Historic Skills Classes

Want to know more about something you saw at Living History Farms, interested in learning a new skill, or just want to have fun with friends and family? Then sign up for one of our Historic Skills Classes!

You will work in small groups to learn more about a specific skill or trade that was common in the 19th century, from baking to blacksmithing. And with a small class size, you are guaranteed lots of individualized instruction and plenty of opportunities to participate.

Need to Know

• Masks are required for class participants.
• Registration opens January 4, 2021 for members, and January 11, 2021 for non-members.
• Registration closes at noon 1 week before the class date. Programs require a minimum number of participants to run.
• Members receive early registration and a discount on class fees. Purchase or renew your membership now!
• Please read all of the program policies before registering for a class. Historic Skills Class Policies

Schedule of Classes

Signature Sampler Classes

Have a specific interest but not a ton of time? Join us for a Signature Sampler! You will get a sample of the tastes, talents, and atmosphere found in our historic kitchens, craft shops, and farms.

Jump to the Signature Sampler Class Descriptions

Schedule of Historic Skills Classes

These classes are more in-depth experiences than our Signature Sampler classes.

Jump to the Historic Skills Class Descriptions

Schedule of Family Classes

These classes are for pairs of adults and teens (ages 12 and up).

Jump to the Family Class Descriptions

Signature Sampler Class Descriptions

Norwegian Sweet Rolls: Kringla Knots

Mix and bake our favorite sweet Norwegian sweet roll in a wood-burning stove. Then enjoy spiced Holiday Punch with your fresh baked kringla knots.

• Thursday, January 28, 2021, from 6:00-7:30 pm
• Tangen House (Check-in at Visitor Center)
• Number of Participants: Minimum 3, Maximum 4; Ages 18 and up
• Fee: $40.00, members receive 15% discount

Purchase Tickets

Fattigmann and Coffee

Fry up a traditional Norwegian style doughnut that is sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar.  This treat will be perfect with a pot of coffee boiled on the woodstove.

• Thursday, February 4, 2021, from 6:00-7:30 pm
• Tangen House (Check-in at Visitor Center)
• Number of Participants: Minimum 3, Maximum 4; Ages 18 and up
• Fee: $40.00, members receive a 15% discount

Purchase Tickets

Trifle Parfaits

The Victorian Trifle is a delightful layering of pudding, cake, fruit, and whipped cream. Help create these flavorful individual ingredients and layer your own trifle in a glass to enjoy.

• Thursday, February 11, 2021, from 6:00-8:00pm
• Tangen Home (Check in at Visitor Center)
• Number of Participants: Minimum 3, Maximum 4; Ages 18 and up
• Fee: $50.00, members receive a 15% discount

Purchase Tickets

Victorian Card Games

Discover the card games that kept Victorians entertained on a cozy afternoon at home. Try your hand at two-handed cribbage and take home a travel board for scoring. Discover “all fours” – a precursor of whist. Play easy and fun matching games such as authors, snap, and old maid.

Note: These are games played by two people. Due to safety precautions, when you register, you will need to purchase 2 tickets – one for you and one for the other player in the pair. Pairs will be socially and physically distanced from others in accordance with COVID 19 protocols.

• Saturday, February 13, 2021, from 1:00-3:00pm
• Flynn Mansion (Check in at Visitor Center)
• Number of Participants: 4; Ages 18 and up
• Fee: $50.00, members receive a 15% discount

Purchase Tickets

Cup Cakes and Cocoa

A cupcake was once a simple cake mixed with a cup of butter, a cup of sugar, and a cup of flour, and eggs. This popular simple sweet treat always tastes better baked in the woodstove and served with from-scratch hot chocolate. Help us mix up a pot of hot chocolate to drink and a batch of cupcakes to enjoy in the cozy holiday kitchen.

