Like many places, Winters Heritage House Museum had to adapt to changes this past year. When the pandemic forced the site to temporarily close its doors at 47 E. High St. in Elizabethtown, it also opened an opportunity.

"With nobody coming into the museum, we wanted to have a way for our staff to keep contributing to our mission, and we came up with ideas that could all be done virtually," said Nancy Landis, museum director.

The museum launched a series of e-learning courses with topics including crafts, recipes and science lessons.

"We sat down as a staff and started brainstorming ideas of things we thought would be fun for people to do," Landis noted. "These are all things people did to entertain themselves in the days before TV."

Topics are geared toward children but can be adapted for adults as well, she said.

"We have a lesson on scherenschnitte, which is German scissors cutting. You can download patterns and print them out," she explained. "We have a unit on embroidery. Kids love this. I don't think a lot of people realize how much kids love to sew."

Other crafts include a print-and-fold Conestoga wagon and packhorse train.

"Many people don't realize how important packhorse trains were to early transportation," Landis stated. "These lessons give people an opportunity to learn as they are being entertained."

Recipes in the e-learning series include everything from homemade ice cream to Irish shortbread.

"We came up with recipes that kids can help with," Landis said. "Kids were definitely in our minds when we were coming up with topics. Most of the recipes are very simple, and we taste-tested everything."

History and science lessons in the series include videos that explain things like how soap was invented and what happens when oil and water mix.

"We have a lesson on butter churning, which shows what happens to cream when you churn butter and the science behind what's happening," Landis remarked.

Plans are in the works for more e-learning lessons in the next few months, she noted.

In addition to the e-learning series, on its website the museum offers a virtual tour of four murals throughout Elizabethtown.

Shifting to an online presence took some patience, Landis said, but it has had a silver lining.

"We had so much fun developing these lessons," she explained. "It was a challenge for us, but it was great to do something different like this."

For more information on the e-learning series, readers may visit http://www.elizabethtownhistory.org/e-learning.html.