2025 Educational Programs and Activities

Gammelgården Museum has a range of educational opportunities for youth and adults alike. We offer craft, visual art, textile art, and history classes for youth and adults; fiber arts and book clubs; and self-guided tours through the Welcome House (Valkommen Hus) and around the museum grounds.

At Gammelgården, there are opportunities for people of all ages to learn about the prairie and wetlands, and see how to provide homes and food for wildlife with native plants, shrubs, and trees.

For artists and art enthusiasts, Gammelgården features exhibits that showcase both contemporary and historical artwork.

Swedish Language Classes

Do you speak Swedish? Would you like to teach Swedish language classes at Gammelgården Museum?

Gammelgården currently is looking for a Swedish language instructor who would like to offer weekly classes at the museum. Typically, Gammelgården has had a spring and fall session that is held on Sundays for six weeks with a Beginning class (1:30 p.m.) and an Advanced class (2:30 p.m.)

The classes are ideal for those preparing for a trip to Sweden, visiting relatives, and/or translating family records/recipes.

The Beginning class is for those with little or no knowledge of the Swedish language.

The Advanced class is for those with a fair knowledge of the Swedish language who wish to continue to learn and keep their proficiency.

All classes have a strong focus on verbal skills, grammar, reading comprehension, and conversation skills.

If you are interested in teaching, please email Ann at director@gammelgardenmuseum.org

Board and Card Game Collection at Gammelgården Museum

Did you know that Gammelgården has a board and card game collection?  Thanks to the generosity of Scandia Electric, Gammelgården Museum has assembled a collection of 58 board and card games for our community to use and play while at the museum.

Why does Gammelgården have a board and card game collection? There are many reasons. In 2024, Gammelgården’s main exhibit was “Toys, Games, and Pastimes of the Mid- to Late-1800s.” As part of the exhibit experience, Gammelgården scanned copies of games from the 1800s so visitors could play them. Throughout the season, we saw countless individuals, families, and friends play the games. They were more engaged in the exhibit and learned more about the games that people in the 1800s played.

So, building upon the interest and fun of playing games, the Gammelgården staff wanted to create a permanent board and card game collection for the public to use while they are at the museum. Games have many benefits:

Games provide a positive outlet away from the digital world.

According to a Nielsen Company audience report “ the average person in the United States spends approximately 10 hours and 39 minutes each day using smartphones, computers, video games, radios, tablets, and TVs. Board games get people to step away from their digital devices and engage their brains in different ways.

Games engage the brain.

Many games require players to be creative, innovative, and critical thinkers. According to an article by Dr. Barry Kudrowitz at the University of Minnesota, game “play allows us to escape reality for a short time. It is a safe bubble in which we pretend, imagine, and create. It allows us to say and do things that we don’t typically say and do.”

Games foster relationships.

The wonderful thing about board and card games is that people can come together across generations to play together. They are a great way to relax and interact with other people – whether family, friends, or others that a person just met.

Gammelgården’s game collection ranges from classic favorites like Chess, Tic-Tac-Toe, Checkers, and Sorry to new hits like Wingspan, Botany, Azul, and Winterhaven. Below is the list of board and card games in Gammelgården’s collection.

Board and Card Games at Gammelgården Museum:

Alphabet Stoop
Animal Babies Memory Game (3+ years old)
Antiquity Quest
Azul (8+ years old)
Bears and Bees
Biotix
Bohnanza
Botany (8+ years old)
Cabanga
Cat Lady Old Maid
Checkers
Chess
Chronology – The Game Where You Make History
Clades Evolutionary (card game)
Clades Prehistoric (card game)
Combos
Concept Kids Animals (4+ years old)
Connect 4
Cootie
Countdown
Coup
Cover Your Assets
Dreams of Yesterday
Dutch Blitz (8+ years old)
Family Feud
Farm-Opoly
Fika
Flip 7
Fox in the Forest
Jack Labrador
Labyrinth (7+ years old)
Lingo Swedish Playing Cards
Linx
Mancala
Memory
Mountain Goats
Nuts about Mutts
Operation
Outfoxed (Preschoolers+)
Poultry Party – Vintage Farm Card Game (8+ years old)
Puzzle Master
Roar Write
Rolling Realms
Showdown
Skull King
Sorry!
Spicy Dice
Stamp Swap
The Bears and The Bees (7+ years old)
Tic Tac Toe
Toil and Trouble
Trouble
UNO
Wingspan (Base Game)
Wheel of Fortune
Winterhaven Woods: Fresh Snow
Women’s Suffrage (card game)
Yahtzee

