{"id":3687,"date":"2016-08-15T16:59:55","date_gmt":"2016-08-15T20:59:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nateandrachael.com\/terrehaute\/?p=3687"},"modified":"2018-09-15T22:52:42","modified_gmt":"2018-09-16T02:52:42","slug":"conner-prairie","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nateandrachael.com\/terrehaute\/conner-prairie\/","title":{"rendered":"3 Reasons to Love Conner Prairie in Fishers, Indiana"},"content":{"rendered":"

To be perfectly honest, when we first decided to spend the day at Conner Prairie<\/a>, I had no clue what to expect. I’d been told that Conner Prairie is an “interactive museum.” But what\u00a0does that mean?<\/p>\n

Now that we’ve been, I might describe it\u00a0as a beautiful\u00a0blend\u00a0of theater, history, pretend play, and hands-on learning.<\/p>\n

Here are three highlights of our visit!<\/p>\n

1846 Prairietown<\/h3>\n

In the 1836 Prairietown<\/a>, we visited different homes and businesses. As we walked around, the “residents” spoke to us as though we were all living in a prairie town in 1836.<\/p>\n

\"Conner<\/p>\n

In the above\u00a0picture, the local carpenter is explaining to me the meaning of the phrase “sleep tight.” Before this, he told my girls all about the two-person saw he uses to cut down trees. What a fun way to learn!<\/p>\n

\"Conner<\/p>\n

Our girls listen to and love the Little House on the Prairie<\/em> books, so although the book setting\u00a0is a few decades later than this town replica, the Little House books and characters served as a decent frame of reference for our little ones (ages 4 and 5).<\/p>\n

\"Things<\/p>\n

What impressed me most was that the residents never<\/em> broke character. Whether they were showing us how to walk on stilts or how to bake potato pancakes (in a steamy indoor fireplace, in July,\u00a0while wearing long sleeves and hot\u00a0layers), they always stayed in character.<\/p>\n

I’m not sure why this surprised me. Conner Prairie is a Smithsonian Affiliate Museum. And Smithsonian affiliates are expected to be top-notch!<\/p>\n

Animal Encounters<\/h3>\n

Kids love animals, so of course the ANIMAL ENCOUNTERS<\/a> barn was a highlight. While our\u00a0girls cooed over the animals, I chatted with one of the barn\u00a0directors.\u00a0Perhaps I enjoyed the conversation a bit too much, because I ended up getting in the way of a calf who was passing my way. Have you ever been stepped on by a (baby) cow? Let my purple toe be a lesson to all of us: when hanging out in a barn with big animals, it might be wise to wear closed-toe shoes!<\/p>\n

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Hey there, gorgeous.
\nNosey Mosey was a highlight of @ConnerPrairie for my horse-obsessed (almost) kindergartener. #travelwithhautehappenings<\/a><\/p>\n

A photo posted by @hautehappenings on