Today, I have some fun Little House on the Prairie crafts and a rug craft. Also, you love my post Little House on The Prairie Unit Study and Fun Punched Tin Lantern.
I love Little House on The Prairie crafts, from making bonnets to building little model wagons it has always been one of my favorite periods to recreate.
Little House was a large part of my childhood.
I spent countless hours pretending to ride in a covered wagon, harvest crops, and churn butter.
I can also remember when braided rugs still lined kitchen floors with their colorful simple beauty.
Sometimes those things seem to have faded away but if you are like me and want to pass on some of those sweet handicrafts you will enjoy my braided rug tutorial.
Ma, Mary, and Laura would have braided rag rugs for their floors from strips of worn-out calico dresses.
We will use something that we are likely to have on hand, t-shirts.
Too, I have plenty of other crafts from the pioneer days that will go wonderfully with a study on any or all the Little House books.
Books About Little House on the Prairie
First, look at some of these resources and books to study about pioneer life.
Little House on the Prairie Unit Study Resources
Add some of these fun resources to ignite a love for learning about the Little House on the Prairie.
The nine books in the timeless Little House series tell the story of Laura’s real childhood as an American pioneer, and are cherished by readers of all generations. They offer a unique glimpse into life on the American frontier, and tell the heartwarming, unforgettable story of a loving family.
Readers around the world know and love Laura, the little girl born in the Big Woods of Wisconsin and raised in covered wagons and on wide open prairies. Now Little House fans can learn more about the remarkable story of the pioneer girl who would one day immortalize her adventures in the beloved Little House books in this, the first picture book biography book of Laura Ingalls Wilder.
With the My First Little House picture book series, the youngest readers can share in the joy of Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Little House books in these illustrated adaptations of the beloved series!
Laura, Pa, Ma, Mary, and baby Carrie have traveled from the Big Woods to the prairie in their covered wagon, driving through tall grass until they found just the right spot for their new home. With the help of their kind neighbor, Mr. Edwards, Pa builds a snug little house for the family in the middle of the wide-open prairie.
The second book in the treasured Little House series, Farmer Boy is Laura Ingalls Wilder’s beloved story of how her husband, Almanzo, grew up as a farmer boy far from the little house where Laura lived. This edition features the classic black-and-white artwork from Garth Williams.
The nine Little House books have been cherished by generations of readers as both a unique glimpse into America’s frontier history and as heartwarming, unforgettable stories. The Little House series has captivated millions of readers with its depiction of life on the American frontier.
While Laura Ingalls grows up on the prairie, Almanzo Wilder is living on a big farm in New York State. Here Almanzo and his brother and sisters help with the summer planting and fall harvest. In winter there is wood to be chopped and great slabs of ice to be cut from the river and stored. Time for fun comes when the jolly tin peddler visits, or best of all, when the fair comes to town.
Almanzo wishes for just one thing—his very own horse—and he must prove that he is ready for such a big responsibility.
With this cookbook, you can learn how to make classic frontier dishes like corn dodgers, mincemeat pie, cracklings, and pulled molasses candy. The book also includes excerpts from the Little House books, fascinating and thoroughly researched historical context, and details about the cooking methods that pioneers like Ma Ingalls used, as well as illustrations by beloved artist Garth Williams.
Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House books, based on her own childhood and later life, are still beloved classics almost a century after she began writing them. Now young readers will see just how similar Laura's true-life story was to her books. Born in 1867 in the "Big Woods" in Wisconsin, Laura experienced both the hardship and the adventure of living on the frontier. Her life and times are captured in engaging text and 80 black-and-white illustrations.
- Three Piece Set: Kid girls colonial dress, attached apron and bonnet.
A beautifully designed coloring book featuring classic artwork by Garth Williams and quotes from all nine original Little House books. Perfect for at-home creative time—return to the world of Little House with your kids...or enjoy on your own!
Join Laura Ingalls, her Ma and Pa, and her sisters, Mary, Carrie, and Grace, on their travels across the frontier as you color in your favorite pioneer characters and scenes and revisit this beloved series.
This 96-page coloring book offers hours of relaxing, stress-reducing pleasure.
Next, look at these Little House on the prairie crafts.
Pioneer Crafts for Kids Who Love Little House On The Prairie Crafts
- Make hand dipped beeswax candles.
- Fun No Sew Pioneer Rag Doll
- Have fun churning butter.
- Pioneer Peg Dolls
- Pioneer Living and Cloth Dyeing
- Edible Log Cabin
- A simple craft that even little hands can help create is this Make an Apple Pomander Just Like Ma Ingalls idea
- For teens, A Beginner’s Guide to Whittling is a great way to reprise the past time of carving out little toys and other bits as they did.
- Punched Tin Lantern.
- No Sew Pioneer Rag Doll
- Another great sewing project is this Pioneer Quilt Craft using cloth scraps.
Finally, look how to make this pioneer rug craft.
How to Make a T-Shirt Rag Rug Craft
You will need:
- Old cotton t-shirts
- Scissors
First, start by cutting t-shirt strips 1 ½” -2” wide, cut through both sides of the t-shirt to make a big loop piece, and then one of the ends so it is a long strip.
You can either use scissors or a rotary blade and mat which makes it quicker.
For this tutorial I used just 3 shirts and saved the sleeves and neck for another project; it came to about 10” wide.
So, you will want to cut up enough to make a good-sized rug which is about 6-8 strips for a small standard rug.
This can be an ongoing project as you get enough shirts or grab a bunch from the thrift store.
At the end of each strip cut a small vertical hole.
The holes are to secure the pieces together rather than trying to braid 10’ lengths.
Grab 3 strips and tie one end into a knot as small and tight as you can, and then cut off the excess.
You can either create a random pattern or use the same colors over and over to make a pattern.
If you want to follow a pattern, you might want to go ahead and lay out a bunch of strips together.
Braid the pieces together just like you would a simple hair braid about 4” long and then begin twisting the center so that the braid wraps around itself.
T-Shirt Rag Rug Craft
It needs to be firm and tidy but not too tight as you will need to slip through the braid occasionally.
Take the strand closest to the ball of the braid and slip it through the outside piece of the braid.
This is how you will secure each row together without sewing.
Resume braiding and wrapping it around itself for about 2” and then repeat the step of threading the closest strip to the center through one of the loops of the braid coil.
When you reach the last couple of inches of strip, draw a new strip through the hole in the end and then loop the other end around.
Draw it through the hole of the other end to make a small flat knot.
Continue the method of braiding for a couple of inches and then loop the closest strip through the closest braid inside until the rug is as big as you would like it.
To finish it off, thread the ends through the front side of the rug to the back and knot them off, cut off any excess as close to the knot as you can.
