Camp Edwards Place

Camp Edwards Place offers week-long themed camps such as Civil War Encampment, Victorian Tales, Camp Illinois, Celebrate Illinois' Black History!, Use It Up, Wear It Out, Make Do, or Do Without, Maker's Apprentice, Playing With the Past, Dream Weaver, Eureka!, and Acting Up in the 19th Century. Campers take part in activities like learning some of the skills that soldiers learned during the Civil War, learning about battles, 19th century medical aid, and what soldiers did outside of battles, exploring Victorian stories about creatures, superstitions, ghosts, and magic through crafts and activities, and learning about Illinois from its earliest indigenous nations to its admittance into the union and beyond. Additional activities include learning about the African American community in Springfield and Illinois in the 19th century, activities about historical occupations, cultural achievements, and daily life in 19th century Illinois, constructing a sewing tool kit and container, making either a drawstring bag or a “house wife” sewing kit, exploring how people made their own goods to trade and sell in the 19th century, seeing and participating in creating items such as brooms, hats, and shoes, exploring 19th century toys and games and making games and toys by hand, weaving projects, creating industrial-type technology, and exploring various forms of 19th century theater and performing such as tableaux vivants, paper theatre, puppet theatre, and forms of popular theatre like farce and melodrama.

• Ages: 8–18 years old
• Schedule: Individual camps run for one week with daily sessions either 9 AM–12 PM or 1:30–4:30 PM, with camp size for listed camps at 12 campers.
• Price: $200/Non-Members, $170/Members per 3rd–5th Grade camp session, with refunds issued at 90% of the original purchase price until March 31, 2026; 75% until May 5, 2026; 50% until May 19, 2026; and at 50% if canceled within two weeks of the camp start date, with no refunds for cancellations made less than two weeks in advance; schedule changes cost $10 per transfer, and the Springfield Art Association does not issue credits.

Camp age groups are based on the grade the child will be going into in Fall 2026, and due to staff shortages, children will not be able to stay unattended over the lunch hour between morning and afternoon camps for Summer 2026. Some camps are immersive and participatory, are partly outdoor, and some camps include learning about Civil War era weapons. Many camps take place in Edwards Place’s 2nd floor classroom, which is only accessible by stairs.

Camp Edwards Place is led by Sarah Adams, Curator of Collections and Interpretation at Edwards Place of the Springfield Art Association. Sarah Adams holds a B.A. in Religious Studies from Western Illinois University and an M.A. in Museum Studies from the University of Kansas, and has worked in the museum field since 2012 with a focus on history and anthropology collections.

The program is connected to community offerings that include outreach presentations on 19th century history topics available free for organizations and groups, with donations accepted. The Travelling Trunk program offers free one-week rentals of artifact trunks with lesson plans aligned to Illinois state standards and Common Core for classrooms or other educational organizations.

Last updated May 23, 2026.