FORT SILL, Okla. -- I am a fan of history, mostly World War II history, but all history is interesting to me. Sometimes it's not so interesting for my 9-year-old son, Ryan, who would, like many children, rather be spending his summer time playing video games or watching Jurassic World.
It made for a bit of a battle when I wanted to take him with me on my next bucket list event: the Fort Sill National Historic Landmark and Museum. The visitor's center is located on the southern edge of the Old Post Quadrangle. It includes multiple buildings such as the guard house (which is my favorite because you can go into the cell where Geronimo was kept). Being a somewhat good mother, I did go on my own at first, walking into the dimly-lit building excited to see what displays would illuminate my imagination.
I'd decided beforehand to make a scavenger hunt for Ryan which only took a few minutes. I walked through the various exhibits and took quick notes on things I thought would be fun for Ryan to find. In the end I narrowed my notes to 12 facts for him to locate.
It rained the morning of the scavenger hunt but Ryan was ready to go, excited about the hunt and of the possibility of being in the newspaper. He went from room to room, building to building and crossed the street to visit the guardhouse (which he admitted to me was a little scary). While he went from place to place learning about events such as "The Incident" and about Native Americans, such as Big Tree and Sitting Bear, I was able to take my time and absorb the knowledge available in the museum. The total time took about an hour and a half.
"I liked learning about the history," he told me later. "It can help me learn more for when I'm in fourth grade history class."
Well I suppose wanting to get a head-start on your history class isn't a bad motivation, even if his class won't be learning about Fort Sill specifically. As we were headed home, Ryan asked if we could go to another landmark. He wanted to see Geronimo's grave. I felt pretty proud. Then he asked if we could do another museum scavenger hunt.
Absolutely.
Visit the Cannoneer Facebook page to see downloadable scavenger hunts for the Fort Sill National Historic Landmark and Museum and the Army Field Artillery Museum. Also! Don't forget to post photos to our page of your summer fun to enter our Okie Bucket List photo contest. Just post the photo to our page with a description of where you are or what you're doing and #OkieBucketList to enter.
Social Sharing