Living like a Pioneer in Northern IL!

Our 8 year old enjoyed reading some of the Little House on the Prairie and Anne of Green Gables books. We thought it would be a fun experience for our daughters to see what life was like way back when to help create a real image of life. I located some really neat places to share with you in addition to a few more wonderful places to visit and check out as a family.

Pioneer Sholes School and Prairie home - St.  Charles 

 http://www.pioneersholesschool.org

A one room school house. My daughter learned through a docent (whose own mother attended the school as a child) what life was like at school for children went from 1st grade to 8th in one room with one teacher. What a typical day looked like, how the children learned and what they wrote on i.e. chalkboard tablets for the younger children and paper and ink for the older children. We saw education primers of what books they learned from. What a child brought each day in terms of food for lunch, what they wore, etc. AND what every child finds interesting...the boys and girls outhouses. My daughter seriously didn't want to leave she loved it there.

As we went to our car we discovered another house/museum not to miss. Run by 4 docents of varying ages our family learned what life was like for a family with modest means living on the prairie. We saw where the father/husband worked to manage a farm and home. What a wife did in terms of cooking, cleaning and managing her family and a wonderful perspective of what life was like as a child. There were three docents of varying ages to help create the perspectives of a child and young adult ready for marrying age. We were then taken outdoors and discovered games from ring toss, darts, stilts and more then learned how to collect buckets of water to wash clothes and yes my daughter even washed clothes!! Seriously, what a great experience and the docents were wonderful!! A must see experience for all!!

 Napersettlement - Naperville IL http://www.napersettlement.org/

 I have been told about this historic center for some time. The mini historic village has everything to engage children AND adults. You will walk from building to building and step back in time with docents appropriately dressed in period clothes offering you a historic perspective. The various structures just to name a few are is a blacksmith shop, printing press, chapel, log house, schoolhouse, fort, prairie wagon, mansion and MORE. 

Historic Village - Deerfield, IL www.deerfieldhistoricalsociety.org/visit.html

Deerfield's Historic Village, part of the Deerfield Historic Society is a mini version of Napersettlement. A self guided visit to the past has much for the interested child and parent at heart. You can tour two log houses, a farm house, horse carriage stables and our personal favorite...the school house.

My daughters had so much fun exploring every nook and cranny AND playing school marm! We spent most of our time in the school house. 

Admission is free but they love contributions too. Open for your self guided tours every Sunday June through September from 2 - 4pm. 

Wagner Farms, Glenview IL www.wagnerfarm.org

Not quite prairie but historical just the same. One of our favorite places we take our children - often. This place has something for everyone. Indoor farm exhibits where the children can see what it's like to lift a bail of hay, take eggs from chicken's nests, milk a pretend cow and feed a pretend pig along with learning what a grocery store circa 1920 was like. Additionally, you can get an ice cream treat (what it was like in a 1920's ice cream parlor - Homer's Ice Cream) and witness a cow milking at 5:00 daily. Out doors you can run around, have a picnic, look at the chickens in their coop, see a pig or two, some sheep, work horses and our beloved cows!! Additionally for the history buff, occasionally they have the house open for a docent guided tour. A great find, wonderful outing and tons of fun. If you're seeking a fun place for a birthday party it's HIGHLY recommended. We did a party there and loved it.

Volkening Heritage Farm, Schaumburg IL 

www.parkfun.com/Facilities/SpringValley/HeritageFarm.aspx

Step back into the 1880s when Schaumburg was a rural German farm community. On a visit to Volkening Heritage Farm, you can help with seasonal farm chores, participate in family activities and games of the 1880s or simply visit the livestock and soak in the quiet. Authentically dressed docents welcome and guide visitors through the site. Pack a picnic and have fun!!