This September, our homeschool book club gathered together for a memorable afternoon celebrating the classic children’s book Caddie Woodlawn by Carol Ryrie Brink. (One of our favorite resources for our book clubs is the Treehouse Schoolhouse Book Club!) Our meetups always bring literature to life with hands-on activities, crafts, food, and discussion, and this month was no exception! Keep on reading to get your own Homeschool Book Club Ideas for Caddie Woodlawn!
From churning butter in mason jars to creating Victorian-style Valentines, we immersed ourselves in the world of Caddie and her adventurous 1860s Wisconsin life.
“How far I’ve come! I’m the same girl and yet not the same.
I wonder if it’s always like that? Folks keep growing from one person into another all their
lives, and life is just a lot of everyday adventures.” – Caddie
This post contains affiliate links, which means I make a small commission at no extra cost to you. See my full disclosure here.
Setting the Caddie Woodlawn Book Club Atmosphere
Part of what made our Caddie Woodlawn homeschool book club meetup so special was the atmosphere. Since the story takes place in the great outdoors of Wisconsin’s frontier, we wanted to capture that same feeling of rustic simplicity.
We gathered near our barn and pond, surrounded by wide-open skies and fresh air—just the kind of setting where Caddie herself might have roamed. My friend even brought along a small tepee to set up near the pond, which instantly transported the kids into the world of the story.
To decorate, I added a mix of natural, rustic, and vintage elements that reflected the pioneer lifestyle:
- Old snakeskins, beehives, and hollowed-out turtle shells gave a touch of wilderness and frontier authenticity
- Burlap runners, pinecones and fresh hydrangeas on tables
- Blackboard signage with one of our favorite Caddie Woodlawn quotes greeted families as they arrived
- Rustic woven baskets filled with snacks and craft materials enhancing the prairie-style aesthetic
- For our Victorian Valentine craft activity, I used an old vintage vanity (rescued from the side of the road!) to display ribbon, cardstock, and all the decorative supplies. The children loved choosing their materials from such a cool setup!
- To top it all off, we had some classical music playing in the background, creating a peaceful rhythm that helped tie everything together
The combination of nature and rustic charm helped set the scene for our meetup and made the story of Caddie come alive!
Book Discussion by the Pond
We started our day down by the pond, taking a short walk and sitting on picnic blankets under the sunshine. We were thankful to have such beautiful weather! With Caddie Woodlawn fresh in our minds, the kids enjoyed sharing their thoughts with the group and hearing each other’s favorite parts of the story. (I’ve included some great book discussion questions that you can use with your own homeschool group which you can find towards the end of this post!)
Homemade Butter in a Mason Jar
This part of our afternoon was so fun and hysterical! We had each family bring one mason jar per child (or one per family) and a quart of heavy cream to make homemade butter. I set the timer on my phone and they needed to shake it for at least 15 minutes straight! We turned up our music and my middle child led some of the kids in dances and a game of “Simon Says” while they were shaking their jars. It was so cool to see the color changing in the jar and actually turning to butter before our eyes! If you’ve never done this I highly recommend trying it! Not to mention, the butter tastes AMAZING.
Story-Inspired Foods
One of the most delightful parts of our meetups is the food! Everyone loves making something to share. We enjoyed a spread inspired by the time period and scenes from the story:
- Homemade butter (made by the kids themselves in mason jars!)
- Brown bread with jam
- Plum cake
- Molasses cookies
- Organic turkey sandwiches
- Fresh berries
- Apple Pie
Many of these recipes can be found below at the tail end of this post!
Hands-On Crafts
We love to connect crafts to the stories we read! This month included:
Victorian-Style Valentines
- Cut card stock into heart shapes or simply fold into cards
- Decorate with heart lace doilies, pressed flowers, or old-fashioned illustrations (you can find free printable Victorian clip art online), Old-Time Victorian Stickers, Wooden Buttons, Vintage Scrapbooking Paper
- Add thoughtful, flowery messages with fountain pens or calligraphy markers
Mini Tepees Craft
We used this tutorial for making mini tepees!
Supplies:
- Pencil
- Paper plate for tracing
- Brown heavyweight cardstock
- Kid Scissors
- Hot Glue Gun or tape
- Paint Markers for decorating
- Twigs
Eye Spy Game with Paintings
Another highlight was our Eye Spy game, inspired by Caddie herself! This was a fun way to pass the time while kids were busy shaking their mason jars making their homemade butter! My father-in-law, Craig Tennant, is a gifted artist who paints stunning scenes of Native Americans (among many other things!) As a fun surprise, he often hides animals and some other things within his work.
