Join us for our April Home School Day on Wednesday, April 12! Home School Days offer you and your family the opportunity to explore the Village and participate in activities. This is a great opportunity for kids to gain exposure to many aspects of 1830s New England life in an interactive way. During this Home School Day, we’ll celebrate the coming springtime. See what’s happening on the farm, immerse yourself in the sights and sounds of nature, and learn about how early New Englanders utilized natural resources.

Register for one of the in-person programs with the Village’s knowledgeable staff or explore the Village on your own using self-guides, scavenger hunts, and more. All activities will take place at Museum Education, unless otherwise noted.

Admission and Ticketing

On Home School Day, homeschoolers (ages 4-17) get in at the discounted rate $10 and one adult is admitted per home school youth at the discounted rate of $15. Additional adults above the 1 to 1 ratio are admitted at the full rate of $28. As always, members get into the Village for free.

Workshops are an additional fee; see below for details.

Click here to purchase standard daytime admission for April 12

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.

In-Village Activities

Check back the week prior to Home School Day for more information! Activities may include:

• Women on the Farm
• Learn a 19th-Century Dance
• Performances and storytelling about women in the 19th century
• Drop-in games and crafts

Hands-On Workshops

Stories and Crafts | 50 Minutes | $7

Enjoy storytime with a classic picture book, then try out a craft relating to the tale.

Register for 10:00: Planting a Rainbow (Ages 5+) SOLD OUT

Together, we’ll read Planting a Rainbow by Lois Ehlert. After we learn about bulbs, seeds, and seedlings, we’ll paint a colorful craft to take home.

Register for 11:00: The Painter Who Loved Chickens (Ages 5+) SOLD OUT

The Painter Who Loved Chickens by Olivier Dunrea tells the charming tale of an artist who finds inspiration in his feathered friends. After reading the story, we will learn about the Village’s chickens, then paint a realistic wooden egg to take home.

Register for 1:00: Tops and Bottoms (Ages 5+) SOLD OUT

It’s spring! We will read Tops and Bottoms by Janet Stevens. After enjoying this fun tale, we will learn about the types of plants that people planted in their gardens and fields in the 1830s, then make a period-inspired carrot craft to take home.

Lamb Art: Reverse Glass | 50 Minutes | $7

Register for 10:00 (Ages 10+) SOLD OUT
Register for 11:00 (Ages 8+) SOLD OUT
Register for 1:00 (Ages 6+) SOLD OUT

Reverse glass painting was a very popular form of decoration in the early 1800s. Celebrate the Village’s spring lambs by creating this period-inspired artwork painted directly on glass.

Open-Hearth Cooking: Tea Cakes | 50 Minutes | $7

Register for 10:00 (Ages 10+) SOLD OUT
Register for 11:00 (Ages 6+) SOLD OUT
Register for 1:00 (Ages 8+) SOLD OUT

Follow a 19th-century “receipt” for tea cake. In the 1830s, April was known as a “time of want” on the farm. Even though the weather was starting to get warm, fall food stores were running low and few plants sprouted in the garden. Still, chickens were starting to lay eggs again and cows were producing milk. As a result, cakes were a popular springtime food! Ingredients will include: butter, milk, flour, sugar, baking powder

Open-Hearth Cooking: Carrot Fritters | 50 Minutes | $7

Register for 10:00 (Ages 8+) SOLD OUT
Register for 11:00 (Ages 6+) SOLD OUT
Register for 1:00 (Ages 10+) SOLD OUT

Follow a 19th-century “receipt” for carrot fritters. During the early spring, farm families might have to dig deep into their root cellars to prepare meals. These fritters are a delicious treat and celebration of the humble carrot. Ingredients will include: carrots, eggs, orange, flour, sugar

Basic Food Preservation: Make a Soft Cheese & Shrub | 50 Minutes | $7

Register for 10:00 (Ages 10+) SOLD OUT
Register for 11:00 (Ages 10+) SOLD OUT

Dairying was an important business in the 1800s! We will get into the science of food preservation as we talk about the process of transforming milk to butter and cheese, then make our own soft cheese. We will enjoy our snack with shrub, another receipt that preserves the harvest. Ingredients include: milk, vinegar, salt, cream, flour, butter, berries, sugar

Make a Spring Sampler | 50 Minutes | $7

Register for 10:00 (Ages 6+) SOLD OUT
Register for 11:00 (Ages 10+) SOLD OUT
Register for 1:00 (Ages 8+) SOLD OUT

In the early 1800s, many girls and boys learned simple sewing and knitting.. We will look at some examples of these intricate needlepoints and then try our hand at botanical embroidery ourselves. Younger students will focus on simple shapes and use yarn to sew.

