2023 Summer Camp UPDATE
Note: All 2023 Strawbery Banke Summer Camps besides “Blast to the Past: Kids in the Kitchen Summer Camp” are at full capacity. Waiting lists are available for Roleplaying and Hands-on History camps only.
NEW! Blast to the Past: Kids in the Kitchen Mini Camp (ages 9-12)
June 26, 28 & 30, 2023, 9 AM-3 PM
In this mini three-day camp, investigate how foods have been grown, harvested, preserved, cooked, and eaten through time. Try out a variety of period recipes on the hearth and nineteenth-century cookstove. Learn about convenience foods from hardtack to TV dinners. Discover foods that immigrants brought from all over the world, and even create and cook your own recipes. Strawbery Banke Members: $175.50 per week.
Non-members: $195.
Register Here!
Children ages 6-17 can have fun with history at Strawbery Banke Museum’s Summer Camps!
Strawbery Banke Museum offers programs for school-aged children with a wide array of interests and abilities. Learn about all aspects of life in the past and how it connects to the world today. Enjoy hands-on, one-of-a-kind interactive experiences, where investigating and exploring history, science, sports, art, theater, and cooking leads to fun-packed days at Strawbery Banke Museum’s nearly 10-acre site.
- Roleplaying Camps Have you always wondered what it is like to live in the past? Now is your chance to find out! Dress in costumes, try-out period crafts and games, and develop acting and improvisation skills. Roleplaying camps are for ages 6 – 17. The content becomes progressively more detailed and authentic the older you get. Most Jr. Roleplayers have the chance to be volunteer roleplayers at the museum for special events.
- Hands-On History Camps Calling all artists, cooks, inventors and detectives! Hands-On History Camps help kids connect with the past through creative activities of all kinds. Each camp looks at history through a different lens filling each day with indoor & outdoor, behind the scenes and interactive projects that immerse campers in the past.
- Maritime History Camp with the Gundalow Company It’s time to set sail on a maritime journey through the past. Spend time onboard the gundalow, Piscataqua, and try out different jobs on board a ship. Learn to tie knots, raise the sails and swab the decks. Try out crafts, games and hands-on activities to discover what it was like to be a sailor (or a pirate) long ago. We are looking for new recruits. Join us for fun on land and sea.
See below for a full list of 2023 Summer Camps at Strawbery Banke. Space is limited and programs always fill fast. For more information and to register, visit the website today!
Important Dates & Discounts!
Member Registration: Monday, January 9, 2023, at 10 AM. Join Now!
Nonmember Registration: Monday, January 16, 2023, at 10 AM
Member Discounts & Early Registration:
Strawbery Banke Members at the family level and higher are eligible for camp discounts and early registration access. Click here to learn more about membership levels and benefits. Questions? Contact the Membership Office via membership[at]sbmuseum.org or 603.770.0257.
Sibling/Multiple Camp Discount:
Register one child for multiple camps or multiple children for the same camp and receive 10% off each registration. Cannot be combined with other discounts.
2023 Strawbery Banke Summer Camps
Roleplaying Camps
History Alive (ages 6-8)
Session I: July 17–21, 2023, 9 AM-3 PM – FULL
Session II: July 31–August 4, 2023, 9 AM-3 PM – FULL
Strawbery Banke Members: $292.50 per week
Non-members: $325
**Waiting list available. Email bcoppola@sbmuseum.org**
History In Play (ages 9-11)
Growing Up Victorian: June 26–30, 2023, 9 AM-3 PM – FULL
Growing Up Colonial: July 31–August 4, 2023, 9 AM-3 PM – FULL
Strawbery Banke Members: $292.50 per week
Non-members: $325
**Waiting list available. Email bcoppola@sbmuseum.org**
Jr. Roleplayers (ages 12–17)
Industrial Era (1820 – 1908): July 10–21, 2023, 9 AM-3 PM – FULL
Modern Age (1908 – 1955): August 7–18, 2023, 9 AM-3 PM – FULL
Strawbery Banke Members: $585 per week
Non-members: $650
**Waiting list available. Email bcoppola@sbmuseum.org**
Hands-On History Camps
DIY Inventions: Bright Ideas (ages 6-8) – FULL
July 24–28, 2023, 9 AM-3 PM
Explore some of the most famous inventors and inventions of the early twentieth century. From planes and motor cars to Teddy bears and crayons, campers make their own versions of these innovations and conduct their own experiments.
Strawbery Banke Members: $292.50 per week
Non-members: $325
**Waiting list available. Email bcoppola@sbmuseum.org**
Celebrating the Past (ages 7-9)
August 7–11, 2023, 9 AM-3 PM – FULL
Campers explore the origins of different holidays while participating in parts of each celebration. From cuisine to entertainment, participants develop an understanding of how modern traditions embrace many different cultures and ideas throughout history.