2025 Youth/Education Programs at Gammelgården Museum

During 2025, there are youth and family art and craft classes, and self-guided tours of the Welcome House (Valkommen Hus). See the calendar of events below (following the scavenger hunt sheets) to see the classes that are appropriate for children and teens. 

Visiting Gammelgården After Hours and Looking for Something Fun to Do?

Gammelgarden_Spring_Scavenger_Hunt

Gammelgarden_Summer_Scavenger_Hunt

Visible Mending

Gammelgarden Museum of Scandia 20880 Olinda Trail North, Scandia, MN, United States

Rescue your scuffed, moth-eaten, or well-worn items using embroidery! Learn from textile artist Sandra Brick how to keep your clothing out of the landfill, and keep our planet happier by […]

$49
Bluegrass & Lemonade in the Shade

Bluegrass & Lemonade in the Shade

Gammelgarden Museum of Scandia 20880 Olinda Trail North, Scandia, MN, United States

Come on down for an old-time bluegrass jam session at Gammelgården Museum from 2-3:45 p.m. on four Sundays – June 22, July 27, August 24, and September 28! Bring your […]

Wet-Felted Vessels

Gammelgarden Museum of Scandia 20880 Olinda Trail North, Scandia, MN, United States

Learn from textile artist Sandra Brick the process of dimensional wet felting as you create a miniature vessel out of vibrant-colored wool. Using warm water, soap, and pre-carded wool, create […]

$49
Bluegrass & Lemonade in the Shade

Bluegrass & Lemonade in the Shade

Gammelgarden Museum of Scandia 20880 Olinda Trail North, Scandia, MN, United States

Come on down for an old-time bluegrass jam session at Gammelgården Museum from 2-3:45 p.m. on four Sundays – June 22, July 27, August 24, and September 28! Bring your […]

Chunky Knit Wool Blanket

Gammelgarden Museum of Scandia 20880 Olinda Trail North, Scandia, MN, United States

Learn how to make a dreamy thick and cozy knit blanket out of merino wool roving, plus tips and techniques for caring for these blankets. No knitting experience is required! […]

$140
Bluegrass & Lemonade in the Shade

Bluegrass & Lemonade in the Shade

Gammelgarden Museum of Scandia 20880 Olinda Trail North, Scandia, MN, United States

Come on down for an old-time bluegrass jam session at Gammelgården Museum from 2-3:45 p.m. on four Sundays – June 22, July 27, August 24, and September 28! Bring your […]

Cinnamon Bun Day at Gammelgården

Gammelgarden Museum of Scandia 20880 Olinda Trail North, Scandia, MN, United States

Gammelgården Museum of Scandia will be passing out free cinnamon buns at the museum in celebration of the 45th anniversary of Cinnamon Bun Day. The cinnamon buns will be distributed […]

Fars Dag (Father’s Day) in Sweden

Fars Dag - or Father’s Day - is celebrated on the second Sunday in November in Sweden, instead of in June. Father’s Day in Sweden was initially celebrated in June, […]

Vinterlights

Gammelgarden Museum of Scandia 20880 Olinda Trail North, Scandia, MN, United States

From 1-4 p.m., enjoy the holiday exhibits in the Welcome House; do your holiday shopping in the Butik (gift shop) and receive discounts on select merchandise; and walk the grounds […]

Things To Do At Home

Here is a list of activities for you to do with your family when you are not able to visit the Gammelgården Museum of Scandia.

