Summer Kids Club at Historic Bethlehem Museums & Sites
July-September Activities at the Kemerer Museum of Decorative Arts

Join the Kemerer Museum of Decorative Arts for an exciting summer with our Kids Club family programs: Dolly & Me and Hunt for History. Admission to both programs is free for children when adults purchase the $12 two-site Pass Into History admission ticket. Members get free access to the museum and the program. Family membership starts as low as $75 per family and is a great way to support historic preservation and keep the kids busy all summer long! Programs are paired with our rotating exhibitions, so there is always something new for everyone to enjoy.

Dolly & Me: Stirring up Colorful Fun – Saturday, July 26, from 12:00 pm-4:00 pm

Bring your doll and make a delicious desert! Together we will mix and stir together several ingredients. The final touch includes decoration your creation with colorful fun toppings. Enjoy the sweet taste of your success by the spoonful! After the program be sure to explore our first exhibition to be featured across all four of our museum sites, Colors. This special experience features artifacts from the collections that showcase the use of color throughout Bethlehem’s past. Visit all of four of our museum sites, the Kemerer Museum of Decorative Arts, Moravian Museum of Bethlehem, Burnside Plantation, and 1810 Goundie house for the full experience!

Hunt for History: Portraits – Saturday, August 2, from 12:00 pm-4:00 pm

Become an explorer of history as you explore the faces of Historic Bethlehem Museums & Sites! True explorers wanted for this historical hunt! Encounter the faces of Historic Bethlehem Museums & Sites within the Portraits exhibit to discover the story behind the famous eyes, ears, noses, and mouths that decorate the collection. Then, answer questions about each famous person behind the portrait. See if you can get them all!

Whether it’s the swoosh of a paint brush, the click of a camera, or the upload from a smart phone, capturing images of ourselves has a longstanding tradition. Regardless of the medium, the objective of portraiture is to encapsulate the sitter’s personality or mannerisms. Historically, fine art examples were once sought out by the wealthy but with the advent of photography, portraits transformed from aristocratic pomp to mass consumption. Explore the exhibition then sit for your own portrait in front of our gallery background.

Dolly & Me: City Life Stories – Saturday, August 23, from 12:00 pm-4:00 pm

We live in the city of Bethlehem, but what did the city look like in the past and what will it look like in the future? Children will use their imaginations and inspiration from the Pass Into History Tour at Historic Bethlehem Museums & Sites to create their very own cityscape artwork.

Children and parents alike will enjoy exploring the new exhibition of antique dollhouses from the Elizabeth Johnston Prime collection, Bright Lights, Big City. As the Industrial Revolution progressed, factories popped up and down the East Coast and millions of people flocked to the bright lights of the cities in search of fortune. The architecture of cities changed; homes had to be designed to accommodate the large influx of people and the wealthy business tycoons built their city estates.  From rowhomes to brownstones, the buildings on display from the Elizabeth Johnston Prime Dollhouse Collection provide a glimpse into what life would have been like living in the Big City.

Hunt for History: Book It – Saturday, September 6, from 12:00 pm-4:00 pm

Have an inspiring author in your family? Always wanted to chronicle a story, but never knew how? Now your child can make their own book, inspired by the literary collections of the Historic Bethlehem Museums & Sites. Along with their Pass Into History tour, children will have the opportunity to make their own book.

The word “book” comes from Old English as “written sheet”. Ancient civilizations including Egypt, China, Mesopotamia, the Aztecs, Thailand, Greece, and Rome all had scribes (people who wrote for others) and written records. Ancient books were made from papyrus (a reed plant), silk, palm leaves, bamboo, and animal skins. Modern paper was first made in China by turning plant material into a pulp before being drained and dried. Movable print type and mass production first began in 11^th century China, but was popularized in Europe by Johannes Gutenberg in 1438. Visit the Moravian Museum of Bethlehem after making your own book to see the oldest book in our collections, the 1652 German bible, a likely copy of the Elector Bible, a Martin Luther translation of the Old and New Testaments.

Dolly & Me: Fall Leaves – Saturday, August 23, from 12:00 pm-4:00 pm

Test your knowledge of Pennsylvania trees by matching the leaves to their pictures. Create special fall themed decorations to say goodbye to the summer and welcome the season of crisp breezes colorful change. You and your doll can create a variety of fall leaf crafts inspired by the beauty inside and outside of Historic Bethlehem Museums & Sites.

The Hunt for History and Dolly & Me programs are hosted by the Kemerer Museum of Decorative Arts at 427 North New Street. The museum is open Friday, Saturday, and Sunday from 11:00 am to 4:00 pm every week. More information on programs and visiting the site is available at HistoricBethlehem.org.