Victorian Picnic Sunday Offers 19th-Century Games and Crafts

Old-fashioned games--the kind that don’t need electricity or batteries--will be part of the fun at Sunday’s second annual Victorian Family Picnic at Rancho Los Cerritos, 4600 Virginia Road, Long Beach. On the back lawn of the rancho, kids can try their skills at ring tossing, croquet, sack races, hoop rolling and walking on stilts.

To learn more about life in the 19th Century (and to put modern life into perspective), volunteers dressed in period costumes will encourage visitors to try their hand at butter churning (samples available), candle dipping (with candles to take home), clothes washing with wringer and washboard, and adobe-brick making. Period costumes are encouraged but no one in baggy surfer shorts and oversize T-shirts will be turned away.

The rancho, built in 1844, has been restored to give visitors an accurate picture of life in Old California. Docent-led 45-minute tours of the hacienda will begin every half-hour.

Families may bring picnic lunches to eat on the lawn. Cold drinks, hot dogs and bakery goods will be for sale. Other activities include making tin-punch designs and stenciling a mural. Dulcimer players and guitarists will entertain on the patio.

Hours are 1 to 4 p.m. Admission: adults $1; children 12 and younger 50 cents. Information: (213) 424-9423.