CULPEPER -- The little girl used her tiny hands to cover her eyes Monday morning as she watched "The Land Before Time" at the Museum of Culpeper History.

"I'm not watching this part," shrieked Cally Vogel as Sera, a triceratops, pounced on a tyrannosaurus named Sharptooth, who was lying on his back on the ground.

The 4-year-old preschooler has seen the animated Steven Spielberg film plenty of times.

Sitting on a colorful quilt in the "The Early Years" gallery, a handful of Culpeper campers enjoyed the movie that features dinosaurs living in a fantasy-based version of prehistoric Earth.

This active adventure known as "Camp Culley" kicked off its first full week of summer day-camp activities for Culpeper children.

Outside, older kids created dinosaur eggs with the help of museum educator Gloria Cooper.

The kids dipped newspaper clippings into a flour and water mixture and slathered it all over small beach balls. Today, they have plans to decorate their creations.

During lunch, geologist Jim Mello talked to the kids about science, rocks and fossils as they sat around white picnic tables.

"Every scientist must be observant and curious," said the retired scientist, who worked at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History in Washington. "Science is like doing detective work, because you have to find the facts, be impartial and fair. And it's a lot of fun."

At a local quarry, the kids peered down 200 feet to see ancient footprints.

"You really get a sense of going back in time," Mello told the kids before the trip.

That got 6-year-old Wyatt Snider's attention.

"[I like] that we get to go see dinosaur tracks," he said.

Museum director Lee Langston-Harrison said the pilot camp program is a way to connect history with fun activities.

"I say history should not just be for the historians, it should be for everybody," she said. "And this is a great way to get kids interested very early on."
Rhonda Simmons writes for the Culpeper Star-Exponent.