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Calling all children ages eight to eleven to come to Garfield Farm Museum on Thursday, July 12, 8:45 am to 11:45 am, to learn and have fun with children's farm chores of old! 

Beginning bright and early, children will get to experience 1840s life on the prairie.  They will learn basic farm chores such as feeding the farm animals, gathering eggs, cutting hay, and threshing wheat.  They will also help prepare griddle pancakes made from corn meal and flour and learn some old-fashioned games.

Then on Sunday, July 15, the museum is having a parent & child cooking class.  The class  runs from 9 am-12 pm with a charge of $50 per group. Each parent and child will get to learn about farm life in the 1840s by preparing historic snacks and breads from cookbooks of the time.  Each child should be five or older, also there is to be only one parent per child.  This is not only a chance to spend some quality time with your child, but also the opportunity to both discover the past and its connection to the future.

Children were a big asset to their parents before and throughout the 19th century.  Since most Americans lived on farms, everyone -- both young and old -- were needed to help with daily chores and farm operations.  It was not until the late 19th century that children begin to have more of the childhood we know of and understand today.  New laws and a changing society allowed children to begin to have more of the life we understand today.

Today we can hardly imagine the life of a child in the 1840s but with the help of Garfield Farm Museum we can get a glimpse of the differences between life in the 1840s and the 21st century.  

Garfield Farm Museum is located 5 miles west of Geneva, IL, off of Illinois Rt. 38 on Garfield Road. Garfield Farm is a former historically intact 1840s prairie farmstead and teamster inn that is being restored as a working 1840s farm.  Reservations are required for both classes.  For other class information or to R.S.V.P. please contact (630) 584-8485 or email at info@garfieldfarm.org.  Space is limited, please respond promptly.