• Thursday, February 18, 2021, from 6:00 to 7:30 pm
• Tangen Home (Check-in at Visitor Center)
• Number of Participants: Minimum 3, Maximum 4; Ages 18 and up
• Fee: $40.00, members receive a 15% discount

Purchase Tickets

Scones and Tea

Mix, roll out, and bake a traditional tea scone. Pair it with fruit jam and a steaming cup of tea for a light and tasty treat!

• Thursday, February 25, 2021, from 6:00 to 7:30 pm
• Tangen Home (Check-in at Visitor Center)
• Number of Participants: Minimum 3, Maximum 4; Ages 18 and up
• Fee: $40.00, members receive 15% discount

Purchase Tickets

Soda Bread and Colcannon

Bake a traditional Irish Soda Bread to eat with the famous potato and cabbage dish Colcannon. Discover why the Irish in Ireland do NOT eat corned beef on St. Patrick’s Day. Make sure to bring containers to take any extra goodies you make home.

• Tuesday, March 9, 2021, from 6:00-8:00pm
• Tangen Home (Check in at Visitor Center)
• Number of Participants: Minimum 3, Maximum 4; Ages 18 and up
• Fee: $50.00, members receive 15% discount

Tickets coming soon!

Doughnuts and Coffee

Victorians loved doughnuts and apple-cider doughnuts are one of our favorites. Mix and fry a doughnut to munch on with hot coffee.

• Saturday, March 20, 2021, from 9:30-11:00am
• Tangen Home (Check in at Visitor Center)
• Number of Participants: Minimum 3, Maximum 4; Ages 18 and up
• Fee: $40.00, members receive 15% discount

Tickets coming soon!

Spiced Apple Tarts

Roll out a pie crust for this spicy apple treat. Whip sweet cream for the top while it bakes in the woodstove. Enjoy the results with a mug of hot cider.

• Tuesday, March 23, 2021, from 6:00-7:30pm
• Tangen Home (Check in at Visitor Center)
• Number of Participants: Minimum 3, Maximum 4; Ages 18 and up
• Fee: $40.00, members receive 15% discount

Tickets coming soon!

Biscuits, Gravy, and Coffee

Bake a fluffy baking powder biscuit in the woodstove while stirring up milk-and-sausage gravy to go over the top. Grind some beans and boil a pot of coffee to go with it all.

• Tuesday, March 9, 2021, from 6:00-8:00pm
• Tangen Home (Check in at Visitor Center)
• Number of Participants: Minimum 3, Maximum 4; Ages 18 and up
• Fee: $50.00, members receive 15% discount

Tickets coming soon!

Chicken Chores

Meet the resident poultry at the 1900 era Farm and help with morning chores such as feeding, examining birds, changing out nesting box bedding, and hunting for eggs. Dress for the weather and a farm environment.

• Saturday, March 27, 2021, from 9:00-10:30am
• 1900 Farm (Check in at Conference Center)
• Number of Participants: Minimum 3, Maximum 4; Ages 16 and up
• Fee: $40.00, members receive 15% discount

Tickets coming soon!

Potato Fritters

Many cultural traditions make fried potato cakes; but whether you call it boxty, bramborak, rosti, or latkes, they are always tasty. Mix shredded potatoes, herbs, and eggs and fry up your own versions on top of the woodstove.

• Tuesday, March 30, 2021, from 6:00-7:30pm
• Tangen Home (Check in at Visitor Center)
• Number of Participants: Minimum 3, Maximum 4; Ages 18 and up
• Fee: $40.00, members receive 15% discount

Tickets coming soon!

Sheep Chores

Meet the wooly ewes that spend the winter at the 1900 era Farm and help with the morning chores, such as feeding, watering, checking ewes in anticipation of lambs. Dress for the weather and a farm environment.

• Saturday, April 10, 2021, from 9:30-11:00am
• 1900 Farm (Check in at Conference Center)
• Number of Participants: Minimum 3, Maximum 4; Ages 16 and up
• Fee: $40.00, members receive 15% discount

Tickets coming soon!

