Field Trips Are Filling Fast: Bring the 18th Century to Your Students
- April Rosequist
- 4 days ago
- 5 min read
The buses are rolling again. Classrooms are full. Fresh notebooks are being opened, new routines are taking shape, and another school year is underway.
But this isn't just any school year for American history.
2026 marks the 250th anniversary of the United States, making this an extraordinary year to take students beyond the textbook and give them a chance to experience the world surrounding America's founding for themselves.
And here at Camp Flintlock?
Our field trip calendar is filling up. Fast.
Schools are already reserving dates for the 2026–27 school year, and if you're hoping to bring your students to Camp Flintlock—or bring Camp Flintlock to your students—now is the time to get your date on the books.
Here's something even some of our longtime friends don't realize: There can be more than one Camp Flintlock field trip happening at the same time.
On any given school day, we might have students exploring our living history campsite in Four Oaks while two separate Camp Flintlock teams are on the road, each creating a colonial encampment at a different school.
Three schools. Three field trips. One day.
And those dates are being claimed quickly.
Come to Us—or We'll Bring the 18th Century to You
There are two ways to experience an Original Camp Flintlock Field Trip, and they're both pretty special.
Come Spend the Day at Camp Flintlock
Tucked into the woods in Four Oaks, North Carolina, our living history campsite was made for days like these.
Students leave the familiar world of classrooms and school hallways behind and find themselves among mud-chinked log cabins, reproduction Native American dwellings, canvas tents, costumed interpreters, and the sights and sounds of another century.
Then the fun begins.
A Fife & Drum welcome announces their arrival. There's a musket demonstration. Students divide into groups and begin making their way through hands-on activities throughout the encampment.
They aren't standing behind ropes looking at history.
They're in it.
They might dip a turkey-feather quill into ink and discover that writing their name in the 18th century takes a little more patience than tapping it onto a screen.
They may twist fibers into cord, dip a candle, make a doll, throw a tomahawk, race a hoop, try fencing, dress in colonial clothing, or discover that some of the games children played generations ago are still pretty darn fun today.
By lunchtime, there are usually plenty of stories to tell.
Can't Come to Camp Flintlock? We'll Come to You.
This may be the part of Camp Flintlock's field trip program that surprises people most.
We travel. And we travel a lot.
Our teams take Camp Flintlock on the road to schools throughout the Southeast, traveling from Maryland to Florida.
And we don't arrive with a PowerPoint presentation.
We arrive with tents.
Give us an appropriate space on your school grounds and we'll begin unloading. Canvas goes up. Activity stations appear. Costumed interpreters take their places.
And that patch of grass outside your school? It's now a colonial encampment.
Students walk out of their classrooms and into the 18th century, rotating through many of the same experiences they would have at our Four Oaks campsite.
No buses full of children traveling for hours. No searching for a destination that can accommodate your entire grade.
We bring the field trip to you.
So What Do Students Actually DO?
Quite a lot.
Camp Flintlock field trips are built around participation. Depending on the activities your school chooses, students might experience:
Quill & Ink Writing — because there was no backspace key in 1776.
Candle Making — hand-dipping their own beeswax candle.
Colonial Games — including Graces, Hoop Race, Tug of War, and other games children would have known.
Cord Making — turning simple fibers into something surprisingly strong.
Rag Doll or Corn Husk Doll Making
Native American or West African-Inspired Necklace Making
Rounders — one of baseball's early cousins.
Flag Making
Block Printing
Leather Journal Making
Knot Tying
Fencing
Tomahawk Throwing
Colonial Dress-Up
And a visit to the Camp Flintlock Colonial Store
Every Original Field Trip also includes a colonial encampment, Fife & Drum welcome, and musket demonstration.
And teachers, don't worry—you don't have to have all of this figured out before you contact us.
Tell us about your students, group size, location, and what you're hoping for, and we'll help you put together an experience that works for your school.
250 Years Later, History Is Better When You Can Touch It
There's a place for textbooks.
But in the year America celebrates its 250th anniversary, there's something especially meaningful about giving students the chance to experience the history they've been learning about.
A feather quill feels awkward in your hand.
A musket is much louder than you imagined.
Making cord takes patience.
Colonial clothing feels very different from a T-shirt and sneakers.
A game you've never heard of can suddenly become the most competitive part of the afternoon.
And the people who lived through the years surrounding America's founding begin to feel less like names printed beneath portraits in a book—and more like real people who worked, played, struggled, created, argued, fought, and built lives in a world very different from our own.
Two hundred and fifty years later, their stories are still worth telling.
For more than 27 years, that's what Camp Flintlock has been trying to create. Not simply a history lesson. A memory attached to one.
Teachers: Please Don't Wait to Reserve Your Date
If Camp Flintlock is on your field trip wish list for the 2026–27 school year, please don't wait until every detail is settled before reaching out.
The calendar is already filling rapidly.
You don't need to know which activities you want. You don't need to have the day's schedule planned. You don't even need to know whether coming to Four Oaks or having Camp Flintlock travel to your school would work best.
Start the conversation now, and we'll help you figure out the rest.
There are only so many days in a school year—and America only turns 250 once.
Homeschool Families—We Didn't Forget You!
Don't have an entire school coming along? That's exactly why we have Homeschool Day.
On Wednesday, September 23, Camp Flintlock will open its gates for a special field-trip-style experience created for homeschool students and their families.
Think of it as an open Camp Flintlock field trip—a chance for individual homeschool families to enjoy the kind of hands-on history experience normally booked by schools and larger groups.
Students will rotate through activities including Colonial Store & Dress Up, Colonial Games, Native American Necklace Making, Corn Husk Doll Making, Fencing/Sword Fighting, and Quill & Ink Writing.
Advance registration is required, space is limited, and tickets will not be available at the gate.
Where Will We See You This Historic School Year?
Maybe your students will come down the path into our campsite in Four Oaks.
Maybe we'll pull into your school parking lot with a trailer full of tents, quills, hoops, costumes, drums—and several centuries' worth of stories.
Either way, America's 250th anniversary is a pretty remarkable year to let your students step into its history.
And we can't wait to meet them.
The school year has begun. The calendar is filling. And history is waiting.
Camp Flintlock
History, Live It!
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