Studying history is one thing but living it is an entirely different experience and one that Beavercreek third graders enjoy at Wartinger Historical Park.

The Living History Program, offered by the Beavercreek Historical Society at the park on Kemp Road, provides students with a taste of what life was like for children in the early 1800s.

Volunteers help them make candles and soap, quilt, spin, knit, make butter and rag dolls, garden and enjoy experiences in the barn and the herb garden.

The students, often wearing period costumes, bring lunches for the one-day program and, during lunch time, participate in colonial era games and activities, such as using stilts and walking blocks, hoop rolling and tossing bean bags.

The historical society is always looking for volunteers to help with the program.

Last fall students from Main, Valley and St. Luke elementary schools participated in it and third graders from Shaw, Parkwood and Fairbrook elementary schools will visit for a day between April 15 and May 10.

The Living History Program began about 20 years ago and is designed to simulate life of the early Ohio settlers, said Rebecca Jarvi, who co-chairs the program with Shirley McCourt.

“It’s not just community outreach. We interact with the schools. The Living History Program is part of the schools’ curriculum,” said McCourt, who demonstrates spinning.

The motto of the Beavercreek Historical Society is “preserving the past for the future.”

“What better way is there to accomplish that than to help the future of our community connect with its past through hands-on activities,” McCourt said. “The kids have fun and they learn. And, in this former schoolteacher’s opinion, it just doesn’t get any better than that.”

Jarvi is also enthusiastic about the program.

“Where else do you get to dress up in an 18th century peasant costume and churn butter with enthusiastic kids? I’ve sat down to sew with a child who was afraid of a needle and watched them, 20 minutes later, walk away with their stitched fabric swatch talking about how they’re going to find more fabric to sew,” she said. “That’s what keeps me coming back.”

The Beavercreek Historical Society is “made up of local residents who are passionate about preserving the history of the area,” McCourt said.

For more information, visit www.BeavercreekHistoricalSociety.org or, to volunteer with the Living History program call Jarvi at 427-1751 or McCourt at 431-5553.