Little House on the Prairie Mini-Series ~ Family Movie Night

The Little House on the Prairie Mini-Series Movie is the latest addition to Our Wholesome Video List (and not to be confused with the TV series). With over 4 hours of playing time (2-DVD set for only $4.96!!!), it was a great investment for our family library.

We love the pioneer genre and this movie did not disappoint. Full of family bonding, frontier adventure teamed with heartache, this series brought the "Little House" books to life. The cinematography was also beautiful! Due to the content of some hair-raising scenes on the prairie (nothing "scary" but real life troubles on the trail), you may choose to show this to older children of 8 and up. And finally, no childhood romances, swearing, nudity, and so forth (*sigh* of relief)...

What is it about?

"Marking a return to the autobiographical books by renowned author Laura Ingalls Wilder, Disney's epic production of LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE celebrates the magnificent and heartwarming story of a pioneer family's brave travels into the untamed American heartland. The majesty and grandeur of the frontier come alive with breathtaking cinematography and a host of classic characters. Disney's critically acclaimed miniseries chronicles the magical adventures of the Ingalls family as they stake their claim to a rugged parcel of land on the Kansas prairie. Their exciting journey brings them face-to-face with mysterious Indians, wild animals and their peculiar new neighbors, Mr. and Mrs. Scott. Spend some quality time with "a fine family drama," says the New York Daily News. Presented on two DVDs, LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE is hours of rousing entertainment for everyone."

~ From Amazon.com

Homeschool categories:

• American History: Pioneers/Westward Movement
• Character Building: Obedience/Perseverance

To see our criteria for choosing media for our family, click here.

This post may be shared with some or all of the following link-ups: The Art of Home-Making Mondays, Modest Mom Monday's, Homestead Barn Hop, Amaze Me Monday, Monday's Musings, Marriage Monday, Titus 2sdays, Titus 2 Tuesdays, Raising Homemakers, Make Bake Create, Wise Woman Link Up, Wow Us Wednesdays, Wildcrafting Wednesday, The Scoop, Coffee and Conversation, So Much at Home, Homemaking Thursdays, Home Sweet Home, Hearts for Home Thursdays, Growing in Grace Thursdays, Home Acre Hop, From the Farm Blog Hop, Farmgirl Friday, Front Porch Friday Blog Hop, Simple Meals Friday, Cultivate Nourishing, Simply Natural Saturdays and Clever Chicks Blog Hop. Thank you lovely ladies for hosting these.

George Washington's Birthday (Feb. 22, 1732) ~ President's Day

"My Mother was the most beautiful woman I ever saw.

I attribute all my success in my life

to the moral, intellectual,

and physical education I received from her"

~ George Washington

February 18th is President's Day while the 22nd marks the birth of George Washington. Here are some activities, a short story and other resources for home education this week. The quotes would make excellent copywork!

A Short Story for the Little Ones…

GEORGE WASHINGTON AND HIS HATCHET ~ Excerpt from Fifty Famous Stories Retold

WHEN George Washington was quite a little boy, his father gave him a hatchet. It was bright and new, and George took great delight in going about and chopping things with it.

He ran into the garden, and there he saw a tree which seemed to say to him, "Come and cut me down!"

George had often seen his father's men chop down the great trees in the forest, and he thought that it would be fine sport to see this tree fall with a crash to the ground. So he set to work with his little hatchet, and, as the tree was a very small one it did not take long to lay it low.

Soon after that, his father came home.


"Who has been cutting my fine young cherry tree?" he cried. "It was the only tree of its kind in this country, and it cost me a great deal of money."

He was very angry when he came into the house.

"If I only knew who killed that cherry tree," he cried, "I would—yes, I would"—

"Father!" cried little George. "I will tell you the truth about it. I chopped the tree down with my hatchet."

His father forgot his anger.

"George," he said, and he took the little fellow in his arms, "George, I am glad that you told me about it. I would rather lose a dozen cherry trees than that you should tell one falsehood."

~ Written by James Baldwin, 1896

Lesson of the Day:

"Righteous lips are the delight of kings; and they love him that speaketh right."

~ Proverbs 16:13

"I hope I shall possess firmness and virtue enough to maintain what I consider the most enviable of all titles, the character of an honest man."

~ George Washington

"It is impossible to rightly govern a nation without God and the Bible."

~ George Washington

"Let us with caution indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion. Reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle."

~ George Washington

Resources/Activities

Word Search

Crossword Puzzle

Collection of Paintings for Picture Study

How to Draw George Washington

George Washington Coloring Page

George Washington's Breakfast by Jean Fritz

George Washington DVD 

“It is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor.”

