Yes, Archives Can Be Fun!

The Oxford County Archives has new online activities available including puzzles and colouring pages! 

By Megan Lockhart, Archives Technician

Just like everyone else our archivists have been staying at home and working from home for a few months now. We’ve also been experiencing some boredom, it’s inevitable under the current circumstances. When people think of archives, there is often a common misconception that comes to mind. Archives are full of “old stuff”, lots of books and papers, and archivists spend all day researching, filing, dusting off books, etc. This is not the case! Our archival collection is made up of fascinating historical and even current records all related to Oxford County’s cultural heritage. From old school uniforms, to journals and quirky historical photos, there is so much to share and see at the archives.

Just because the archives has had to close its doors due to quarantine measures doesn’t mean we don’t want community members to interact with our collection! It’s quite the opposite, we want people to interact with us more than ever. We have also been working on debunking the myth that archives are “boring and stuffy”. With many students now learning from home and many people experiencing boredom we have come up with some creative ways for everyone to play and interact with our local history at home!

Our website is now filled with fun  an easy level (ideal for kids!) to more difficult for those puzzle loving adults. Click each puzzle piece into place to reveal a beautiful historical image!

Colouring is all the rage right now, even with adults. We are also providing new colouring pages on our website featuring topics related to Oxford County’s history. Students can learn some Oxford County history while they colour (parents may also learn some interesting history tidbits). We had begun an Oxford County colouring book project before COVID-19, but our plans were inevitably interrupted. We hope to expand our colouring pages and continue this project at a later date with a potential co-op student. We also welcome members of the community to send us their completed colouring pages for us to share with our Instagram followers, or if you have art skills and would like to design a new colouring page please contact us at: archives@oxfordcounty.ca. 

                                                                         One of our colouring pages available online.