Cooped up at home? Join us on Facebook and Instagram for Virtual Village – where we will be bringing Old Sturbridge Village into your home. Our interpreters will be sharing fun facts, activities, recipes and more, while our farmers have promised to update us with photos and videos of our animals. We hope our Virtual Village will provide a bright spot in your day – and keep your whole family entertained and engaged.
If you’re not on Facebook or Instagram, you can view Virtual Village content below. We’ll be updating daily until the Village re-opens!
Keep up to date with information regarding the Village’s temporary closure and eventual re-opening here.
May 28, 2020: Tapering Steel
May 27, 2020: Caption This! Video Clip of Maybel
May 26, 2020: Butter Making Trivia
May 25, 2020: Miniature Monday
May 24, 2020: There’s Still Lots To Do on the Farm!
May 23, 2020: Chicks
May 22, 2020: Flower Friday
May 21, 2020: Chirping Chicks
May 20, 2020: Choose Your Own Adventure Story
Start the adventure here.
May 19, 2020: Frolicking Calves Coloring Page
Download the coloring page here.
May 18, 2020: The Bull Calves Have Names!
May 17, 2020: At Home Scavenger Hunt
Download the Scavenger Hunt list here.
May, 16, 2020: A Curiosity from Old Sturbridge Village Museum Collection
May 15, 2020: Spring Cleaning & a Fireboard from the Old Sturbridge Village Museum Collection
May 14, 2020: Alphabet Toy
May 13, 2020: Behind the Scenes: Barn Floor Repairs
May 12, 2020: Garden Update: Salem Towne Garden
May 11, 2020: Caption This! Running of the Sheep Clip
May 10, 2020: Mother’s Day
May 9, 2020: Objects that Inspire: Cymbeline
May 8, 2020: Flower Friday | Cowslip
May 7, 2020: Make a Cardboard Loom
Download the how-to guide here.
May 6, 2020: Wallpaper Wednesday
May 5, 2020: Frolicking Cattle
May 4, 2020: Caption This! Lamb Edition
May 4, 2020: Miniature Monday
May 3, 2020: Lambs
May 2, 2020: Peddler Ambrotype
May 1, 2020: Hexagonal Paper Piecing
Download the how-to guide here.
April 30, 2020: Nine Men’s Morris
Download the how-to guide here.
April 30, 2020: Making Butter
Download the lesson plan here.
April 29, 2020: #WhatIsThisWednesday
(Answer: This object is a copy press patented by James Wyatt in 1780. Businesses such as manufacturers, wholesalers, and professionals like lawyers and bankers, then as now, often needed to make copies of letters, invoices, and other documents, and the copy press was a convenient and completely accurate means of maintaining those duplicate records. The person making a copy would place a damp, very thin sheet of copy paper over a recently printed document and run the combination through the rollers built into the case. The copy paper would absorb some of the residual ink on the printed document, creating a copy. The process would create a mirror image of the text (in other words, printed backwards), so the copy would have to be read THROUGH the paper. Needless to say, the copy process could only be repeated once or twice before the master sheet or the copies became too faint to read.)
April 28, 2020: Doll from the Old Sturbridge Village Museum Collection
April 27, 2020: Animal Update: Pig Enjoys Fresh Slop
April 26, 2020: Two Portraits, One Artist
April 25, 2020: Coggeshall Farm Museum
April 24, 2020: Women’s Hairstyles
April 23, 2020: Animal Update: Another New Bull Calf!
April 23, 2020: Chamber Pot
April 22, 2020: Preparing the Parsonage Garden
April 21, 2020: Animal Update: Close up of Our New Bull Calf
April 20, 2020: Step-by-Step Pie Crust Making Demonstration
Ever make a pie from scratch? Now is a great time to try! Making pie crust is intimidating for some modern cooks, but it is simple once you get the hang of it. Watch this step-by-step video to see Ashleigh, our Domestic Management Straker Fellow, demonstrate how to make a pie crust. Then, check out our collection of historic receipts here, where you can find receipts (recipes) for apple and pork pie, cranberry pie, Marlborough pudding, mince pie, carrot pie, and more.
April 20, 2020: Patriots’ Day
Read the short article by Tom here.
April 19, 2020: This Day in History
April 18, 2020: Fresh Snow on the Ground
April 17, 2020: Animal Update: Lambs on the Farm
April 16, 2020: Embroidery Patterns Last Used in 1830
April 16, 2020: Behind the Scenes on the Farm
April 15, 2020: New Calf on the Farm
April 14, 2020: Sheep to Shawl
April 14, 2020: Molding Planes
April 13, 2020: Zoom Backgrounds
Check out and download some images from the Village that you can use for a virtual background when using Zoom here.
April 12, 2020: Running of the Sheep
April 11, 2020: National Board Game Day
April 10, 2020: Garden Update: Scilla
April 9, 2020: New Historical Receipt: Fricassee of Parsnips
See a collection of historical receipts (recipes, with modern adaptations) here.
April 9, 2020: Animal Update: Chickens
April 8, 2020: Parsnip Harvest
April 8, 2020: Coloring Pages
Download and print 4 coloring pages created by our very own Victoria Haynes here.
April 7, 2020: Coffee or Tea?
April 6, 2020: Behind the Scenes: Making Pots
April 5, 2020: Storing Winter Woolens
April 4, 2020: Storytelling: You Are Nothing But a Goose
April 3, 2020: Behind the Scenes: Sewing
April 2, 2020: Behind the Scenes Look at the Old Sturbridge Village Gardens and Greenhouse
Read the eNews here.
April 2, 2020: Making Mittens
April 1, 2020: April Fools’ Day: A Little History
April 1, 2020: Wedding Wednesday: 360˚ Virtual Tour of Select Village Spaces courtesy of WeddingWire
To view the 360˚ Virtual Tour, click here.
March 31, 2020: Mystery Building
(The above daguerreotype is of the Fenno House at its original location in Canton, MA)
March 30, 2020: Behind the Scenes: Costume Work
March 29, 2020: Animal Update: Clover and Maybel
March 28, 2020: Embroidery Inspiration
March 27, 2020: Pruning in the Freeman Orchard
March 26, 2020: Jim Plays a Little Music
March 26, 2020: Collections Highlight: Make-Do Pitcher
March 25, 2020: Pruning a Flowering Pear Tree
March 25, 2020: Animal Update From Our Coordinator of Agriculture
March 24, 2020: New Historical Receipt: Winter Vegetable Soup
See a collection of historical receipts (recipes, with modern adaptations) here.