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Girl Scout Programs

Brownie Try-Its

Colors and Shapes
Colors and shapes will come alive as Brownies tour the Riversdale mansion looking for colors and shapes in the historic artwork, fabrics, and furniture contained within its doors. Scouts will make stamps, weave a placemat, and design their own quilt square. Fee: $10 per scout, $2 per adult (Try-It not included)

Write Away
(Recommended for 3rd Graders, or those with strong reading and writing skills)
The Mistress of Riversdale, Rosalie Calvert, is the perfect role-model for how important letters can be to the study of the past. The extensive collection of letters still in existence between Rosalie Stier Calvert and her family in Belgium provides a remarkable narrative window into the past. Scouts will tour of the house, make marbleized journals, play games, and become reporters to help them build an appreciation for the written word. Fee: $10 per scout, $2 per adult (Try-It not included)

Listening to the Past
Riversdale House Museum is the perfect environment for scouts to complete the Listening to the Past Try-It. Scouts will tour the house, cook in the open hearth, read wallpaper, and make and play with early American games and toys. Fee: $10 per scout, $2 per adult (Try-It not included)

Junior Badges

Folk Arts
Folk traditions are those that are passed down from generation to generation and learned by observation and imitation. The products of folk art are aesthetically embellished objects that have a utilitarian purpose and do not necessarily need the decoration to carry out that purpose. In this program, scouts will compare and contrast fine art with folk art, make theorem paintings, learn an English country dance, and learn about quilts.
Fee: $10 per scout, $2 per adult (Badge not included)

Architecture Adventures
Riversdale, completed in 1807, is unique to the area in that it includes elements of both traditional American Federal and European architecture. While touring the house, Scouts will gain an understanding of the main components of these types of architecture. Scouts will also learn about modern design, form, and function when they tour Riversdale's new Visitor Center building. Afterwards, Scouts will redesign a room and create a three dimensional garden.
Fee: $10 per scout, $2 per adult (Badge not included)

A Stitch in Time
Fabric arts were as varied 200 years ago as they are today. Rosalie Stier Calvert dressed her family and decorated her home in a wide variety of European and American fabrics and cloths. Scouts will learn about decorative and functional fabrics, experiment with natural dyes, weave on a loom, and create their own fabric project.
Fee: $10 per scout, $2 per adult (Badge not included)

Toymaker
200 years ago, toys and games were quite different than they are today. Riversdale was home to nine of Rosalie and George Calvert's children, as well as the children of their enslaved servants. While touring the house, Scouts will learn about how these children lived and played. They will try their hand at some nineteenth century games, make their own period toy, and create a board game about Riversdale.
Fee: $10 per scout, $2 per adult (Badge not included)

Local Lore
The town of Riverdale has a rich history with a great deal of importance placed on the Calvert family and their home, Riversdale. Scouts will discover how the Calverts would have lived and why they were so important. After a tour of the house, Scouts will use primary sources to make a poster about the local Battle of Bladensburg, perform a short play about an important event in the history of Riversdale, and become stewards of Riversdale by learning about how important it is to have volunteers work with the paid staff (scouts will lend a hand in a small project to assist the staff).
Fee: $10 per scout, $2 per adult (Badge not included)

Patch Programs

House Tour
Explore c. 1801 Federal style house and kitchen dependency. As scouts tour the house they will learn about art, architecture, and the Calvert family, particularly about Rosalie Stier Calvert, the empowered Mistress of Riversdale.
Fee: $1 per person, additional fee of $2.50 per Riversdale custom patch.

Open Hearth Cooking Workshop
Give your troop the unique experience of cooking on an early 19th century hearth using period correct recipes and receipts. This workshop is limited to groups of no more than 10 (including adults).
Fee: $50 per 2 hour session, additional fee of $2.50 per Riversdale custom patch.