Dan B.
Yelp
I enjoy confusing my kids. It can be a learning experience, it gives them a shot of skepticism, and it builds character. (At least that's my excuse.) My ultimate object is to get the WTHIGO look or "what the hell is going on?" look
Enter Strawbery Banke, an excellent historical museum of restored homes on the shores of the Piscataqua River in Portland, NH (named for the wild Strawberries that used to grow there). The museum concept by itself is not confusing. In fact, it was all too clear to my kids, and we practically had to drag them here. What really blew their minds were the "role players" at some of the houses. These are actors who behave as residents, and treat you like a traveler visiting during their respective era. That's when the WTHIGO look from the kids came up in spades.
First we met Mrs. Goodwin, the wife of the NH Governor during the Victorian era. She was out tending her garden. I made the mistake of asking her what year it was, and she answered "Dear me sir, everyone knows it is 1870...Have you been to the tavern much today?" I sheepishly lied that I had. Then she proceeded to give a tour of her garden and tell us abut the latest "modern" touches she had implemented. My kids asked lots of questions, many of the sort: "are you really...?" The actress really knew her stuff, staying in character the entire time. My kids were hooked and wanted to see more.
Other role players included Mrs. Shapiro, an elderly Jewish woman from 1919 had just made some Mandelbrot in the working coal oven (she really had) and was waiting for her daughter to come home from school. There was also Mrs. Cooper, who was running a general store in 1943 and talked to the kids about collecting grease and scrap metal for the war effort, among other things. There were even some children role players, a group of younger girls pretending to prepare dinner in the Pitt Tavern in the year 1773.
The home restorations themselves are extremely well done and there is also a cooper and a potter that you can watch in action. There is even a house dedicated to antique and hand-made toys, where we spent a lot of time.
We liked it so much we went back the next day (tickets are good for two days), and that time we didn't have to drag the kids kicking and screaming.