Strawbery Banke Members: $292.50 per week
Non-members: $325
**Waiting list available. Email bcoppola@sbmuseum.org**
Crafty Kids: Daring Discoveries (ages 9–11)
July 10 – 14, 2023, 9 AM-3 PM – FULL
As a Daring Discovery camper, star in a silent film, cook a Depression-era meal, take a ride in a model-A Ford, work in a 1940s Victory Garden, learn to Paint like Picasso, and lend your voice to a radio show recording.
Strawbery Banke Members: $292.50 per week
Non-members: $325
**Waiting list available. Email bcoppola@sbmuseum.org**
NEW! Blast to the Past: Kids in the Kitchen (ages 9-12) 
June 26, 28 & 30, 2023, 9 AM-3 PM – A few spots available
In this mini three-day camp, investigate how foods have been grown, harvested, preserved, cooked, and eaten through time. Try out a variety of period recipes on the hearth and nineteenth-century cookstove. Learn about convenience foods from hardtack to TV dinners. Discover foods that immigrants brought from all over the world, and even create and cook your own recipes.
Strawbery Banke Members: $175.50 per week
Non-members: $195
Register Now!
Uncovering the Past: Building Detectives (ages 10–12)
July 24 – 28, 2023, 9 AM-3 PM – FULL
You know how to read a mystery book, but can you read and solve the mysteries of a building? Discover how buildings can teach about the people who lived long ago. Explore attics and basements in Strawbery Banke’s historic homes, build a model of an eighteenth-century post-and-beam house, venture on an architectural scavenger hunt and unlock the secrets of the Museum’s unrestored homes.
Strawbery Banke Members: $292.50 per week
Non-members: $325
**Waiting list available. Email bcoppola@sbmuseum.org**
Camps in partnership with the Gundalow Co.
Anchors Aweigh (ages 6-8) – FULL
June 26-June 30, 2023, 9 AM-3 PM
Spend time onboard the gundalow, Piscataqua, and try out all the positions that people had on a ship. From cook to navigator, captain to cabin boy; engage in crafts, games, and hands-on activities to discover what it was like to be a sailor (or a pirate) long ago. Registration for Anchors Aweigh is through the Gundalow Company. Click here to learn more.
Strawbery Banke & Gundalow Co. Members: $360
Non-members: $400
FULL
The Boatshop at Strawbery Banke Camps
Bosuns and Boatbuilders (ages 7-10)
Session 1: July 10-14, 2023, 9 AM-3 PM – FULL
Session 2: August 7-11, 2023, 9 AM-3 PM – FULL
Please sign up for only one session
Cast off on a new adventure with the professional boatbuilders at The Boatshop at Strawbery Banke and the crew at the Gundalow Company for a fun-filled week of making new boats while making new friends. Join the crew at the Boatshop to discover the wonders of transforming raw materials into a simple cat-rigged model sailboat. After, campers sail the Gundalow or row Piscataqua Wherries, paddle small kayaks, to explore the rivers and waterfront. Registration for Bosuns and Boatbuilders is through the Gundalow Company. Click here to learn more.
Strawbery Banke & Gundalow Co. Members: $450
Non-members: $500
FULL
Sailors and Shipwright (ages 10-12)
July 24-28, 2023, 9 AM-3 PM – FULL
Campers join professional boatbuilders for an exciting week of building their own wooden model sailboats from scratch. The week culminates with campers launching and sailing their finished boats before taking them home for future adventures. Campers join the crew aboard the Gundalow and learn to navigate and sail the traditional vessel. In addition, campers have the chance to venture out in wooden wherries and learn to row and explore the hidden spots on our rivers. Registration for Sailors and Shipwright is through the Gundalow Company. Click here to learn more.
Strawbery Banke & Gundalow Co. Members: $450
Non-members: $500
NEW! Boatbuilder’s Apprentice (ages 12-14)
August 21-25, 2023, 9 AM-3 PM
Registration will open in the spring for this offering.
Campers spend a whole week in the Boatshop at Strawbery Banke beginning construction on a new numbered MerryMac sailboat under the mentorship and guidance of Nate Piper, Master Boat Builder. Campers are introduced to and develop skills and familiarity with all aspects of boatbuilding using the original building molds and patterns along with the Boatshop at Strawbery Banke’s MM250 as the basis for construction.
This camp is ideal for previous Boatshop camp participants that are ready to deepen their woodworking and tool usage skills and who are excited to have the opportunity to contribute to the construction of a full size historically significant vessel. However, prior Boatshop camp experience is not a prerequisite for participation. Click here to learn more.
Strawbery Banke Members: $495
Non-members: $550
Learn More!
COVID-19 PRECAUTIONS
The protocols for summer camp will be finalized in June. Strawbery Banke Museum’s current COVID-19 precautions can be found here.
Looking for More Camp Information?
-For more info and registration links for Strawbery Banke summer camps please visit the website.
-Too many camps to choose from and not sure what Strawbery Banke Camp to sign up for? Take this online quiz to help figure it out!
-To request more information, please contact us at camps@strawberybanke.org or (603) 422-7541.
Strawbery Banke Museum
14 Hancock Street, Portsmouth
(603) 433.1100
info@sbmuseum.org
