I recently enjoyed reading The Women’s Heritage Sourcebook and shared about it in this blog post. It helped me grow in my self-sufficiency skills and had me thinking about how I could train my children in these same areas. Now you can teach homesteading skills to your children as well with The Children’s Heritage Sourcebook!
You could use this book as a supplementary homeschool curriculum for your children from kindergarten to near high school, or you could use it to spark interest and ideas for new old-fashioned skills and hobbies!
The book is divided into three sections: eat, raise, and make. I’ll be using the book as a guide as I share some ideas on how to teach homesteading skills to your children, but I’d encourage you to flip through the book too.
We’ve been homesteading for only a few years, but my skills have grown in so many areas that it’s hard to list them all out. I knew almost nothing before we started on this journey! We have three children three years old and under and it’s fascinating to see how fast they are picking up these old-fashioned skills too.
You can do it, your children can do it, and your future generations can do it too! Here is some helpful guidance on how to teach homesteading skills to your children today.
Let’s check it out…
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Start Cooking Healthy Foods
Bring your children into the kitchen with you while you learn to cook healthy foods! Explain to them what you know about nutrition as you go and why you chose the ingredients that you did.
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Eat Seasonal Foods
Explain what it means when a fruit or vegetable is “in season.” Take them to the farmer’s market throughout the summer so they can see how the selections change. Bring your child berry picking or go to the pumpkin patch.
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Make Jam
Freezer jam is easy! Or eat it all up and store it in the fridge. No need to be intimidated by a canning pot yet. You don’t even need to mess with pectin to teach your children how it’s made – just berries, sugar, and lemon juice!
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Have a Garden
It could be small, cheap, and nothing fancy. Just let them plant seeds and observe what happens. Have them experiment with starting seeds indoors and transplanting them. Let them cook a meal from their harvest!
Related Post: How To Quickly Create A No-Till Lasagna Garden Without Cardboard
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Forage for Foods And Herbs
Get a local book like this one and take nature walks in each season of the year. Dandelions are an easy place to start!
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Grow Microgreens
This is so easy to do on your kitchen windowsill with just a few supplies. Plus they are tasty and nutritious so your children can see and taste the benefits fast!
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Sprout Seeds or Wheat Berries
Sprouts are also packed with nutrition and fun sensory play for children!
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Make An Herbal Tonic
This could be something as simple as honey and elderberries or honey and garlic. Allow your children to see the process the whole way through and understand the benefits!
Related Post: 40+ Fantastic Herbal Education Books For Everyone: The Ultimate List
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Ferment Foods
Start with making sauerkraut or pickles with your children. Even if they don’t like it, let them observe the process. Then move on to pickled eggs (recipes can be found in the book) and other vegetables. Let them try each one!
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Make A Sourdough Starter
Mixing flour and water and watching it grow is one of the ultimate science experiments for children. Learn the science behind it together as you create a sourdough starter.
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Make Sourdough Cinnamon Rolls
Now make something with your sourdough starter like cinnamon rolls with your children. What happened? How did it taste?
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Now Try A Gluten Free Sourdough Starter
What differences did you observe? How can you share this and other recipes with a family that you know is gluten-free? Your children can learn about various flours and what gluten is.
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Visit A Dairy Farm
Help your children learn how butter, cheese, yogurt, and ice cream come from milk. Taste raw milk.
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Make Easy Farmer’s Cheese
This recipe is in the book and it’s a wonderful easy cheese to make for the first time!
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Make Chashew Chevre
This is a dairy-free option in the book for kids of all ages to see how cheese is made from cashews!
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Make Milk Kefir
I have yet to do this myself! Purchase some kefir grains and see how you like the newly made milk kefir. Teach your kids about the probiotics in it and how it works. Coconut milk is a nice dairy-free alternative.
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Make Ice Cream
I have memories of making ice cream with a friend at her house every summer. It was so educational and so fun that I can’t wait to do it with my children too.
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Make Your Own Salad Dressing
Some recipes use milk kefir while others don’t! Teach your kids that it’s easy, healthy, and cheap to make your own at home. Help them learn how to make it all by themselves!
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Make Your Own Yogurt
If you have an instant pot, this is even easier. If not, use the recipe in this book. Make coconut yogurt too and compare the flavors and nutritional value.
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Make Butter
Children love making their own butter! It’s not hard and yet so rewarding. What a fun activity to do together as a family!
Related Post: 7 Must-Read Books On The Traditional Foods Movement For A Healthier Life
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Make Pie Crusts
Spend a day making pie crusts together and discussing what pies will be your favorites to make from them! Put them in the freezer for easy desserts all season long.
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Make Homemade Crackers, Granola Bars, and Cereal/Granola
Teach your children how to make their own homemade snacks. Let them experience how fulfilling it is and how much more delicious they are than the processed foods at the store!
