Annual Family Overnight an Overwhelming Success!

Campers playing a game of Sergeant Says during the annual Family Overnight.

On Saturday, July 19th we hosted our annual Family Overnight.  Nearly 150 people, kids ages 7-12 and their kind and awesome adult chaperons, spent the night with us in our US Freedom Pavilion: The Boeing Center.  Upon arrival they got busy doing several activities, including making their names in international maritime signal flags and experiencing the Final Mission of the USS Tang.  They also had the special opportunity to climb in our Sherman Tank which was the highlight of many’s overnight adventure in the Museum. Then it was onto our Louisiana Memorial Pavilion where we had a multi-station “Uncle Sam Wants You!” induction activity that included an obstacle course, a dog tag making station, and a family-friendly boot camp that ended with each family on a train to ride to places unknown.  Once “returning from duty” families made parachutes and dropped them from three-stories high trying to hit a landing zone.  Families also designed “brain-savers”–helmets to protect an egg that we dropped from 3 meters.  Later, we had a hunt complete with volunteer-run stations where families completed tasks and interacted with artifacts as they explored our Museum galleries on the Home Front and the D-Day invasions. After a rousing game of “Sergeant Says,” the kids entertained us with corny jokes, and it was time to make camp. The evening wound down with a late-night movie complete with all the popcorn desired and everyone fell asleep under the six aircraft hanging in our US Freedom Pavilion: The Boeing Center, including our B-17 “My Gal Sal” until reveille in the morning. All of this was done with the help of our education staff and interns, adult volunteers, and our teenage Victory Corps volunteers.  We all left exhausted, but excited to do it all again next July! Posted by Lauren Handley, Education Programs Coordinator