Topics Related to Kids' Activities

The N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources is launching a new online campaign to encourage North Carolinians to get moving and get outside.

Parks and Trails for Health (PATH) is an initiative designed to encourage physical activity in parks, trails, greenways, and other outdoor spaces in North Carolina.

Hear stories of how freed people built Durham, the wealth and influence of the Cameron family, and how sharecropping shaped the lives of African American families post-Emancipation. All of this will be revealed during in-person tours at Historic Stagville in Durham, Feb. 20. 

“Over 900 people were enslaved by the Cameron family in what is now part of Durham, Orange and Granville counties,” observes Site Manager Vera Cecelski. “The people and profits from these massive plantations shape the history of our communities to this day.”

African American History in North Carolina involves a range of rich experiences and you can enjoy some of them during Black History Month from the comfort of home. Several museums and programs of the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources will offer online programs during February for children and adults. All are free. Sit back and enjoy any or all of them from anywhere in the state. East 

Celebrate literature and hear from North Carolina authors with the Fourth-Annual Black History Month Read-In! The North Carolina African American Heritage Commission, in partnership with the North Carolina State Capitol, the State Library of North Carolina, the Richard B. Harrison Community Library, Liberation Station Bookstore, and the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources, is presenting the Read-In virtually for 2021. Throughout Black History Month in February, the Commission will highlight individual Black North Carolina children’s book authors. 

North Carolina’s Executive Mansion will soon be decorated for the season, and visitors are invited to view the outdoor holiday decorations beginning Friday, Dec. 4.

While the Executive Mansion remains closed to the public due to Covid-19, additional exterior decorations are planned for the public to enjoy. The mansion grounds will be decorated for the holidays, and lit trees will be visible through the mansion’s windows.

In anticipation of Thomas Wolfe’s 120th birthday in October, the Thomas Wolfe Memorial invites students and teachers to participate in the 2020 “Telling Our Tales” Student Writing Competition. In this competition, students will submit their own work of fiction inspired by reading part IV of “The Lost Boy.” 

Governor Roy Cooper has proclaimed June 1-7, 2020, as "Museum Week" in North Carolina to highlight the meaningful impact museums have on North Carolina residents, tourism and the economy, and their communities.

North Carolina Museum Week is a celebration of North Carolina museums. Activities during the week will raise awareness of North Carolina museums as centers of education, community anchors, economic engines, stewards of culture and history, and more.

While public operations at Dept. of Natural and Cultural Resources institutions remain temporarily suspended, many of our engaging programs and resources can be experienced online.

NCLearn @ Home (www.ncdcr.gov/nclearn@home) is a new website designed to gather online content and educational resources into one place for teachers, students, parents, and anyone needing enriching experiences, regardless of their location.

Spring is almost here and for generations that has meant preparing the fields and planting crops. Aycock Birthplace State Historic Site will showcase some of the workings of a late 1870s farm on Wednesday, March 4. The site will demonstrate some of the skills taught in an 1800s classroom on Wednesday, March 11. The free family-friendly “Traveling Through Time” programs will run 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Admission is $2 for each. 

Programs celebrating women’s history will be offered at venues of the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources in March. This month continues the department’s celebration of women’s fight for suffrage and equality, with the theme, “She Changed the World: North Carolina Women Breaking Barriers.” The commemoration of the 100th anniversary of women’s suffrage from March 2019 to November 2020 will expand on contributions of North Carolina women to the state and nation.