The Long Winter {Little House on the Prairie Unit Study}

By the end of Week 6 of our Little House on the Prairie Unit Study, it’s hard to believe how deeply prairie life has woven itself into our daily rhythms. With only four weeks left, the pace has picked up considerably, much like the Ingalls family preparing for the long, harsh winter described in The Long Winter. There is so much still to do, and yet, every project feels purposeful, meaningful, and delightfully immersive.

This week marked a turning point. While the outside of our Little House hasn’t changed much visually, the inside has truly transformed into a warm, lived-in prairie home, full of handmade items, shared memories, and the quiet pride that comes from doing real work together.

Catch Up! If you haven’t read all about our first week on the prairie, I would encourage you to go and read my Little House in the Big woods post. This covers everything we did from making nightdresses, to prairie cooking and making button strings. It also gives you a good idea of everything we achieved with our own little house on the prairie renovations!

From Structure to Shelter: Creating a Prairie Home for The Long Winter

At the beginning of this Little House on the Prairie Unit Study, our Little House was little more than a shell. Six weeks later, it tells a story. Each stitched cloth, wooden feature, and handmade tool reflects not only pioneer life, but also the growing confidence and independence of the children.

This week, especially, we focused on the kinds of preparations the Ingalls family would have made leading into The Long Winter: food preservation, warmth, self-sufficiency, and home comforts.

Check out week two! Last week we focused on Farmer Boy. This is the second book in the Little House on the Prairie book set. During the week we did lots of prairie cooking (hasty pudding, making a sour dough starter and some prairie bread) and also made some button lamps, a prairie ladder, and some peg hooks. Gary and the little ones did some gardening in our prairie garden and we tried to make some more of our rag rug.

Preparation for The Long Winter

Involving the Younger Children in Prairie Life

One of the joys of this week was seeing how fully the younger children are now engaged. After six weeks of nightly picture books, four each evening, they finally understand who they are pretending to be and why these activities matter.

When we made butter, Abigail excitedly pointed out that it was just like the Ingalls family’s butter. That moment alone made the entire unit worthwhile.

They also helped:

• Water the Little House kitchen garden
• Roll homemade laundry and dishwashing soap balls
• Assist older siblings with simple domestic tasks

These small, meaningful contributions mirror pioneer family life and reinforce that everyone, no matter how young, has an important role to play.

Check out week three! We focused on The Little House on the Prairie. This is the third book in the Little House on the Prairie book set. During the week we did some of prairie cooking (soda biscuits) and also made some curtains, hay sticks and a hammock net. Gary and the little ones did some gardening in our prairie garden and we tried to make some more of our rag rug.

Prairie Chores: Soap, Laundry, and Self-Sufficiency

This week’s soap-making activity was rooted in historical accuracy. In the 1800s, soap was often made from lye and fat, shaped into small soap balls, and used for both laundry and dishes.

Using previously handmade (but admittedly unattractive!) soap, we:

1. Grated the soap into shavings
2. Added boiling water to half the batch
3. Rolled the softened soap into small balls
4. Left them to dry
5. Stored them in labeled jars for the Little House kitchen

Not only did this save time, but it provided a tangible connection to the resourcefulness required during The Long Winter.

Week four we focused on ‘On the Banks of Plum Creek’ and the children learnt about herbal medicine, stained a rocking chair for the corner of the house, made some baskets and began a productive Little House vegetable garden. And lastly, we made some home-made yogurt and a blueberry pie.

Handmade Toys: A Prairie Rag Doll with a Story

One of the most special projects this week happened quietly, in the early hours of the morning: creating a handmade rag doll for my youngest.

Using old, well-loved linen aprons passed down through years of family cooking, we:

• Naturally dyed the fabric using coffee
• Created skin tones and clothing dyes from berries, beetroot, turmeric, mustard, and garden leaves
• Sewed a simple, authentic rag doll, imperfect, but full of love

Raggy (named enthusiastically by Abigail) may not be professionally made, but she embodies the very heart of pioneer childhood: simplicity, reuse, and imagination.

Last week, we focused on By the Shores of the Silver Lake. We made signs for over the front door and inside the cottage, wove our own baskets, Thomas began building a stove for the cottage, made some molasses popcorn balls and a very tasty prairie chicken with home grown green beans.

Older Children’s Projects: Skills That Matter for The Long Winter Ahead

While the younger ones focused on play and participation, the older children tackled more complex projects

• Charlotte sewed dishcloths and tea towels from repurposed linen
• Lillie measured, cut, and hemmed a red checked tablecloth
• Thomas completed the Little House stove, complete with:
  • Hinged oven door
  • Painted flue
  • Slate “hot plate”
  • Chopped wood stacked beside it

The stove, in particular, has become a centerpiece for imaginative play, perfect for reenacting scenes from The Long Winter when cooking and warmth were central to survival.

Prairie Cooking: Butter, Bread, and Jam

No Little House on the Prairie Unit Study would be complete without hands-on food preparation.

This week we made:

• Butter (lots of shaking, much excitement!)
• Buttermilk soda bread (non-yeast, prairie-style)
• Raspberry jam, carefully saved and prepared by T11

The little girls even shaped their own bread dough, just as Laura and Carrie might have done, before baking it into tiny edible creations.

Simple food. Shared effort. Immense satisfaction.

Reflection Questions for Homeschool Families

Use these questions to deepen learning and discussion:

1. Why was preparation so important for families during The Long Winter?
2. How did every family member contribute to survival in pioneer times?
3. Which modern conveniences would have been most difficult to live without?
4. How does making things by hand change how we value them?
5. What skills are still useful today that pioneer families relied on daily?

Hands-On Activity Ideas to Extend the Lesson

Try these activities alongside The Long Winter:

• Make butter using a jar and heavy cream
• Create natural dyes from kitchen scraps and garden plants
• Sew a simple rag doll or bean bag toy
• Bake soda bread without yeast
• Build a pretend stove or fireplace from recycled materials
• Keep a “prairie journal” documenting daily chores and reflections
• Practice food preservation (jam, drying herbs, freezing produce)

Final Thoughts

With only four weeks left, our Little House on the Prairie Unit Study is entering its final, most meaningful phase. The children aren’t just learning about pioneer life, they’re living it in a way that books alone could never teach.

And truly? That’s the magic of homeschooling. 🌾