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Make Your Own Herbal Tea
If you grow herbs, or just source them, show your children how tea is made. Don’t forget to teach them several different herbalism things along the way!
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Make Fire Cider
But together this concoction and have your children take a bit when they get sick. Make sure they know what the ingredients are and how they help their body recover!
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Make Seasonal Fruit Gummies
Homemade jello is one of my children’s favorite snacks! It’s fun to make, fun to eat and can be switched up with what is in season. Plus, there is no guilt around it!
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Make Fruit Leather
You can do this in your oven, you don’t even need a dehydrator. It’s a delicious and healthy snack that gets eaten way too quickly!
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Preserve Herbs
Hang them upside down and let them dry or sun dry them. Bring your kids along for the whole process.
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Make Coconut Milk Caramel
I didn’t know what caramel was or how it was made until I was an adult – don’t let that be your children! I particularly like this recipe in the book.
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Make Bone Broth
If you don’t make this regularly with your children watching, now is a great time to start. It is so nutritious and an important and easy skill every child should have.
Related Post: Do You Have These Essential Homesteading Skills?
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Make a Basic Shrub/Drinking Vinegar
This is a fun alternative to soda. You could also try a ginger bug as well, which our family particularly has fun with each summer!
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Make Fermented Orange Juice
I know all kids will love this drink as a great introduction to fermentation.
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Make Nut, Seed, or Oat Milk
My children see me make this regularly. Do your children know how to make this themselves?
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Make Hot Cocoa Mix
And then give it away to your neighbors! Another great skill for children to learn is thinking of others and being generous with what they have!
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Cook Outside
Have your kids learn how to cook over open coals on cast iron. Let them make a few meals while you are out camping.
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Take Care of Cast Iron
Teach your children how to season it and not let it rust! Help them learn how to cook in it as well. If you have never cooked in it yourself, then learn together!
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Teach Responsibility By Caring For an Animal or Animals
Owning a pet has so many benefits, but it should also be taken seriously! It’s important to take care of the animal properly and for the entirety of its life. When your child learns how to do that they will go in responsibility, feel less stressed, and increase feelings of love.
Related Post: 2 Easy Animals Every Homesteader Should Own For Self-Sufficiency
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Visit a Farm
Learn even more about how animals are cared for by seeing how the farmer does it! From chickens to pigs to barn cats and donkeys, you’ll find something new to discover.
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Study Different Jobs with Animals
Animal breeder, animal groomer, animal rescuer, animal trainer, conservation biologist, kennel manager, pet sitter, wildlife biologist, wildlife veterinarian, and zoologist are all great people to shadow for a day. It will help your child learn about what it looks like to care for animals in different capacities!
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Hang Around Chickens
If you can’t on your own, find someone that does. Observe them and collect the eggs. Feed them and clean up after them. Practice handling them.
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Butcher Animals for Food
If you aren’t raising your own meat, find someone that does! You can tag along with them and help your kids understand where their food source comes from.
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Take Horse Riding Lessons
Learning how to interact with horses has a wide variety of benefits. Our behavior communicates to them if they should be frightened or not. Learning basic horse care is also a great skill that has been lost over time.
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Handmade Art
Make crafting a daily or weekly activity. So much can be learned by just using our hands!
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Practice Knitting and Crocheting
And after some time, hopefully, you can knit a sweater and crochet a blanket! Check out some of these books to help you get started.
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Mend Your Clothing
You don’t need a sewing machine to learn this skill, although it does make it easier. Try using a needle and thread to get the job done!
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Make Plant Dye
The book has a great recipe for kids on this! Then dye bandanas or t-shirts with it.
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Make Flower Crowns
Or grape vine wreaths! Get kids in nature and collect various leaves in flowers to tie onto a wooden embroidery hoop.
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Make Lavender Wands
Tie lavender up and create sweet-smelling sachets!
Related Post: The 7 Best Picture Books On Homeschooling For Children To Read
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Use an Herbal Remedy
Comfrey poultice for twisted ankles, calendula salve (one of my favorites) for burns, or herbal body wash for daily cleansing are great options to do with children.
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Make Your Own Skincare Products
Lip balm and face wash are easy ones to start with. I especially love the recipes in this book.
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Start Woodworking
Widdle or carve some sewing needles to get started!
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Make Beeswax Candles
Or beeswax wraps. Make sure you keep separate supplies that you strictly use for beeswax making or you’ll be cleaning them at the sink all day long.
Have you learned how to teach homesteading skills to your children? I would encourage you to check out the other blog posts I have linked on the topics above for more information! The resources page in the back of The Children’s Heritage Sourcebook also lists some amazing books to dive deeper into specific topics.
Let me know in the comments below how you will teach homesteading skills to your children!
Kelsey at GoodPointGrandma
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