Horse Chores

Spend the morning in the 1900 Farm barn, feeding, and grooming the draft horses and mule. Dress for the weather and a farm environment.

• Saturday, April 17, 2021, from 9:30-11:00am
• 1900 Farm (Check in at Conference Center)
• Number of Participants: Minimum 3, Maximum 4; Ages 16 and up
• Fee: $40.00, members receive 15% discount

Tickets coming soon!

Historic Skills Class Descriptions

19th Century Bread Baking

Do you need a refresher course on making bread from scratch? Would you like to try baking in a wood-burning stove? If so, try your hand at biscuits, yeast bread, and cinnamon rolls in an 1876-era farm kitchen while learning the history of bread making. Afterward, sit around the table and enjoy your creations while learning more about the house and the type of family that would have lived there.

• Saturday, January 30, 2021, from 1:00 – 4:00 pm
• Tangen House (Check-in at the Visitor Center)
• Number of Participants: Minimum 3, Maximum 4; Ages 18 and up
• Fee: $65.00, members receive a 15% discount
• Please bring an apron, water bottle, and containers for leftovers

Purchase Tickets

Comfort Foods – SOLD OUT

Join a Living History Farms instructor for some “stick to your ribs” comfort food and a cup of fresh coffee. Students will learn the art of making homemade noodles and other quick comfort items at the Victorian Tangen House. Student creations will be cooked or baked on a wood stove in the 1876 period kitchen. Towards the end of class, everyone will sit down to enjoy their culinary projects. Recipes will be provided for you to try at home.

• Saturday, February 6, 2021, from 1:00 – 4:00 pm
• Tangen House (Check-in at the Visitor Center)
• Number of Participants: Minimum 3, Maximum 4; Ages 18 and up
• Fee: $65.00, members receive 15% discount
• Please bring an apron, water bottle, and containers for leftovers

This class is sold out.

Death by Chocolate – Victorian Style

Join Living History Farms staff for a sweet look at Victorian chocolate treats, as a special way to spend Valentine’s Day. Chocolate may have been less common in the 19th century, but there were still cakes, sauces, and other delicious chocolaty treats to be had. Consider chocolate pairings such as fruit sauces and whipped cream! Make sure to bring containers to take any extra goodies home. 

• Saturday, February 14, 2021, from 1:00 – 4:00 pm
• Tangen House (Check-in at the Visitor Center)
• Number of Participants: Minimum 3, Maximum 4; Ages 18 and up
• Fee: $65.00, members receive 15% discount
• Please bring an apron, water bottle, and containers for leftovers

Purchase Tickets

Norwegian Cookies and Pastries

Norwegian tradition celebrated baking with spices and sweets. Explore some of Living History Farms’ favorite Norwegian cookies in the 1876 era kitchen of the Tangen Home. Mix and bake Sandbakkels, Krumkakke, and Kringla in the wood-burning storve and fry up Fattigman, a fried Norwegian doughnut.

• Saturday, February 20, 2021, from 1:00-4:00pm
• Tangen Home (Check in at Visitor Center)
• Number of Participants: Minimum 3, Maximum 4; Ages 18 and up)
• Fee: $65.00, members receive a 15% discount
• Please bring an apron, water bottle, and containers for leftovers

Purchase Tickets

Sourdough Bread – SOLD OUT

Ever wonder what makes bread rise? Come and learn the science of leavening while baking a loaf of sourdough bread in a wood-fired oven. Create other tasty treats while working in a 1876-era kitchen. Learn about the history of sourdough and the different uses for it.

• Saturday, February 27, 2021, from 1:00 – 4:00 pm
• Tangen House (Check-in at the Visitor Center)
• Number of Participants: Minimum 3, Maximum 4; Ages 18 and up
• Fee: $65.00, members receive 15% discount
• Please bring an apron, water bottle, and containers for leftovers

This class is sold out.

