Let's talk about Little House activities! Young readers (and really, all of us!) love to dive into the Little House books and pretend to be Laura and Almanzo. Today I'm excited to share many activities--including games, crafts, and recipes--related to the Little House on the Prairie written by Laura Ingalls Wilder.
Where Does Little House on the Prairie Take Place?
Little House on the Prairie is known world-wide--both the books and the television show. In the Little House books, Laura Ingalls Wilder wrote about her life as a pioneer. Her book, Little House on the Prairie took place 1869-1871 when the family lived in what was called Indian Territory. Today this is Independence, Kansas. Visitors from around the world visit the Little House on the Prairie Museum there.
The television show by the same name took place in Walnut Grove, Minnesota, where Laura lived with her family in the book On the Banks of Plum Creek. The show was filmed in California, but today the Laura Ingalls Wilder Museum is hugely popular for both fans of the show and books. You can even see the site of the dugout where the Ingalls family lived. (Read about my visit to the Laura Ingalls Wilder Museum and the dugout, too!)
Where These Little House on the Prairie Activities Came From
During my planning and research for The Laura Ingalls Wilder Companion: A Chapter-by-Chapter Guide, I created lists and charts of potential activities for each of the Little House books, including Little House on the Prairie. Many of those activities made it into the book. Though I included 75 Live Like Laura (and Almanzo) activities, I had MANY more ideas that just couldn't fit into the book. So below is a fairly comprehensive list for potential 45 activities, games, and food that can be used with Little House on the Prairie.
Little House on the Prairie Crafts and Activities
These activities inspired by Little House on the Prairie are included with complete instructions in The Laura Ingalls Wilder Companion. Links are provided when instructions are also included on this site.
cracked ice
fire starter
living light test
beaded bracelet or necklace
hide the thimble game
paper dolls
sweet potato garden
The activities below are additional ideas to "live like Laura" inspired by Little House on the Prairie. These ideas were not included in my book, but I'm sure you can find resources and/or get creative!
iron clothes
walk two miles
wash clothes by hand
milk a cow
pick blackberries
sew a nine-patch quilt
patty cake
bean porridge hot game
hopscotch with sticks
sundial
Little House on the Prairie Recipes and Food
These Little House on the Prairie recipes and food-related items are included with complete instructions in The Laura Ingalls Wilder Companion. Links are provided when directions are also included on this site.
homemade bread
pancakes
dumplings and gravy
corn bread
Below are additional food items to "live like Laura" based on Little House on the Prairie. These ideas were not included in my book. You might find many of them in the The Little House Cookbook, a book I highly recommend for those seeking authentic pioneer recipes--and the stories behind them.
bread with molasses
corn-cakes with molasses
pork-rind
salt pork
milled coffee
bacon
coffee
stewed jackrabbit
cornmeal mush and gravy
rabbit stew
drumsticks
fried mush
prairie chicken hash
beef
duck
turkey
cakes (COOKIES)
sweet potatoes
salt-rising bread
stewed-dried blackberries
bean porridge
strain milk
pickles
I love coming up with hands-on activities related to books. You might be interested in the Little House birthday party my family hosted more than ten years ago. For that, I didn't serve salt pork, but we did serve ham-and-cheese roll-ups. Get creative! You don't have to make pickles, you can serve them from a jar you buy or transfer them to a mason jar to feel old-fashioned like a pioneer.
Looking for more Little House activities? You'll find 75 Live Like Laura (and Almanzo) activities in my book The Laura Ingalls Wilder Companion: A Chapter-by-Chapter Guide.
And here are previous lists of Little House activities for you.
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