Little House in the Big Woods

This week marked the beginning of our ten-week summer journey, a full Little House on the Prairie unit study inspired by Laura Ingalls Wilder’s beloved books. This week we are focusing on the Little House in the Big Woods. It has already been a beautiful blend of hands-on learning, pioneer-style skills, and family fun. We kicked off our adventure by transforming our playhouse into Laura’s Little House, while diving into cooking, crafting, sewing, natural science, and classic prairie pastimes.

Read More! Click here if you’d like to learn a bit more about our plans for this Little House on the Prairie Unit study and to see all the bits and pieces in our adventure box.

Transforming Our Playhouse Into Laura’s Little House

Renovating the Outside

Although our focus for the week is on the first book, the Little House in the Big Woods, we will be adding to our own ‘little house’ each week this summer. Our biggest family project this week was painting the playhouse—turning it into a rustic prairie cabin. Everyone jumped in:

• We began by clearing everything out (all hands on deck!).
• Thomas (11) led the outdoor prep work as our “Mr. Ingalls,” sanding and readying the wood.
• The girls took charge of the painting.

We even had a very serious local inspector (Rebecca, aged 2!) check the quality after the first coat. With her approval, we continued painting until the outside was nearly complete.

This week’s finishing touches will include:

• Installing the bottom-level window glass
• Reattaching the planters
• Filling Abigail’s large window planter for her vegetable patch

Painting the Inside

The interior needed extra love: two full coats of paint, using only paints we already had on hand. After the main paint ran out, the children raided their acrylics to finish the job. True pioneer resourcefulness!

Next steps inside:

• Painting the wood trim brown
• Treating the floor
• Filling the space with pioneer-inspired goodies

A Summary of Little House in the Big Woods

Little House in the Big Woods follows the Ingalls family, Ma, Pa, Mary, Laura, and baby Carrie, as they live a simple but hardworking life in a small log cabin deep in the Wisconsin woods. The story opens with Laura describing their quiet, sheltered home surrounded by forest, where the changing seasons shape everything they do. Daily life is filled with chores, routines, and the rhythms of pioneer living, offering a vivid glimpse into 19th-century American frontier life.

Throughout the book, Laura shares detailed accounts of the family’s work and play. Pa spends his days hunting, trapping, and preparing food for winter, while Ma churns butter, cooks hearty meals, and keeps the household running smoothly. The girls help with chores, learn important skills, and listen to Pa’s lively stories in the evenings. Exciting moments, like encounters with wild animals, sugar snow in spring, and harvesting maple syrup, show the challenges and joys of living in the wilderness.

As the seasons pass, Laura comes to understand the balance of hard work, gratitude, and family togetherness that defines their life in the Big Woods. Though the wilderness can be harsh and unpredictable, the Ingalls family faces every challenge with resourcefulness and love. The book closes with Laura feeling content and safe, wrapped in the warmth of her family, knowing that even though the world is wide and changing, home is where they are together.

Pioneer Cooking: Our Prairie Kitchen Adventures

One of the most exciting parts of our Little House on the Prairie unit study is cooking authentic pioneer-style meals. Although we will be focusing on a different book each week, our cooking won’t only come out of that particular book. We have the ‘Little House’ cook book, which will be our main resource. This week, we are reading the Little House in the Big Woods. We chatted about the possible recipes and each child picked the one than appealed. The kitchen was full of activity all week. Oh, and our chickens were busy laying all the eggs we needed to make the multiple prairie pancakes…

Prairie Pancakes (Thomas)

Thomas made delicious sweet prairie pancakes topped with boiled blackberries, yogurt, and maple syrup.

Salt Pork Dinner (Lillie, 10)

Lillie prepared a hearty meal of crispy fried salt pork, mashed potatoes, green beans, and homemade gravy. Surprisingly delicious and a big family hit!

Cornbread (Charlotte, 10)

Charlotte baked a wonderfully rustic cornbread, simple, golden, and perfect for prairie meals.

Breakfast Feast (Abigail, 4 & Becca, 2)

The littlest helpers joined me to make prairie pancakes with crispy bacon and eggs. Not the healthiest week but with all the hard work outside, we definitely earned it!

Pioneer Crafts, Toys, and Learning

Prairie Nightdresses

We made some simple prairie nightdresses from some old pillowcases:

Paper Dolls

The girls spent hours playing with their Little House on the Prairie paper dolls, creating interior scenes and stories just like the ones in the books.

Button String Toy

Abigail crafted a button string toy for Becca, who is happily taking on the role of Carrie this summer.

McGuffey’s Primer

A4 also began learning to read with McGuffey’s Primer. Its gentle simplicity seems to suit her wonderfully.

Sewing, Bedding, and Pioneer-Made Supplies

Homemade Mattress

Lillie and Charlotte created a soft (and slightly lumpy!) homemade mattress for the upstairs sleeping loft of the playhouse. Abigail tested it out and gave her enthusiastic approval.

Leather Twine, Rope, and Knots

Thomas, preparing to make a pioneer-style ladder next week, crafted leather twine, twisting it into rope, and practicing the necessary knots. He even making a pretend dagger for knot-tying practice.

Rag Rug Project

We also began ripping up old fabric for a traditional rag rug. So far, we’ve collected piles of denim scraps, but we haven’t yet decided whether to keep it all denim or add a mix of colours.

What’s Next After Little House in the Big Woods?

Next week promises even more pioneer fun as we continue building and learning. Our plans include:

• Completing the Little House interior
• Moving the mattress to the loft
• Making hooks and sewing nightgowns for hanging
• Cooking more recipes from the Little House cookbook
• Continuing our homestead crafts and projects

This Little House on the Prairie unit study is already giving us such a memorable, joy-filled summer. We can’t wait to see what next week brings!

 For more activities please do visit my MEGA Little House on the Prairie Unit Study page, which contains all ten weeks of our summer building our own Little House on the Prairie!