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Over 400 students from across southern Saskatchewan gathered at the Western Development Museum in Moose Jaw on May 28 for Museum Day — a hands-on, heritage-rich field trip packed with live demos, science, animals, and many tastes of the past.
“It’s so wonderful to see the little light bulbs go on over students’ heads when they see how things used to be done — and they get a chance to do it themselves,” said Karla Rasmussen, program manager with WDM Saskatchewan. “They’re churning butter, making ice cream the old-fashioned way, and watching our blacksmith work.”
This year’s event brought together nearly a dozen community groups, with students rotating through immersive learning stations both indoors and out. For many younger students — from kindergarten through Grade 6 — it was their first field trip ever.
Among the most eye-catching features were two specialized telescopes pointed directly at the sun outside the museum’s front entrance, courtesy of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada’s Regina Centre.
“We’re using solar scopes designed for safe sun viewing,” explained Len McDonald. “With hydrogen-alpha filters, the sun looks like an orange — but it’s alive with motion. You can see explosive flares lifting sometimes hundreds of thousands of kilometres into space. It’s ever-changing.”
The other telescope was set up to observe sunspots, which are massive electromagnetic disruptions that temporarily cool a small portion of the star’s surface. They are visible as spotty darker regions — each of which can, again, be far larger than the planet they are being observed from.
“You need special telescopes with the proper filters,” McDonald cautioned. “Otherwise, you’ll go blind. Instantly. Don’t do with the naked eye, not with binoculars, not anything. With proper filters it’s no problem — I’ve been doing it for years, and it’s spectacular.”
Inside the museum, the Prairie Hearts Quilt Guild demonstrated hand-quilting, Canadian Forces members from 15 Wing built paper airplanes and gave presentations on the WDM’s Snowbirds gallery, local radio club members sent messages between two different stations and brought an antique Morse code machine, and children practiced milking an artificial cow — shrieking as they accidentally splashed each other.
There was a butter-churning and ice-cream-making station, museum volunteers demonstrating old-fashioned machines still in working order, the model railway club made an appearance, and more.
Outside and across the field from the telescopes, a blacksmith demonstrated his craft, adding a hot, red glow to the already-warm day. Carousel Riders, a local riding stable and animal education centre, set up a mini petting zoo, something they’ve done for years, bringing a small herd of hooved, woolly companions for the children to befriend.
“We get to meet lots of kids who’ve never even petted a horse or goat or sheep,” said owner Laura Williams, who brought a pony, two goats, and four bottle-fed orphaned lambs with names like Squishy, Bacon, and Potato. “Introducing them to the animals — you can’t get much better than that.”
For educators like Sharon Lewis, a Grade 1/2 teacher from Westmount School in Moose Jaw, the day offered more than just enrichment — it gave students a full-sensory learning experience.
“We’re all very excited,” said Lewis, who was also visiting the WDM for the first time, as her students bounced with anticipation around her. “We’re hitting every station. It’s hands-on and it sticks with them, so we’re expecting a great learning day.”
With more than 60 adult chaperones, dozens of volunteers, and hundreds of students in tow, the day is one of the biggest events of the year for the WDM — and one of the most memorable.