Institute of Texan Cultures

This past weekend we took advantage of yet another Groupon (can you tell I’m a sucker for a good deal) and went to the Institute of Texan Cultures (ITC).  I wasn’t really sure what to expect.  I figured we would be in and out in an hour or so once the kids started getting bored.  Boy was I wrong!  ITC is a hidden treasure of San Antonio.  The exhibits were what you would expect….lots of different things behind glass to look at and read about.  However, the demonstrations were amazing.  There were probably less than 20 people in the entire museum, which means the kids were able to be front in center for everything. 

Here they are in front of one of the Native American exhibits.  It was fun to get to share with Dalton the different types of homes the Native Americans would live in and how you could learn a lot about their way of life just by looking at their homes.  I think Addie got a little bored, but Dalton seemed to enjoy learning about the different lifestyles.

 

They both enjoyed looking at some of the different styles of clothing influenced by the different cultures.  They are pictured with their favorites of the day.

Here they are inside a life size replica of a traditional frontier home.  They were amazed at how small homes once were and that it only had two rooms.  They both thought using newspaper to paper the walls was pretty cool.

By far the best part of ITC was the demonstration of how to turn wool and cotton into yarn and blankets.  This sweet little lady was so patient with the kids.  She showed them how to use a drop spindle, spinning wheel, loom and even how to comb out the cotton.  They both were able to take turns using all the different pieces.  She also let them each pick out two pieces of colored wool to make friendship bracelets. 

We had a great time!  It was definitely worth the Groupon (and probably even full price)!