Basics of Cooking on a Woodburning Stove

Do you have a woodburning stove at home that you’d like to cook on, but have no prior knowledge of how to do it? Do you just want to try cooking like your great grandparents? Rolls up your sleeves and make hearty meat stew, a vegetable side dish, bread and a cake. Participants will learn the design of the woodstove and how to properly use it. After the meal is prepared, sit down to enjoy the food and ask last minute questions. You will get recipes to take home and try.

• Saturday, March 6, 2021, from 9:00am-Noon
• Tangen House (Check-in at the Visitor Center)
• Number of Participants: Minimum 3, Maximum 4; Ages 18 and up
• Fee: $65.00, members receive 15% discount
• Please bring an apron, water bottle, and containers for leftovers

Tickets coming soon!

Side Dishes on a Woodburning Stove

Join Historic Dinners staff for a tour through historic cookbooks in search of new side dishes for your dinner table. Explore 19th century spice preferences like parsley and nutmeg, as well as dish categories – mac and cheese was usually listed under vegetables! Participants will prepare several historic vegetable and non-vegetable side dishes from 19th century recipes on a woodburning stove, such as our historic dinners’ favorite sausage-stuffed onions, baked macaroni and cheese, stewed red cabbage, and carrots in the German way. Bring containers for leftovers and leave with recipes and new ideas.

• Saturday, March 13, 2021, from 1:00 – 4:00 pm
• Tangen House (Check-in at the Visitor Center)
• Number of Participants: Minimum 3, Maximum 4; Ages 18 and up
• Fee: $65.00, members receive 15% discount
• Please bring an apron, water bottle, and containers for leftovers

Tickets coming soon!

Cake & Pie in a Woodstove

Have your cake and eat pie too! Explore why it’s called a pound cake and discover why 19th century cakes tend to be heavier than modern mixes! Learn to make pie crust and mix up a delectable fruit pie. Bake your creations in a woodburning stove, and afterwards, enjoy the sweet fruits of your labor as you discuss adapting historic recipes.

• Saturday, March 20, 2021, from 1:00 – 4:00 pm
• Tangen House (Check-in at the Visitor Center)
• Number of Participants: Minimum 3, Maximum 4; Ages 18 and up
• Fee: $63.00, members receive 15% discount
• Please bring an apron, water bottle, and containers for leftovers

Tickets coming soon!

19th Century Breadbaking

Do you need a refresher course on making bread from scratch? Would you like to try baking in a woodburning stove? If so, try your hand at biscuits, yeast bread and cinnamon rolls in an 1876-era kitchen while learning the history of bread making. Afterwards, sit around the table and enjoy your creations while learning more about the house and the type of family that would have lived there.

• Saturday, March 27, 2021, from 9:00am-Noon
• Tangen House (Check-in at the Visitor Center)
• Number of Participants: Minimum 3, Maximum 4; Ages 18 and up
• Fee: $65.00, members receive 15% discount
• Please bring an apron, water bottle, and containers for leftovers

Tickets coming soon!

Blacksmithing Basics

The class is designed to give someone with little or no metal working skills as a hands-on, fun, “be a blacksmith for a day” experience. Explore the basics of forge work in a blacksmith shop while making a decorative iron project to take home. Topics will include safety, tools and equipment, and beginning techniques for shaping metal. Small class size guarantees lots of one-on-one instruction and lots of time at the forge! Dress for working in a shop with a dirt floor, and for the weather (the shop is heated by a woodburning stove only).

• Saturday, April 10, 2021 or Sunday, April 11, 2021 from 9:00am-noon
• Blacksmith (Check-in at the Visitor Center)
• Number of Participants: Minimum 3, Maximum 5; Ages 18 and up
• Fee: $65.00, members receive 15% discount
• Please bring heavy work gloves, eye protection, and water bottle

Tickets coming soon!

