Folklore Center

Today we went on the BEST field trip to our City's Folkore Center.  I've lived here for over 10 years and never knew it was there.  It's a small plot of land with an original home built in the 1840s with hand-hewn logs.

We began with a quick overview of the area and the time period we were entering into....

Then Ms. Pam sang Old Susanna with her wooden puppet while another lady played the dulcimer.

They broke us up into groups.  I had a group of all boys including my three.  We started at the quilting spot.  This was fascinating- these ladies taught us all about the history of quilting and the different types of quilts.  Now I know a quilt must have three layers to qualify as a quilt.  :)

Then they passed out quilting squares, needles and threads and let the children try-

Then we went to the next station where we learned all about how they got fabrics for clothes, and the long process it was.  She said it could take 100 hours to make one coat starting with shearing the sheep.

 We went upstairs in the cabin and learned about 1800s things like the rope bed and feather mattress.  She told us that "sleep tight" refers to the ropes under mattress being tight so you don't droop.  :)

We also learned about the different food they ate in the 1800s and how they stored it.

They really enjoyed learning about laundry in the 1800s.  You boiled white clothes and scubbed clothes with dye.  Monday was wash day, and if your neighbor didn't have their wash out you would check to see if everything was okay.

The last station was about 19th century toys and games.  Marc said it was his favorite.  :)

At the end we all came together and Mrs. Pam recited "The Raggedy Man" by James Whitcomb Riley.

We always take the group picture after a bunch of people have left- we had a lot more children than this.

Afterwards we went with friends to our favorite pizza place and then played it the park.