Perhaps most famous for its annual return of the swallows, Mission San Juan Capistrano was the seventh of 21 missions founded in California. Ostensibly built to educate the natives of the land in the tenets of Christianity, the San Juan Capistrano Mission---as well as the other 20 missions---served as colonial outposts for Spain. Today, it remains a lovely tourist draw where you can enjoy a healthy walk while learning about California's history.
Daily Activities
Open daily throughout the year, the California Missions Resource Studio serves as an area where teachers, parents and students may review student reports on the mission, or create video or Power Point presentations on the mission, the available activities and the mission's goals in education. In addition to work space, the studio provides research material, time lines and rubbing plates.
On Tuesdays, you can also visit the Curiosity Carts, which feature reproduced artifacts related to the mission's history. Learn basket weaving on the first and third Wednesday of each month, or take the Garden Tour any Wednesday.
Living History Day
The members of the Living History Society, a band of dedicated volunteers, portray historical characters related to the mission, sharing their love of San Juan Capistrano's history while teaching and entertaining. While acting out their parts, they also present demonstrations in arts and crafts of the period. In addition, the members spend time speaking at civic organizations, historical societies and schools. The presentations at the mission are on the second Saturday of every month.
Free Weekly Activities for Kids
Craft Day comes every Tuesday, when children can make their own lasso, cornhusk doll, jump rope or miniature adobe house. On Wednesdays, children can explore the mission's produce gardens while participating in Kids Garden Day. A Gardening Angel volunteer leads the tour and offers children samples of vegetables like those grown by the mission monks two centuries ago, and will also help the kids decorate a pot they can take home. Thursdays are Toy Days, when kids can play with a variety of vintage toys and decorate their own whirligig, which is theirs to keep.
Ceramics Clay Camp
Utilizing slab, coil and pinch methods, children can learn how to make clay sculptures, the basics of ceramic hand-building and how to throw clay on a pottery wheel and make a vase, bowl or cup they can take home. Afterward, the kids glaze their own pieces and the instructors finish by glazing the sculpts and vessels in a kiln.
Indian Summer Camp
Jacque Nunez, the mission's Journey to the Past educator, leads this camp celebrating the heritage and cultural diversity of California. Children learn about California's Native American lifestyles and cultures and how to use the lessons of the past to preserve the state's natural resources through sound environmental practices. In addition, they learn how to make the tools common to the local Indian peoples, such as arrowheads, adobe bricks, woven baskets and string.
Mission Sleepover and Summer Concert Series
Every summer, the mission hosts a sleepover for kids and their parents that includes dinner, evening activities and breakfast in the morning.
From late June until early September, the mission also hosts its Summer Concert Series on six nights on the mission courtyard. The mission invites guests to dance along to the music and enjoy a picnic lunch. You can reserve seats at a table, or bring your own lawn chair.
My Time at San Juan Capistrano
The first time I visited the mission, I was too busy complaining about my little sister, my older brother and the fact that I had to leave my G.I. Joe at home to appreciate the place. At that time, the mission offered few activities to keep kids occupied, but that has changed. As an adult, my favorite aspects of the mission remain the extravagant gilded alter in the church and the grounds' magnificent gardens.
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