Girls Learn of Victorian Age Through Crafts and Teacakes

If the Queen - Victoria that is - could have seen them busily working away at their activities, she would have been proud.

The period in which the English monarch reigned, 1837 to 1901, defined as the Victorian Era, was the inspiration for Wednesday's “American Girl Afternoon” at the Fairfield Museum and History Center, 370 Beach Road.

Aimed at girls in grades 3 to 6, the workshop introduced today's girls to the craft known as decoupage and showed them how to prepare Victorian-style teacakes.

To best connect with this age set, the class was linked with the American Girl line of dolls, which helps teach what girls did in the past, and girls in Wednesday's program were encouraged to bring their own American Girl dolls.

Thirteen girls, all very chatty and giggly, but tuned in and eager to learn, sat around a block of tables that had been pushed together in a light-filled classroom.

“Who’s Queen Victoria?” asked Christine Jewell, the museum's director of Educational Programming and leader of the "American Girl Afternoon" program.

“I think she was the queen of England and the Victorian Era was named after her,” Gillian Rooney, 10, an Osborn Hill School student, said brightly.

Gillian's reply ignited a discussion about the clothing and mannerisms of the Victorian Era and helped set up the decoupage activity. Jewell provided colored tissue paper, magazine pictures, doilies and patterned paper and instructed the girls to tear or cut pieces from the materials as elements to glue onto small wooden boxes.

“It was common during the Victorian Era to decoupage glass, boxes and furniture,” Jewell said. “They really decoupaged everything. This is a good and easy way for girls to experience this popular period craft.”

As she cut lace for her container, Emma Weller, 8, visiting from Cambridge, Massachusetts, said, “This is super fun to do. I’m going to use the box for my doll’s accessories, like shoes, bracelets, necklaces and things for her hair.”

At the opposite end of the table, Osborn Hill School student Katie Hinkle, 10, glued pink and red scraps of paper to the lid of her container. “These are some of my favorite colors,” she said. “I’m going to put jewelry in my box.”

Sitting down the way, Sarah Herley, 9, a St. Thomas Aquinas School student, said, “I picked the paper I’m using ‘cause it looked interesting. The box will be for my American Girl’s stuff.”

As the girls completed their decoupage projects, Jewell set them about preparing Queen Victoria Dream Bars - small tasty teacakes. Rachel Loboncz, 9, one of a set of triplets, really looked forward to this part of the program. “I like to help my mom bake and we cook a lot of things in our house… bread pudding, cookies,” Rachel said. “All of us kids help out with the cooking. These Dream Bars are fun!”

As important as the afternoon program was as an educational opportunity, it also fostered friendship and camaraderie among the girls. As they worked on their activities, it allowed them to share tales about school, family and friends.

“There’s always something to talk about,” said Jewell as the group chattered away.

Alayna Barrios, 11, of Burr Elementary, who has participated in similar programs in the past, enjoyed the friendly environment. “Everyone has a story to share. Usually this is more fun in a big group like this, as many of us know each other and we can share things we’ve done together,” she said.

No sooner had Alayna said that than Dani Corrigan, 10, of Jennings School, chirped, “We’re going to take a survey about Justin Bieber.”

Girls will be girls after all.