastic experiences, and everyone enjoyed being a part of it at Fort St. Joseph.