Bring your students to the museum.

Bring your fourth graders to the museum for a two-hour program to experience a slice of life in rural Wayne County in the 1800’s while learning about the history of agriculture and food production in Ohio.

Our program is designed for your 9:30am arrival and 11:30am departure at our museum at 877 West Old Lincoln Way across from the Wayne County Fairgrounds. Upon arrival, students are divided into six groups of no more than twelve students (maximum 72 students total). After a brief opening, those six groups rotate around the museum through six different 15-minute activities led by our volunteers. After all the rotations, everyone wraps up the experience together before you depart.

Need a program for more students or a different time? Connect with us - we’d be glad to discuss.

Check out the six stations planned for your students:

Station A: How did European settlers log this area and build houses and barns?
Students learn about logging, take turns physically using a (faux) cross cut saw, see how barns and cabins were built, then race with other teams to build a Lincoln Log house.

Station B: How did people in rural Wayne County buy goods to feed and clothe their family?
Students visit a general store counter with a shopping list and limited money, make decisions on their shopping priorities, and learn about the dry goods that families needed to purchase.

Station C: How were cows milked on a farm in the late 1800’s?
The process to milking a cow in the late 1800’s is broken down into twelve steps, each described on a card. Students each receive a card and must work together to determine the correct order of the milking process.

Station D: How was corn grown on a farm in the late 1800’s?
After a short introduction about corn production and demonstration of an antique corn sheller, students guess how many kernels of corn are in a glass jar and learn about how much corn was required to feed different animals on a farm in the 1800’s. Finally, students have an opportunity to try hand-shelling an ear of corn.

Station E: What hand tools did farm families use in the late 1800’s?
Students complete a scavenger hunt of a dozen tools used around a farm in the 1800’s.

Station F: What was a typical day like for a 10-year-old living on a farm in Wayne County in the late 1800’s?
Students walk through a timeline of sunup to sundown, filling in a daily schedule of typical activities for a 10-year-old in the late 1800’s. Students will see clothes worn and tools and dishes used, consider the chores and activities of the day, discuss how young people traveled to school, and more.

Free curriculum kit

Teachers who schedule a field trip also receive six lesson plans to teach the history of agriculture in Ohio and Wayne County. Five lessons focus on the past and one lesson connects the past to the present.

All lessons are aligned to Ohio’s state content standards for fourth grade.