Friday, September 19, 2025
Times: The Village is open from 9:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Workshop times vary.
Cost: On Home School Day, homeschoolers (ages 4-17) get in at the discounted rate $12 and one adult is admitted per home school youth at the discounted rate of $17. Additional adults above the 1-to-1-ratio are admitted at the full rate of $30. As always, members get into the Village for free. Workshops are an additional fee to cover materials and staffing.
Join us for one of two identical September Home School Days at Old Sturbridge Village. This month’s Home School Days will focus on the fall and the changing of the seasons. From apples to colorful leaves and landscapes, learn how rural 19th-century people prepared for the long winter ahead.
Admission and Ticketing
On Home School Day, homeschoolers (ages 4-17) get in at the discounted rate $12 and one adult is admitted per homeschool youth at the discounted rate of $17. Additional adults above the 1-to-1-ratio are admitted at the full rate of $30. As always, members get into the Village for free.
Workshops are an additional fee.
Purchase admission for Home School Day on September 19, 2025
Things to know:
- Unless otherwise noted, workshops will take place inside or outside the Museum Education building. You may park at Museum Education during the day; click here for directions.
- The Museum Education building closes to the public following workshops due to our after-school program
- Home School Days are rain-or-shine programs.
- Pre-registration is required for all activities listed below, unless otherwise noted.
- All events are limited to 10 students, unless otherwise noted.
- We are offering two identical Home School Days in September to accommodate the demand for these workshops. Out of courtesy for your fellow homeschoolers, please consider signing up for workshops on only ONE of the two dates listed, not both.
- Please respect the age requirements for the workshops. They are set for the benefit of our educators and all program participants.
- These are not drop-in programs and our staff will have a list of registrants for each workshop.
- Please let us know as soon as possible if you need to cancel your workshop tickets. As these workshops are in high demand, refunds for workshop fees will only be given up to one week prior to the event date, or in the case of cancellation by Old Sturbridge Village.
- Students’ guardians must stay in close proximity of the program location for the entire duration of the activity for safety reasons.
- Workshop times are approximate. Please stay close by during your child’s workshop.
- Meeting locations for these workshops may change. Stay tuned to your email or signage at the Visitor Center on the day of the program for any potential location changes.
- When visiting the Village, please note that children must be accompanied by an adult when visiting the Miner Grant Store or Ox & Yoke Mercantile. Guests are welcome to eat at picnic tables around the campus but due to limited space, guests are not permitted to dine in the Bullard Café unless purchasing food.
Check back the week prior to the event for more information on in-Village activities.
Hands-On Workshops
Hearth Cooking: Apple Fritters | 50 Minutes | $7
Sign up for 10:00 (Ages 10+) SOLD OUT
Sign up for 11:00 (Ages 8+) SOLD OUT
Sign up for 1:00 (Ages 6+) SOLD OUT
Using 19th-century kitchen implements and tools, we’ll gather by the hearth to follow a 19th-century “receipt” for apple fritters. While the apple fritters fry in a hanging skillet, we’ll discuss the ways that people in the 1830s used this ubiquitous crop, then mull cider to have with our snack. Ingredients will include: apples, flour, sugar, egg, butter, salt, and molasses.
Stories and Crafts: The Hundred-Year Barn | 50 Minutes | $7
Sign up for 10:00 (Ages 5+) SOLD OUT
Enjoy storytime with a classic picture book, then try out a craft or activity relating to the tale. After reading the beautifully illustrated story The Hundred-Year Barn by Patricia MacLachlan, will learn about the barns at Old Sturbridge Village and the animals that inhabit them. Then, do an animal-themed craft to take home!
Stores and Crafts: Apples to Oregon | 50 Minutes | $7
Sign up for 11:00 (Ages 5+) SOLD OUT
Enjoy storytime with a classic picture book, then try out a craft or activity relating to the tale. This entertaining tale by Deborah Hopkinson tells the (somewhat) true tale of a pioneer father who brings his fruit trees to the American West. Then, we’ll talk about how people traveled around in the 1800s and make a reverse glass painting on mylar.
Stories and Crafts: How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World | 50 Minutes | $7
Enjoy storytime with a classic picture book, then try out a craft or activity relating to the tale. Together, we will read this fun story about where ingredients originate to come together and make our delicious apple pies. After, we’ll talk about where people got their groceries in the 1830s, smell and taste these fragrant ingredients, and make an apple craft.
