History meets hands-on fun—all season long!
From gardens and grains to bees and barn cats, every Saturday at Philipsburg Manor from July 5 to August 30 is a new chance to explore history through fun activities for all ages. All included with your ticket!
Members get in free—join today and unlock a season full of adventure.
July 5: Ginger the Barn Cat’s Birthday Bash
Celebrate everyone’s favorite feline at her 15th birthday party! Craft your own cat mask, play pin-the-tail-on-the-cat, and sing Happy Birthday to Ginger as you snack on a kitty cake pop from Patti’s Cake Pops. Plus, visit the SPCA Westchester‘s mobile adoption truck to meet cats and kittens looking for their forever homes.
July 12: Hive & Honey
Buzz into the world of bees! Learn how pollinators shape our world with Nyack Pollinator Pathways, decorate your own thumbprint flower pot, build paper beehives, dip a candle the colonial way, and sample delicious local honey. It’s a sweet day from start to finish!
July 19: Paws & Claws
Philipsburg Manor has always been home to a variety of wildlife! Learn more while you make your own paper bag puppet and textured animal collages.
July 26: Petals & Greens
Explore the beauty and utility of the kitchen garden. Enjoy guided garden tours, craft fragrant sachets, paint a mixed media garden collage, and learn about native plants and sustainable gardening from community environmental advocates.
August 2: Claytopia
From the pots to plates, learn more about how ceramics were made by the different people who inhabited this area around Philipsburg Manor. Create your own coil or pinch pots and design a bead necklace that will be fired in our beehive oven. And for this day only, see ceramics by Thomas Commeraw, a free Black potter from colonial New York, on display in the Manor House.
August 9: Weave & Wonder
Textiles tell powerful stories. Discover how fabric was made in colonial times, from spinning to dyeing. Hear about how “runaway ads” provided historians with some of the only descriptions of what enslaved people of the time period wore during special presentations. Kids can craft fabric self-portraits using colorful Malian bogolan cloth.
August 16: The Big Play Date
Step back into a simpler time and play like it’s 1750! Try your hand at old-fashioned games like “Lil’ Graces” and stilts, or make your own whirligigs and ragdolls.
August 23: Preserves & Pickles
Harvest season is coming! Discover historic food preservation techniques—drying, canning, smoking—and make mini compost jars and colorful jar bonnets to take home.
August 30: Global Grains
Wrap up the summer with a feast of cultures and flavors! Watch cooking demos of West African bean fritters, colonial pancakes, and more. Kids can craft with grains and flour paste, or cozy up for stories about bread from around the world.