MR says: Looking for a way to help your kids appreciate their pioneer ancestry while growing closer to your family? Then check out these five fun and easy activities.
It’s hard to say enough good things about the Latter-day Saint pioneers who crossed the plains to Utah. They were committed, spiritual, hardy, tough. Every year, Utah celebrates that unbreakable attitude July 24, but you don’t have to brave long parade lines in Salt Lake to honor the state’s forbearers. Here are a few easy ways to help your kids catch the pioneer spirit:
Make pioneer food, arts and crafts
Children might enjoy making their own butter, taffy or pretzel log cabins. The children’s craft collective The Crafty Crow has tutorials on simple covered wagons, rag dolls, dipped candles and stick ponies. Finish off the afternoon or evening with gunny sack races (check with your local feed store for sacks), three-legged races or a stick pull. According to an article on LDS.org, Latter-day Saint church founder Joseph Smith Jr. was the champion stick-puller of Hancock County, Illinois, in the summer of 1843.