Stamped Tea Towels | 50 Minutes | $7
Sign up for 10:00 (Ages 8+) SOLD OUT
Sign up for 11:00 (Ages 6+)
Sign up for 1:00 (Ages 10+)
In the 1830s, fabrics were often printed with wooden block prints, used to create elaborate and colorful designs. We’ll look at some examples of block-printed fabrics from the collection, then print on fabric using fruits as stamps!
Cidermaking and Corn Processing | 50 Minutes | $7
Sign up for 10:00 (Ages 10+) SOLD OUT
Sign up for 11:00 (Ages 8+) SOLD OUT
Sign up for 1:00 (Ages 6+) SOLD OUT
It’s getting cooler on the farm! Try out a small cider press and learn all about the science behind cidermaking and the drink’s importance in the early 1800s. Then, go through the process of turning dried corn into cornmeal using period-appropriate tools. Participants will have a glass of cider after their hard work is complete.
Fall Reverse Glass | 50 Minutes | $7
Sign up for 10:00 (Ages 6+)
Sign up for 11:00 (Ages 10+) SOLD OUT
Sign up for 1:00 (Ages 8+) SOLD OUT
Reverse glass was a very popular form of decoration in the early 1800s. Participants will learn a little about fall on the farm, then celebrate the season by creating this period-inspired artwork painted directly on glass.
Back to School | 50 Minutes | $7
Sign up for 10:00 (Ages 8+)
Sign up for 11:00 (Ages 6+)
Sign up for 1:00 (Ages 8+) SOLD OUT
It’s the end of summer, which means that many 21st-century students are heading back to their studies, at home or at a school. In the 1830s, though, rural kids were needed at home in the fall to help on the farm. Learn about what school was like for students in the 1800s: who went to school at this time, what they learned, and more. Participants will sew a school book, participate in a school lesson, and learn a schoolyard game.
Apple Burlap Sewing | 50 Minutes | $7
Sign up for 10:00 (Ages 8+)
Sign up for 11:00 (Ages 6+) SOLD OUT
Try out a simple apple pattern using yarn and large needles, friendly for small hands. We’ll also look at examples of fall decorative art in the Village’s collection.
Make a Needle Felted Apple | 50 Minutes | $7
Sign up for 10:00 (Ages 10+) SOLD OUT
Sign up for 11:00 (Ages 8+) SOLD OUT
Sign up for 1:00 (Ages 8+) SOLD OUT
Using wool roving and felting needles, create a delectable fall fruit. We will look at some examples of decorative textiles from the Village’s collection for inspiration before beginning to craft.
Play Ball! | 50 Minutes | $7
Sign up for 10:00 (Ages 10+) SOLD OUT
Sign up for 11:00 (Ages 6+) SOLD OUT
Sign up for 1:00 (Ages 8+) SOLD OUT
Students in this workshop will play a game of baseball by 19th-century rules, using an axe handle as a bat and a wool-stuffed ball! We will also explore the other ways in which kids had fun in the 1830s, looking at other toys and games from the time. Participants will take home a kit to sew their own 19th-century baseball.
Hearth Cooking: Make an Apple Pudding | 90 Minutes | $12
Sign up for 10:00 (Ages 10+)
Sign up for 1:00 (Ages 10+) SOLD OUT
Apples were important to the New Englanders’ diet in the 19th century, mostly in the form of cider and dried apples, preserved to last through the year. Follow this receipt to make an apple pudding, a custard-like apple filling in a pie crust. While the dessert bakes, we’ll talk a little about food preservation during the Village’s time. Ingredients will include: flour, eggs, butter, sugar, apples, and limes.
Stenciled Footstool | 90 Minutes | $12
Sign up for 10:00 (Ages 10+) SOLD OUT
Sign up for 1:00 (Ages 10+) SOLD OUT
Use your woodworking skills to make a small footstool, perfect for resting your feet. We’ll also practice stenciling on our footstool, a very fashionable decorative style in the 1830s.
Fall Embroidery | 90 Minutes | $12
Sign up for 1:00 (Ages 10+) SOLD OUT
Learn basic embroidery stitches as you create a piece with apples, gourds, or leaves. We’ll look at examples of embroidery in the Village’s collection before we begin and talk about how 19th-century people learned this craft.
Simple Machines Scavenger Hunt | 90 Minutes | $7
Sign up for 10:00 (Ages 6+)
Sign up for 1:00 (Ages 6+) SOLD OUT
There are so many simple machines in use around the Village! Join an educator for a fun scavenger hunt around the Museum as we search for pulleys, levers, and more!