I printed out a sign that read:
“Let’s play a game of Eye Spy as Caddie did! Take a look at these two paintings by Craig Tennant and see if you can spot the following hidden creatures: Wolves, Ram, Jaguar, Bear, Grandfather.”
The kids loved searching through the artwork to find each hidden creature. The coolest part was that one of the kids kept finding things that we didn’t even know was in the paintings! She had such a good eye! What a fun way way to connect art, history, and literature. You can see more of his breathtaking artwork at www.craigtennantart.com.
Student Presentations
Each child shared a small presentation inspired by Caddie Woodlawn. We saw impressive dioramas, watercolor paintings, drawings enacting scenes from the book, admired clay figures, little rafts and cardboard canoes – and we even listened to some story-telling from the book (the story of Farmer Peewee!) This time of sharing is always a highlight—it’s amazing to see how differently each child interprets the book.
A Silly “Scalp Belt Show”
To end our gathering, the children paid their “admission” (a coin, marble, or trinket—just like in the story!) to see our very silly “scalp belt show” in the barn. My husband (reluctantly) let me borrow one of his belts and I attached some long black wig hair to it—it was indeed, HILARIOUS.
Final Thoughts
Our Caddie Woodlawn homeschool book club meetup was filled with laughter, learning, and creativity. By pairing literature with food, crafts, and interactive activities, we brought this classic story to life and gave our kids (and us, as parents!) a memory not quickly forgotten!
If you’d like to recreate this at home or with your own homeschool group, I’ve linked all the materials we used for crafts above, plus a small printable discussion guide and recipes below!
Stay tuned for next month’s book club adventure! If you’d like to see more of our past book clubs, click HERE!
Also, be sure to check out my new podcast, 20 min long and encouraging for newer homeschooling mamas! “Heart of Homeschooling: Character Over Curriculum”
A FEW BOOK DISCUSSION QUESTIONS FOR YOUR GROUP:
- How is Caddie different from her sisters, Clara and Hetty? Do you think her parents were right to let her run free with the boys?
- What qualities make Caddie such a strong and memorable character?
- What did you think of the “Indian John” storyline? What lessons do you think the author wanted readers to take away?
- How does the family’s move from England to Wisconsin shape the story?
- What was your favorite scene and why?
- Do you think you would have liked to live on the Wisconsin frontier in the 1860s? Why or why not?
RECIPES:
How to Make Butter in a Mason Jar
Ingredients:
- 1 pint heavy whipping cream
- A pinch of salt (optional)
Instructions:
- Pour the cream into a clean mason jar, filling it halfway.
- Secure the lid tightly.
- Shake, shake, shake! It usually takes about 10 minutes. First, you’ll get whipped cream, then the buttermilk will separate, and you’ll have butter!
- Pour off the buttermilk, then rinse the butter under cold water, kneading gently with a spoon to remove extra liquid.
- Add a pinch of salt if desired and enjoy on fresh bread.
Plum Cake Recipe
Ingredients:
- 2 cups flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp cinnamon
- ½ tsp nutmeg
- ½ cup butter (softened)
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 eggs
- ½ cup milk (you could swap non-dairy milk)
- 2 cups chopped plums
Instructions:
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a 9×13 pan.
- Mix flour, baking powder, and spices in a bowl.
- In another bowl, cream butter and sugar. Add eggs one at a time.
- Stir in flour mixture alternately with milk.
- Fold in plums.
- Bake 40–45 minutes until golden brown.
Molasses Cookies Recipe
Ingredients:
- ¾ cup butter
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 egg
- ¼ cup molasses
- 2 ¼ cups flour (we made them GF by using King Arthur Flour Gluten-Free All-Purpose Mix)
- 2 tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp cloves
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- ½ tsp ginger
Instructions:
- Cream butter and sugar, then add egg and molasses.
- Mix in dry ingredients until dough forms.
- Roll into balls, coat in sugar, and place on baking sheet.
- Bake at 350°F for 8–10 minutes.
Brown Bread Recipe
Ingredients:
- 2 cups whole wheat flour
- 1 cup rye flour
- ½ cup cornmeal
- 2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 cups buttermilk
- ½ cup molasses
Instructions:
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a loaf pan.
- Mix flours, cornmeal, soda, and salt in a bowl.
- Stir in buttermilk and molasses.
- Pour batter into pan and bake 45–50 minutes.
Leave a Reply