Prairie Primer 2015 "Little House on the Prairie"

 The Prairie Primer co-op goes native for "Little House on the Prairie".

Amanda took this cute pic of Rina in a too big straw hat. I could get lost in my baby's eyes.

Josiah demonstrated on Gracia how to properly take care of a sprained ankle using the RICE method (Rest, Ice, Compress, Elevate).

 Hailey taught us about the many uses the Plains Indians had for the buffalo.

The girls created tepees out of construction paper and decorated them.

Dinner consisted of pancakes, bacon, 1 week old aged cheese (that we made the week before), Stewed rabbit and dumplings and cornbread with molasses. Everything tasted great.

Washing clothes the old fashioned way.

Josiah is making sure no varmints come near the gals as they do their washing.

Can't imagine doing this with all my clothes. No wonder it took the pioneers all day.

Josiah even got in on the washboard action.

The tepee village the girls made. So cute! Love the little people that Gracia made. There are even so Lego people in among the village as well.

The next week, Hailey did her report on Indian dress. She drew a bunch of her own pictures to show us. — at Mission Road Homestead.

Josiah did his presentation on traditional Native American weapons.

First time making Indian fry bread.

Michael was home and helped all us women folk properly cut out our sunbonnets. Couldn't have done it without him as none of us women know how to sew!

 Learning to sew a sunbonnet by hand. Trust me, it isn't as easy as it looks or sounds!

The next week, Hailey taught us some traditional Native American games. Hailey is teaching everyone how to play Kainsish which is a Native American game. It is a game of chance that helps with counting. You toss the sticks into the air and depending on how they land, will determine if you get any points or not.

We also played a dart and hoop game that the Native Americans used to hone their throwing skills. You get more points for getting it through the smallest hoop. This was harder than it looked, too!

Learning about cougars.

Josiah taught us about trapping. He showed us different traps for different types of animals. He tanned the squirrel skin all by himself.

Delicious dinner of watermelon, blackberry cobbler, sweet potatoes and stewed prairie chicken with dumpling and gravy.

Just learning how to thread the needle, make the knot and then tie off was quite a challenge to the girls. They will have a lot more practice.

Josiah bought his own Native American drum so he could learn a song for his drumming presentation.

Rina with the moccasins my friend, Sarah, gave her. They stay on really well!

Hailey did her presentation on Madam Dorion who was the second woman to make the overland trip from the Missouri River to the Pacific Coast. After her husband was killed by Indians on a trapping expedition near Boise, ID, she escaped with her two young sons and survived the winter in the Blue Mountains. She is a little known, but true hero of the West.

We learned some Indian sign language. The kids each picked out a name and then learned to sign it, then everyone guessed what their name was. It was really fun. Josiah came up with the best though. He made the sign for star and then for buck. "Starbucks"! We all died laughing when we finally figured it out.

We had a typical prairie Christmas dinner with turkey and cornbread stuffy, bean porridge and sweet potatoes.

Sitting down to our prairie feast. Love all the smiles!

We got the brims mostly done on our sunbonnet project. The kids are getting better at sewing by hand. They will keep working on their bonnets as we move into reading "On the Banks of Plum Creek". We are determined to finish them even if it takes us all year! 

Hope you've enjoyed our "Little House on the Prairie" journey. It sure has been a fun ride!

We'll see you "On the Banks of Plum Creek" next month.

God Bless, 

Jackie