Courses

The North House Blacksmith Shop excites the curiosity of adults and kids alike, as hammers pound, sparks fly, and red-hot metal becomes a fire poker, hook, or other tool right before their eyes. Try your hand at the forge in this family class, as kids and adults work together to…

Watching someone turn on the lathe is mesmerizing for folks of all ages; standing behind a lathe making the shavings fly is pure magic. Join instructor Tim Heil for this very unique opportunity to experience woodturning under the careful supervision of an experienced turner. This workshop is open to adult/child…

An apple a day keeps the doctor away...but does it count if it’s in a pie or a turnover? Celebrate the fall with this class centered around enjoying apples in both sweet and savory settings. Open to kids ages 7+ accompanied by an adult, we’ll develop a wide range of…

The Folk School campus has something interesting going on behind every door-- from blacksmithing to spinning, woodworking to cooking, you never know what you’ll discover here. Led by Craft Education intern Mary Tripoli, kids will explore campus in search of interesting stuff: wood shavings, wool, twigs, beach stones, whatever we…

Have you ever picked a long piece of grass or a cattail or another leaf and wondered what you could make with it? Often, the answer is something very useful if you know how to do just a few things you’ll learn in this course. The forests and prairies and…

Have you ever picked a long piece of grass or a cattail or another leaf and wondered what you could make with it? Often, the answer is something very useful if you know how to do just a few things you’ll learn in this course. The forests and prairies and…

Have you ever picked a long piece of grass or a cattail or another leaf and wondered what you could make with it? Often, the answer is something very useful if you know just a few easy tricks you’ll learn in this course. The forests and prairies and wetlands of…

This is a course for kids only, and it is designed as an introduction to the safe and efficient use of the knife as a carving tool. Many craftspeople are interested in reversing the stigma that knives often carry in contemporary modern society, one that identifies them as weapons. We…

This course is meant as an introduction for young people to the various tools and simple skills involved in working with wood. We will start with an introduction to common tools, stressing safety for both the child and the tools. We'll practice some common skills like sawing, drilling and carving.…

Join in for a day of good old-fashioned fun. Children will play games from pioneer times in Minnesota- games that early settlers like Laura Ingalls Wilder really played. We will also play traditional Ojibwe games that go back many generations. We’ll play pickup sticks, hide the bone, the moccasin game,…

A personal journal is a great place to record ideas, sketches, memories, and more. And it’s even better when you can make it yourself. Learn the techniques of paper marbling and basic bookbinding in this hands-on, messy-fun course. Marbling paper is a centuries-old tradition from many cultures. We’ve got some…

Calling all storytellers! What do you know about magical beings, like nisse, tomten and elves? Dive into the rich world of Scandinavian folktales, full of kings, trolls, Norse gods and magical animals. We will share a few great stories and then use our imaginations to bring them to life with…

Learn basic woodworking skills and electric wiring to create a flashlight! Together each student will assemble a wooden body flashlight to hold a battery-operated light. Experiment illuminating wood, bark, and found objects as the lens to your flashlight. This course is open to kids ages 7+ with an adult-- one…