If you’ve never been to a Homeschool Day at Old Sturbridge Village, you really need to give it a shot! We have been multiple times in the past few years, enough to feel the need to purchase a membership. Apart from the free admission, being a member allows you to receive the OSV magazine every quarter with fun information about events, recipes, and details about some of their exhibits.
We ended up going last week for their January Homeschool Day, and I’m so glad we did! Usually we make it a point to go with other friends from our co-op or our Wild + Free group, but this time we just went by ourselves. Sometimes it’s a good change of pace to be ‘just us’, you know?
Homeschool Days at the village are just for homeschool families, which is awesome for the kids to see how many other families there are out there doing what we’re doing – and they also organize dozens of really engaging and interesting workshops! They fill up quickly, so if you’re planning a trip, check their site (www.osv.org) a month in advance of the visit date to see if they have opened registration. The classes are organized by age, and there is something for everyone age 5+ to teens. This time, Tommy and Teagan were in a Story and Craft workshop where they read Apples to Oregon: Being the (Slightly) True Narrative of How a Brave Pioneer Father Brought Apples, Peaches, Pears, Plums, Grapes, and Cherries (and Children) Across the Plains and then constructed a paper covered wagon – cute! Later in the afternoon, they took a class on winter amusements and made a catch-type game with a wooden hoop, sticks and ribbon. We’ve actually played this one a few times at home, and it’s really fun!
The Game of Graces was often played by young girls in the early 1800s. They wrapped their wooden hoops with ribbons and attached a few extras that hang down for decoration. Using two sticks, you toss the hoop to your partner who tries to catch it with his/her two sticks.
Since my littlest one is only 3 and not able to participate yet in any of these fun workshops, he and I were able to scope out their really neat Museum Education Center while my other kids were busy. It’s a little hard to explain the layout of this building, but what they’ve done in there to organize groups of learners is pretty incredible. It’s set up so that there are little classroom-sized nooks all over, with a pathway around the inside of the building. Parents can walk around and check on their kids while they’re learning and there are plenty of places for moms and dads to sit and relax. There’s even a little play area for smaller siblings, where Tyler and I hung out most of the time.
Between their workshops, we were able to visit almost every building and area, ask questions, and hear about what all the villagers were up to on this chilly winter day. As with most of our favorite places, it’s fun for the kids to see how everything changes from season to season. We had been to OSV in October as well, so they had remembered a lot from that trip. They pointed out the different clothes that the imitators were wearing, how they used fires in each home or shop to keep warm, and how most buildings kept their doors closed, even though they were waiting for visitors inside.
It was absolutely a full day – between workshops and all the stops in between, we had a great time exploring. It’s a Matthews tradition to stop in at the Miner Grant Store and Bake Shop on the way out to get the required rock candy, fudge, and a small trinket to remember our visit. Being a member gets you an extra 10% off your purchase! We were also sure to spend a few (sooooo many…..) minutes at the playground near the exit – it’s set up like a little town with a schoolhouse, a couple of houses, and some farm animals to climb on. It was closed this time around, but there is a really neat play area inside the Visitor Center which is definitely worth a visit for your little ones – imaginative play galore!
Every time we go, there are inevitably places to visit or walks to go on that we don’t have time for. It’s such a special place, one that has become one of my family’s favorites, and deserves a look if you’ve never tried it! Whether you’re there for a Homeschool Day or just to visit during one of their event weekends, Old Sturbridge never disappoints.
