Friday, February 28, 2025
Times: The Village is open from 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 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 Homeschool Days in February! During our February homeschool days, we will celebrate Black History Month, learning about the contributions of early 19th-century People of Color in the fields of art, cooking, and the written word.
Home School Days offer you and your family the opportunity to explore the Village and participate in hands-on activities. Sign up for a workshop or explore the Village on your own using one of our many self-guides and scavenger hunts, available at both Museum Education and the Visitor Center.
Admission and Ticketing
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.
Purchase admission for Home School Day on February 28, 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 afterschool 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.
- 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
Workshop Shorties | 30 Minutes | $5
Enjoy a quick and fun activity, accompanied by a dash of history.
Sign up for 10:00 | Punched Tin Ornament (Ages 5+)
Sign up for 10:45 | Punched Tin Ornament (Ages 5+)
Sign up for 11:30 | Pounded Cheese (Ages 5+)
Ingredients include: cheese, butter, curry powder, cayenne pepper, apple juice, mustard, crackers
Sign up for 12:15 | Pounded Cheese (Ages 5+)
Sign up for 1:30 | Decorate a Miniature Bandbox (Ages 5+)
Stories and Crafts: Dave the Potter | 50 Minutes | $7
Enjoy storytime with a classic picture book, then try out a craft relating to the tale. Together, we’ll read the story Dave the Potter, about an enslaved man who was also a gifted artisan and poet. We will talk about how the Village’s potters make redware vessels and then make our own ceramic goods from air-dry clay.
Stories and Crafts: Mr. Crum’s Potato Predicament | 50 Minutes |$7
Sign up for 11:00 (Ages 5+) SOLD OUT
Enjoy storytime with a classic picture book, then try out a craft relating to the tale. After reading the story Mr. Crum’s Potato Predicament, a tale about the African American chef who invented the first potato chip in the 1850s, participants in this workshop will take a look at some period cookbooks. Then, we’ll sew our own cookbooks and get them started with one of the Village’s best receipts.
Stories and Crafts: The All Together Quilt | 50 Minutes | $7
Enjoy storytime with a classic picture book, then try out a craft relating to the tale. It’s cold outside! Let’s read this cozy tale by Lizzy Rockwell about collaboration and teamwork. After, we’ll make our own small quilt squares from paper, and then see what all the squares look like together as a bigger quilt! We will also look at examples of quilted items from the Village’s collection.
Printing and Paper Marbling | 50 Minutes | $7
Sign up for 10:00 (Ages 8+)
Sign up for 11:00 (Ages 6+) SOLD OUT
Sign up for 1:00 (Ages 10+)
Learn about the printing trade in the 1830s. Activities include making your own unique piece of marbled paper, using a printing press, and writing with a quill pen. Participants will also take a look at the lives of prominent Black writers and hear the story of David Ruggles, printer and proprietor of the country’s first Black-owned bookstore in 1834.
What Makes a House? | 50 Minutes | $7
Sign up for 10:00 (Ages 6+) SOLD OUT
Sign up for 11:00 (Ages 10+)
Sign up for 1:00 (Ages 8+)
Participants in this workshop will learn about the different types of houses people lived in in the 19th century. What did they look like, and how were they built? Why did they look the way they did, and how did they function? How did they decorate them, and what are those cool architectural features called? Students will participate in design challenges and make simple house models to take home.
