Pioneer Crafts and Games

Pioneer children didn't play with video games or watch TV.  Instead, they read books, and played with board games, rag dolls, and wooden toys. Store-bought toys and games were expensive and hard to come by. If parents did buy toys or books, they were probably serious and religious in nature – designed to teach kids how to be good. Since the pioneers couldn’t bring many things with them on the Oregon Trail, whatever toys boys and girls might have had back East would get left behind. Only a few precious dolls or books would have made it all the way to the Pacific Northwest or Washington.

Although pioneer children had many chores to do, including cooking, cleaning, and caring for animals, they still managed to have fun. Instead of buying toys, pioneer children used their imaginations to create their own toys and games out of the materials that were available – wood, leftover cornhusks, and fabric scraps. The games they played were memorized and handed down from generation to generation. Some pioneer games like hopscotch, jump rope, and hide and seek, are still played today.

Life was very different for pioneer girls and boys. Girls weren’t allowed to do many of the things that boys did, such as building and woodcarving. Boys weren’t taught to cook or sew, things that were considered "women’s work." Girls weren’t given the same opportunities as boys. When they grew up, girls were expected to get married and take care of their husbands and children, while boys were supposed to take care of the farm, get a job, and support a family. It was very difficult for women to become trades people, shopkeepers, or artists. Today girls and boys have many more options in what they want to pursue as a career.

You can try your hand at some of these pioneer crafts and games. Although pioneer children would have considered some of these activities to be chores instead of games, it’s still fun to make things the pioneer way.

try the crafts and games