Blacksmithing: Items for the Home

Students will have the opportunity to make at least 2 of the following decorative projects for the home: candleholders, napkin rings, hooks, decorative metal paper towel holder, or a letter opener. It is helpful if you have taken our blacksmithing basics course. Small class size guarantees lots of one-on-one instruction and lots of time at the forge! Dress for working in a shop with a dirt floor, and for the weather (the shop is heated by a woodburning stove only).

• Saturday, April 10, 2021, from 1:00-4:30pm
• Blacksmith (Check-in at the Visitor Center)
• Number of Participants: Minimum 3, Maximum 4; Ages 18 and up
• Fee: $75.00, members receive 15% discount
• Please bring heavy work gloves, eye protection, and water bottle

Tickets coming soon!

Basics of Draft Horse Driving

Learn the basic commands for driving a team of draft horses or mules. Go through the process of harnessing and grooming a horse or mule. Practice the basic commands by doing some ground driving, and then by driving a wagon. Dress for the weather and for being on the farm around animals. Class will be held rain or shine. Participants will also receive handouts about the basic care of horses and basic driving techniques.

• Saturday, April 17, 2021, from 1:00-5:00pm
• 1900 Farm (Check in at the Conference Center)
• Number of Participants: Minimum 4, Maximum 6; Ages 18 and up
• Fee: $90.00, members receive 15% discount
• Please bring heavy work gloves and water bottle

Tickets coming soon!

Basics of Pioneer Hearth Cooking

Learn the basics of hearth cooking, while exploring how new settlers in Iowa produced, prepared, and preserved food. Participants will use 1850s era recipes to make their lunch. While your meal is cooking, tour the 1850 Pioneer Farm. After eating their meal and cleaning up, everyone will go home with copies of recipes, and information on how to care for their cast iron cooking utensils. Dress for being on a farm, and for cooking! Part of the class will be outside while you tour the farm. Note: You will be eating your meal around 4:30pm, so plan accordingly.

• Saturday, April 17, 2021, from 1:00-5:00pm
• 1850 Pioneer Farm (Check-in at the Conference Center)
• Number of Participants: Minimum 3, Maximum 4; Ages 18 and up
• Fee: $90.00, members receive 15% discount
• Please bring an apron, water bottle, and containers for leftovers

Tickets coming soon!

Family Classes

Crochet for Beginners

Spend time learning to hold a crochet hook, chain stitch yarn, and single and double stitch. Go home with at least the start of a mug mat or cozy, a hook, and a new hobby! Perfect for a parent/grandparent and a youth to spend time together.

• Sunday, January 24, 2021, from 1:00 – 3:00 pm
• Tangen House (Check-in at the Visitor Center)
• Number of Participants: Minimum 4, Maximum 6; Ages 12 and Up, must have an accompanying adult 18 or older
• Fee $25.00 per person, members receive 15% discount

Purchase Tickets

Knitting for Beginners

Learn the basics of casting on yarn, knit and purl stitches, and how to add a new color of yarn. Go home with needles and the beginnings of a new starter project! Perfect for a parent/grandparent and a youth to spend time together.

• Sunday, January 31, 2021, from 1:00 – 3:00 pm
• Tangen House (Check-in at the Visitor Center)
• Number of Participants: Minimum 4, Maximum 6; Ages 12 and Up, must have an accompanying adult 18 or older
• Fee $25.00 per person, members receive 15% discount

Purchase Tickets

Victorian Paper Crafts

Indulge your crafty, colorful side! Victorian America loved scrap paper and recycled printed sheets of wallpaper and tissue paper for home decoration and crafts. Try your hand at paper flowers, paper gift boxes and cornucopias, and make a scrap paper album for autographs or photos. Perfect for a parent/grandparent and a youth to spend time together.