~ George Washington

"Oh, eternal and everlasting God, direct my thoughts, words and work. Wash away my sins in the immaculate blood of the Lamb and purge my heart by Thy Holy Spirit. Daily, frame me more and more in the likeness of Thy son, Jesus Christ, that living in Thy fear, and dying in Thy favor, I may in thy appointed time obtain the resurrection of the justified unto eternal life. Bless, O Lord, the whole race of mankind and let the world be filled with the knowledge of Thee and Thy son, Jesus Christ."

~ Prayer of George Washington

Pretending to be Pioneers ~ Precious Playtime

"All alone in the wild Big Woods, and the snow, and the cold,
the little log house was warm and snug and cosy.
Pa and Ma and Mary and Laura and Baby Carrie
were comfortable and happy there, especially at night."
~ Little House in the Big Woods

Little children love to dress up and pretend. A few books can inspire a pioneering spirit in your home. It will implement the good values and hard, honest work that are being lost in today's "gimme" society.  A childhood with these simple amusements will yield beautiful fruit (Galatians 6:7 ).

"And then, Pa told stories.

When Laura and Mary begged him for a story,

he would take them on his knees and

tickle their faces with his long whiskers until they laughed aloud.
His eyes were blue and merry."

~ Little House in the Big Woods

Read to your children… Books are the best way to open up a hobby in the home. When reading a book like Little House in the Big Woods, you will be surprised at how quickly they create a pioneer playtime themselves. We began reading chapter books at the age of four (this one is appropriate for that age) and have had great success. They are learning about history and do not even realize they are being educated. I suggest reading a chapter a day together and then offering them the use of the My First Little House Series books for further pictorial inspiration. These will really inspire both boys and girls toward healthy and historical fun, the old fashioned way...

Summertime in the Big Woods (My First Little House Series)

County Fair (My First Little House Series)

Going West (My First Little House Series)

Winter Days in the Big Woods (My First Little House Series)

Winter on the Farm (My First Little House Series)

Sugar Snow (My First Little House Series)

Going to Town (My First Little House Series)

Prairie Day (My First Little House Series)

Dance at Grandpa's (My First Little House Series)

The Deer in the Wood (Little House Series)

Cook with your children… Choose some recipes to cook together from the Little House Cookbook and make a pioneer style meal together. Or, some biscuits and gravy recipes from your own collection would work out just as well!

Another fun kitchen activity would be to make some butter out of cream. All you need is a jar with heavy cream and some little, helping hands.

Playact with your children… Enjoy an evening together with only candlelight like Laura's family…

Make a simple coonskin style hat for your son to wear (or you can find one here)...

Make a simple bonnet for your daughters to wear (or you can find one here)...

Encourage a working lifestyle... If you live in the city, visit a working farm where your children may be allowed to milk a cow, feed animals and do farm chores. Children in the city can also pull weeds,  be responsible for pets and do other daily outdoor work (which would be just as valuable). If you live on a homestead, I do hope you involve your young ones with jobs such as feeding the chickens or taking care of the smaller animals. Good old fashioned work is what they need to encourage future industry. We don't grow up and instantly become hard workers, we need to nurture that now (in proper doses) so that it is a natural part of life for our children (Genesis 3:19).

"Father and Almanzo tramped through the falling snow in the woods, looking for straight, small oaks. When they found one, Father chopped it down. He chopped off all the limbs, and Almanzo piled them up neatly."

~ Farmer Boy

Have children collect and stack firewood for the "winter". Little children can collect piles of sticks for kindling.

Color with your children… Here are some pioneer inspired pictures that can be printed out.

"After the day's work was done,

Ma sometimes cut paper dolls for them.

She cut the dolls out of stiff white paper,

and drew the faces with a pencil.

Then from bits of colored paper she cut dresses and hats,

ribbons and laces, so that Laura and Mary

could dress their dolls beautifully."

~ Little House in the Big Woods

Craft with your children… Make your own paper dolls like Ma (instructions above) or you can print out these paper dolls for free. You may also like to create a corncob doll wrapped in a handkerchief like Laura had.

Enjoy music with your children... There are some fun, historical songs from Laura Ingalls Wilder books that have been recorded for our listening pleasure. It really enhances the stories to hear these!

Enjoy this precious time with your little pioneers! Everything is new to your children so read to them and expose them to all the good things in life…

All the fine print. This post may be shared with some or all of the following link-ups: The Art of Home-Making Mondays, Modest Mom Monday's, Monday's Musings, Make Your Home Sing Monday, Good Morning Mondays,  The Scoop, Titus 2 Tuesdays, Tuesdays with a Twist, Raising Homemakers, Wise Woman Link Up, Homestead Blog Hop,  Wow Us Wednesdays,  Coffee and Conversation, Homemaking Thursdays, Home Sweet Home, Our Simple Homestead, Awesome Life Friday Link Up, Five Star Frou Frou Friday, and Shabbilicious Friday. Thank you lovely ladies for hosting these. This post may contain affiliate links (which are merchant links that help to support this site at no additional cost to you if you purchase an item through them). All the black and white illustrations are by Garth Williams.