Plan Your Next History Outing

Clio is a website focused on the history and culture around you. There are over 39,000 historical entries from across the United States and over 1,500 walking tours, virtual tours of museums, heritage trails, and other curated experiences authored by hundreds of organizations. Gammelgården has two listings on Clio – one about the museum and one about the historic buildings.

For Gammelgården members, visit Time Travelers – a membership benefit entitling Gammelgården members access to a reciprocal membership network for historical museums and societies throughout the United States. The Missouri Historical Society (MHS) created the program in 1998 so that members of historical institutions could receive exclusive benefits and privileges at museums and historical sites nationwide. These benefits may include free or reduced admission, gift shop discounts, free parking, and much more.

Learn about Swedish Culture

Listen to Swedish Children’s Songs (video)

Become a Penpal with a Person in Sweden

Make a Swedish Craft

Make a St. Lucia Crown

Create Swedish Hearts from Wool, Fabric, or Paper (video)

Make a Swedish Advent Star

Try Swedish Food

Bake Pepparkakor (Swedish Ginger Cookies)

Make Swedish Meatballs

Try Swedish Blueberry Soup

Learn about Immigration

Read about Swedish Immigration to the United States

Learn about Immigration to the United States, 1851-1900

Learn about Swedish Immigration to Minnesota

Discover Why the 1860s were a Pivotal Decade of Change for Minnesotans

Explore the Life of the Early Settlers

Make a Braided Rug Placemat

Learn to Quilt a Nine-Patch Block (video)

Take a Quiz to See How Much You Know about Farm Life in the 1850s

Learn about The Dakota – Minnesota’s First People

Read “The Land, Water, and Language of the Dakota, Minnesota’s First People”

Learn about the Evolution of Dakota Beadwork

Get a Dakota Coloring Book to Discover More about the Clothing, Games, Foods, and Traditional Activities of the Early Nineteenth-Century Eastern Dakota (Captions are in English with Eastern Dakota Language Translations)

Try Heirloom Gardening

Read about the Importance of Heirloom Seeds

See Lists of Favorite Heirloom Vegetables to Grow

Make Rice Salad with Heirloom Tomatoes, Cucumbers, and Feta

Learn about Wildlife in Minnesota in 1850-1880

Read “The Use and Conservation of Minnesota Wildlife 1850-1900”

Make a Painted Wolf Craft Project

Read about Why the Passenger Pigeon Went Extinct

Learn How to Manage Your Woodland for White-Tailed Deer

Do Many Fun Activities about Sandhill Cranes in English and Spanish (Preschool-12 Grade)

Explore Nature and Landscape in 1850-1880 in Minnesota

Read about Logging in Minnesota

Learn about the Prairie in Minnesota

Plant a Prairie Garden

Design a Native Plant Garden

Make a Pressed Flower Bookmark

Create DIY Seed Bombs (Use Native Wildflowers!)

Discover the Color in Flowers by Doing Wildflower Art

Heirloom Gardening

Seeing the heirloom gardens add another dimension to your museum experience at Gammelgården. Eye-catching blossoms, colorful vegetables, and fragrant herbs all vie for your attention.

The gardens are a highlight for the thousands of visitors from Minnesota and around the world who visit the museum to see what it would have been like for a Swedish immigrant in the mid- to late-1800s.

In 2023, Gammelgården Museum partnered with the Washington County Master Gardener program to revitalize and expand the gardens at the museum. The priorities in 2024 were revitalizing the heirloom vegetable and cereal gardens.

In 2024, Washington County Master Gardeners continued to work on the existing vegetable and cereal gardens.

In 2025, the Washington County Master Gardeners were planning on continuing to offer visitors an opportunity to learn what foods were grown in the 1800s by planting a variety of vegetables and herbs in the Heritage Garden (to the southeast of the Barn) and what native plants immigrants would have found upon arrival in Minnesota, as shown in the Pollinator Garden, which is south of the Heritage Garden. However, due to a beaver dam down stream from the museum, the pond flooded both the Heritage Garden and parts of the Pollinator Garden.