Carding and Weaving | 50 Minutes | $7

Register for 10:00 (Ages 8+) SOLD OUT
Register for 11:00 (Ages 6+) SOLD OUT
Register for 1:00 (Ages 8+) SOLD OUT

The process of making clothing in the 1830s was a little different than it is today. Step into the role of an 1830s villager and learn about the hard work behind making sheep’s wool into fabric. Participants will get hands-on experience carding wool from the Village’s own sheep and then weaving thread into cloth.

Letterboxing | 50 Minutes | $7

Register for 10:00 (Ages 10+) SOLD OUT
Register for 11:00 (Ages 8+) SOLD OUT
Register for 1:00 (Ages 8+) SOLD OUT

Hone your detective skills with this fun introduction to letterboxing! We’ll talk about the history of this activity, work on puzzles, make our own unique letterboxing stamp, and then search for a nearby letterbox.

Botanical Watercolors | 50 Minutes | $7

Register for 1:00 (Ages 8+) SOLD OUT

Draw inspiration from the early spring in one of the Village’s gardens, as well as floral motifs throughout the Salem Towne House, to create your own botanical watercolor paintings. Participants will look at examples of botanical art from the Village’s collection and learn techniques for working with watercolors.

Spring on the Farm | 50 Minutes | $7

Register for 10:00 (Ages 6+) SOLD OUT
Register for 11:00 (Ages 8+) SOLD OUT

It’s spring, which means that the garden beds need tending. Participants will pick rocks from the garden beds, rake the soil smooth, and plot out where to plant our beans and peas. We will also plant our own seeds to take home and try our hand at building a small zig-zag fence.

Young Herbalists | 50 Minutes | $7

Register for 11:00 (Ages 6+) SOLD OUT

Make an herbal sachet to take home, and go on a kid-friendly tour of OSV’s herb garden with one of the museum’s knowledgeable gardeners. Please note: This program meets at the entrance to the herb garden, near the Ox and Yoke Mercantile. 

Marble Madness | 50 Minutes | $7

Register for 10:00 (Ages 10+) SOLD OUT
Register for 11:00 (Ages 6+) SOLD OUT
Register for 1:00 (Ages 8+) SOLD OUT

Learn all about the ancient game of marbles! From aggies to jaspers, we will explore marble slang and play fun marble games. We will also make our own marbles from clay and a decorative bag to store them in!

Extended Open-Hearth Cooking: Herb Pie | 90 Minutes | $10

Register for 1:00 (Ages 10+) SOLD OUT

Follow a 19^th-century “receipt” for herb pie, which is similar to a modern-day quiche. In the 1830s, April was known as a “time of want” on the farm. Even though the weather was starting to get warm, fall food stores were running low and few plants sprouted in the garden. Families would take advantage of eggs, wild greens, and herbs to make dishes like this one. Ingredients will include: eggs, cheese, herbs, greens, flour, butter

Tin Grater | 90 Minutes | $10

Register for 10:00 (Ages 11+) SOLD OUT

Craft a useful grater for your kitchen from wood and tin. This workshop will use all your talents to create this tool that can be used to grate cheese, chocolate, and more!

Inspired by Nature: Exploring the Hudson River School | 90 Minutes | $10

Register for 10:00 (Ages 11+)

Widely considered as the first artistic movement in the United States, the Hudson River School emerged in the 1850s. Its artists depicted American landscapes in dramatic and romantic ways. In this workshop, students will employ their observation skills on a gallery walk to determine the principal elements of Hudson River School paintings. Students will be encouraged to apply this new knowledge of the methods and values of the Hudson River School movement to their own artwork depicting the natural environment of Old Sturbridge Village.