Conner Prairie

I got to tour several old homes yesterday when I joined Josiah's second grade class on a field trip to Conner Prairie, a highly interactive living history museum. And since it was their Country Fair, there were some unique activities going on. In 1836 Prairietown, he helped the carpenter's son pedal the lathe, watched the blacksmith make a knife and chatted with the potter's wife. He was intrigued with all her pelts and declined a taste of the squirrel pottage she was fixing for lunch.

At the Golden Eagle Inn he helped shoo the chickens out of the kitchen. But it was at Mr. Whitacre's General Store that he really got into the whole reenactment thing after bartering two days of sweeping the store in exchange for a pocket knife. Too bad he doesn't have a way to get back there. Guess he'll just have to wait for that knife :)

Traveling back to 1886 Libertyville, we and joined in a game of baseball on the Zimmerman farm (complete with wool uniforms, stick bats and leather work gloves for mitts). The judging was starting soon for the chickens, pies, vegetables, and preserves with ribbons to be awarded. Some local farmers were checking out the "new" farm implements on display and the kids were trying some of the games like ring toss and slingshots.

We then ventured to a 1816 Lenape Indian camp where he haggled over trading mink pelts and tried to impress the local natives with his hatchet throwing skills.

We both had lots of fun. If you're ever in central Indiana and are looking for a great family activity, be sure to check out Conner's Prairie. They have more than enough activities to fill several days of fun.