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.
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.
Date | Time | Subject | Location |
Thursday, January 28, 2021 | 6:00-7:30pm | Norwegian Sweet Rolls: Kringla Knots | Tangen Home |
Thursday, February 4, 2021 | 6:00-7:30pm | Fattigmann and Coffee | Tangen Home |
Thursday, February 11, 2021 | 6:00-8:00pm | Trifle Parfaits | Tangen Home |
Saturday, February 13, 2021 | 1:00-3:00pm | Victorian Card Games | Flynn Mansion |
Thursday, February 18, 2021 | 6:00-7:30pm | Cup Cakes and Cocoa | Tangen Home |
Thursday, February 25, 2021 | 6:00-7:30pm | Scones and Tea | Tangen Home |
Tuesday, March 9, 2021 | 6:00-8:00pm | Soda Bread and Colcannon | Tangen Home |
Saturday, March 20, 2021 | 9:30-11:00am | Doughnuts and Coffee | Tangen Home |
Tuesday, March 23, 2021 | 6:00-7:30pm | Spiced Apple Tarts | Tangen Home |
Saturday, March 27, 2021 | 9:00-10:30am | Chicken Chores | 1900 Farm |
Saturday, March 27, 2021 | 9:30-11:00am | Biscuits, Gravy, and Coffee | Tangen Home |
Tuesday, March 30, 2021 | 6:00-7:30pm | Potato Fritters | Tangen Home |
Saturday, April 10, 2021 | 9:30-11:00am | Sheep Chores | 1900 Farm |
Saturday, April 17, 2021 | 9:30-11:00am | Horse Chores | 1900 Farm |
Jump to the Signature Sampler Class Descriptions
These classes are more in-depth experiences than our Signature Sampler classes.
Date | Time | Subject | Location |
Saturday, January 30, 2021 | 1:00-4:00pm | 19th Century Breadbaking | Tangen Home |
Saturday, February 6, 2021 | 1:00-4:00pm | Comfort Foods | Tangen Home |
Sunday, February 14, 2021 | 1:00-4:00pm | Death by Chocolate – Victorian Style | Tangen Home |
Saturday, February 20, 2021 | 1:00-4:00pm | Norwegian Cookies and Pastries | Tangen Home |
Saturday, February 27, 2021 | 1:00-4:00pm | Sourdough Bread | Tangen Home |
Saturday, March 6, 2021 | 9:00am-Noon | Basics of Cooking on a Woodburning Stove | Tangen Home |
Saturday, March 13, 2021 | 1:00-4:00pm | Side Dishes on a Woodburning Stove | Tangen Home |
Saturday, March 20, 2021 | 1:00-4:00pm | Cake & Pie in a Woodstove | Tangen Home |
Saturday, March 27, 2021 | 9:00am-Noon | 19th Century Breadbaking | Tangen Home |
Saturday, April 10, 2021 | 9:00am-Noon | Blacksmithing Basics | Blacksmith |
Saturday, April 10, 2021 | 1:00-4:00pm | Blacksmithing: Items for the Home | Blacksmith |
Sunday, April 11, 2021 | 9:00am-Noon | Blacksmithing Basics | Blacksmith |
Saturday, April 17, 2021 | 1:00-5:00pm | Basics of Draft Horse Driving | 1900 Farm |
Saturday, April 17, 2021 | 1:00-5:00pm | Basics of Pioneer Hearth Cooking | 1850 Pioneer Farm |
Jump to the Historic Skills Class Descriptions
These classes are for pairs of adults and teens (ages 12 and up).
Date | Time | Subject | Location |
Saturday, January 24, 2021 | 1:00-3:00pm | Crochet for Beginners | Tangen Home |
Sunday, January 31, 2021 | 1:00-3:00pm | Knitting for Beginners | Tangen Home |
Sunday, February 7, 2021 | 1:00-3:00pm | Victorian Paper Crafts | Tangen Home |
Sunday, February 21, 2021 | 1:00-4:00pm | Victorian Tea with Teens | Tangen Home |
Saturday, February 28, 2021 | 1:00-3:00pm | Printing with Teens | Print Shop |
Saturday, March 21, 2021 | 9:00am-Noon | Woodstove Cooking with Teens | Tangen Home |
Saturday, March 21, 2021 | 1:00-3:00pm | Table Manners for Victorian Ladies & Gentlemen | Tangen Home |
Sunday, April 11, 2021 | 1:00-4:00pm | Basic Blacksmithing with Teens | Blacksmith |
Jump to the Family Class Descriptions
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
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.
Tickets coming soon!
Victorians loved doughnuts and apple-cider doughnuts are one of our favorites. Mix and fry a doughnut to munch on with hot coffee.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Spend the morning in the 1900 Farm barn, feeding, and grooming the draft horses and mule. Dress for the weather and a farm environment.
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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.
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.
This class is sold out.
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.
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.
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.
This class is sold out.
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.
Tickets coming soon!
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.
Tickets coming soon!
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.
Tickets coming soon!
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.
Tickets coming soon!
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).
Tickets coming soon!
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).
Tickets coming soon!
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.
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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.
Tickets coming soon!
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Tickets coming soon!
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.
Tickets coming soon!
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.
Tickets coming soon!