Hearth Cooking: Ginger Nuts | 50 Minutes | $7
Sign up for 10:00 (Ages 8+) SOLD OUT
Sign up for 11:00 (Ages 10+)
Sign up for 1:00 (Ages 6+)
Follow a 19th-century “receipt” for ginger nuts, a receipt from Malinda Russell’s 1866 cookbook, the first in America written by a Black author. Participants will make these ginger cookies and then cut into hearts using tin cookie cutters. Ingredients will include: flour, eggs, butter, sour cream, ginger, cloves, molasses
Hearth Cooking: Macaroni and Cheese | 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
Follow a “receipt” for macaroni and cheese, a recipe brought to the U.S. from France by Black chef James Hemings in the early 19th century. While the cheesy dish bakes, we’ll talk about early American cooks, the recipes they created, and the impact they had on everyday life. Ingredients will include: milk, pasta, butter, parmesan cheese, cheddar cheese, salt, pepper
Heart Penny Rug | 50 Minutes | $7
Sign up for 10:00 (Ages 8+) SOLD OUT
Sign up for 11:00 (Ages 6+) SOLD OUT
Practice your sewing skills as you make a simple penny rug, embellished with a heart. A penny rug is a small, decorative mat, made from colorful fabric scraps. Participants will learn a blanket stitch and see examples of other decorative textiles from the Village’s collection.
Winter Amusements | 50 Minutes | $7
Sign up for 10:00 (Ages 6+)
Sign up for 11:00 (Ages 8+)
Sign up for 1:00 (Ages 6+)
What kinds of games and toys did kids play during the winter to keep themselves occupied on long, cold days? Try out imaginative group games from period books for children and play with homemade and store-bought toys. We’ll also explore magic tricks of the 1830s and learn a little about Richard Potter, a Black magician from the early 19th century.
Farm Sampler | 50 Minutes | $7
Sign up for 10:00 (Ages 6+)
Sign up for 11:00 (Ages 8+) SOLD OUT
Sign up for 1:00 (Ages 8+) SOLD OUT
Most farmers also practiced a different trade, like blacksmithing, pottery, or coopering. The New England winter was a good time for these farmer-craftspeople to work at these trades, along with various other mending tasks around the farm. Participants in this workshop will work with clay, use a draw knife to make a tool handle, split logs, and other winter, farm-related tasks.
Woodworking for Beginners | 50 Minutes |$7
Sign up for 10:00 (Ages 6+) SOLD OUT
Sand and paint wooden houses while learning about handtool usage.
Make a Boot Jack | 50 Minutes | $7
Sign up for 11:00 (Ages 9+) SOLD OUT
Make this simple but practical item, meant to help you remove your muddy and snow-covered boots.
Make a Toolbox | 90 Minutes | $12
Sign up for 1:00 (Ages 11+) SOLD OUT
For students with some woodworking experience, make a handy toolbox to carry your tools and knick-knacks.
Hearth Cooking: Soup Season! Gourd Soup and Rolls | 90 Minutes | $12
Follow a 19th-century “receipt” for gourd soup, a tasty, seasonal soup made with hearty root vegetables. Participants will make long rolls to enjoy along with the soup. Ingredients will include: butternut squash, bread, vegetable broth, onions, butter, milk, flour, yeast
Hearth Cooking: Chocolate Cake & Tea | 90 Minutes | $12
Sign up for 1:00 (Ages 10+) SOLD OUT
Follow a 19th-century “receipt” for chocolate cake, from Eliza Leslie’s The Lady’s Receipt Book, 1847. While the cake bakes, we’ll talk about the ways that 19th-century people used and enjoyed chocolate and other delicacies from across the globe. Ingredients will include: flour, salt, sugar, butter, cocoa, eggs, cinnamon, nutmeg
Heart Pincushion | 90 Minutes | $12
Make a pretty and useful pincushion to hold your needles and pins. Participants will use simple stitches to create this utilitarian item, as well as check out examples of other pincushions from the Village’s collection.
Voices from the Past: Slavery and Abolition in New England | 90 Minutes | $12
During the first half of the 19th century, enslavement was a crucial part of the overall economy of the United States, including in the North. In spite of the efforts of abolitionists, enslavement existed in some form in parts of New England until the 1840s or later. In this lesson, students will examine the wide range of mixed attitudes found in antebellum Central New England. Participants will work together to create a timeline of important dates related to slavery and abolition, as well as learn about the lives of real people who persevered within the system of slavery and against racism, and those who to abolish it.