Exhibits Case Studies

Madison Children's Museum

100 North Hamilton Street
Madison, WI 53703
http://www.madisonchildrensmuseum.org

Brenda Baker (contact)
bbaker@madisonchildrensmuseum.org

Exhibit Title: Log Cabin          
Web Link to exhibit: http://madisonchildrensmuseum.org/exhibits/log-cabin/
Project Budget:
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Log Cabin

The Brand Log Cabinis an authentically restored, late 1840s log home typical of the size and type built by Madison’s earliest European settlers. The cabin was recovered from a Walworth County homestead with help from the Nature Conservancy and professionally restored on a corner of the museum’s parking lot. Exhibit content has been developed in partnership with area third-grade classrooms as part of a new Madison Metropolitan School District local history curriculum. Now the cabin serves as a focal point for the museum’s local history initiative.

Furnished with historical household artifacts and replicas, the cabin offers young visitors opportunity for dramatic play. Children will cook meals on the open hearth, write with quill pens, play historic children’s games, churn butter, try their hands at quilting, and learn about the tools and skills that made life possible for these early settlers. Outside, children will do laundry, haul water, harvest vegetables, try a two-man cross-cut saw or a draw knife, and learn about pioneer medicine in the herb garden.

Whole View

Distinguishing green features:

  • Restored and rebuilt, preserving historical building
  • Education about native Wisconsin plants
  • Gives kids education about traditional methods of food preparation

Water Yoke

Further Reading:

Hide Mittens

Wisconsin Life