• Sunday, February 7, 2021, from 1:00 – 3:00 pm
• Tangen House (Check-in at the Visitor Center)
• Number of Participants: Minimum 4, Maximum 6; Ages 12 and Up, must have an accompanying adult 18 or older
• Fee $35.00 per person, members receive 15% discount

Purchase Tickets

Victorian Tea with Teens

Begin in the kitchen assembling simple, but elegant tea sandwiches. Whip cream by hand and bake some sweet biscuits for a berry shortcake. Discover how to set up a relaxed tea table with Victorian touches, then learn how to “pour out” and other tea etiquette rues. End the day by brewing a fresh pot of tea and sitting down to enjoy your creations. Perfect for a parent/grandparent and a youth to spend time together.

• Sunday, February 21, 2021, from 1:00-4:00pm
• Tangen Home (Check in at Visitor Center)
• Number of Participants: Minimum 4, Maximum 6; Ages 12 and up, must have an accompanying adult 18 or older
• Fee: $35.00 per person, members receive 15% discount

Purchase Tickets

Printing with Teens

Get up close and hands-on with the big printing machinery in the 1876 Advocate Newspaper Print Shop at Living History Farms!  Choose from several historic designs and then print a set of note cards. Projects will be created using historic moveable type and printed on 19th century hand-powered proof and jobbing presses.

• Sunday, February 28, 2021, from 1:00 – 3:00 pm
• Print Shop (Check-in at the Visitor Center)
• Number of Participants: Minimum 4, Maximum 6; Ages 12 and up, must have an accompanying adult 18 or older
• Fee $25.00 per person,  members receive 15% discount
• Dress for an inky, artistic environment, and prepare to get your hands dirty!

Purchase Tickets

Woodstove Cooking with Teens

Explore the Victorian kitchen, while instilling a love of cooking in your teen. Learn how to decipher a period recipe, measure and mix ingredients, and roll out dough the old-fashioned way! This basic woodstove cooking class is designed to get teens and parents or grandparents busy in the kitchen together. Prepare a hearty main dish, vegetable side, quick bread, and a sweet treat for dessert – all from scratch. Then sit down and enjoy your creations. And, yes, you will get recipes to take home and try! Note: you will be eating around 11:15am, so plan accordingly.

• Saturday, March 21, 2021, from 9:00am-Noon
• Tangen Home (Check-in at the Visitor Center)
• Number of Participants: Minimum 4, Maximum 6; Ages 14 and up, must have an accompanying adult 18 or older
• Fee $35.00 per person,  members receive 15% discount
• Bring apron, water bottle, and containers for leftovers

Tickets coming soon!

Table Manners for Victorian Ladies & Gentlemen

Discover the way Victorians learned to eat in fine company and sift out the manners we still want to practice today. Adults and teens will work together to set a dining table and have fun role-playing how to handle different dinner pitfalls and problems. What do I say to the server? Where does that pesky soup spoon go? Can I pick up fried chicken in polite society? We will sort out what was acceptable and go away with a new list of best manners for use in the present.

• Saturday, March 21, 2021, from 1:00-3:00pm
• Tangen Home (Check-in at the Visitor Center)
• Number of Participants: Minimum 4, Maximum 6; Ages 10 and up, must have an accompanying adult 18 or older
• Fee $25.00 per person,  members receive 15% discount
• Bring water bottle

Tickets coming soon!

Basic Blacksmithing with Teens

This class will allow a parent or grandparent to work with a teen as they learn historic blacksmithing techniques in a historic setting. Everyone will get to make several small, hands-on projects, such as small dinner triangles and hooks. Begin by learning about proper safety in a workshop environment. Dress for working in a shop with a dirt floor, and for the weather. The shop is heated by a woodburning stove only.

• Sunday, April 11, 2021, from 1:00-4:00pm
• Blacksmith (Check-in at the Visitor Center)
• Number of Participants: Minimum 4, Maximum 6; Ages 14 and up, must have an accompanying adult 18 or older
• Fee $35.00 per person,  members receive 15% discount
• Bring work gloves, eye protection, and water bottle

Tickets coming soon!