In 2026, these gardens will be relocated to higher ground, west of the barn and south of the Immgrant House. This location also will be more accessible to a greater number of museum guests.

The museum is looking forward to the relocated gardens which will be another way to educate visitors about food traditions brought from overseas to Minnesota. According to the Washington County Master Gardeners, “Food traditions brought from Sweden included growing a variety of root vegetables, including rutabagas (kålrot) also known as Swedes. Carl Linnaeus, a Swedish botanist and physician, developed the taxonomy we still use today when classifying plants. He is credited with bringing the beloved rhubarb plant to Sweden. In the Heritage Garden, you will find it and many other traditional plants found in Swedish gardens. Gammelgården’s history extends well into the 20th century and the garden reflects how food choices changed over time and what was grown.”

In the future, Gammelgården’s staff and volunteers would like to use the produce in its programs – showing visitors how the gardens were used for food, dyeing fibers, medicinal preparations, decorations, and craft projects.

Restored Prairie

“The future of the natural world, on which we all depend, is in our hands”
Sir David Attenborough

Please note: Due to a beaver dam down stream from the museum, the pond flooded a significant portion of the prairie that was under restoration. As of July 2025, Gammelgården chose to stop the restoration efforts that had been begun by Prairie Restoration until the dam could be eliminated and the pond returns to its normal level.

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Information about the restored prairie prior to July 2025:

Gammelgården Museum of Scandia’s restored prairie was planted and is maintained by Prairie Restorations.

It is a priority of the museum to create an area of the grounds that shows what the land was like when immigrants settled here in the 1850s-1880s.

According to Yale Environment 360, “Prior to settlement by Europeans, prairie blanketed an enormous swath of central North America, from Canada south to Texas, and from Indiana west to Colorado — nearly 600,000 square miles of grassland all told.

“This complex ecosystem was home to a diverse and teeming web of life, including now-tattered bison populations. Farming and development have reduced much of this iconic American landscape, particularly in the wetter eastern areas. There, tall-grass prairie, a habitat dominated by grasses that can grow eight feet high, now occupies less than 1 percent of its former range, putting it among the world’s most endangered ecosystems, according to the U.S. National Park Service.”

By restoring this area at Gammelgården back to a prairie, there are benefits to native wildlife – something that the land could not previously support. There are now sandhill cranes, coyotes, deer, rabbits, owls, raccoons, geese, songbirds, monarchs, dragonflies, and hawks – just to name some of the many types of wildlife that call Gammelgården home.

Below are some of the many native wildflowers and grasses that can be seen in the prairie at Gammelgården Museum of Scandia.

Viburnum opulus var. americanum (American Highbush Cranberry)

Blooms in May and June.

Verbena hastata (Blue Vervain)

Blooms June through September.

Cosmos bipinnatus

Cosmos attracts a wide variety of native pollinators and butterflies.

Dicentra cucullaria (Dutchman’s Breeches)

A widespread species in Minnesota, Dutchman’s Breeches is one of the heralds of spring. It blooms in April and May.

Echinacea purpurea (Eastern Purple Coneflower)

Blooms July through October.

Bluebird Trail

Gammelgården Museum of Scandia received funding from the Scandia-Marine Lions Club to build ten bluebird houses and install them on the museum grounds in 2023.

Volunteers cut and assembled the bluebird houses at the Lions’ Service Project Sampler Day. In May 2023, the bluebird houses will be installed on the grounds in locations recommended by the Bluebird Recovery Program of Minnesota.

During the summer, two volunteers monitored the bluebird houses to ensure the birds were safe and thriving. By the end of the summer, Gammelgården’s bluebird boxes provided a home to 40 new birds: 10 bluebirds, 5 chickadees, 5 tree swallows, and 20 house wrens.

In 2024, Gammelgården will rearrange some of the bluebird houses before they migrate to Minnesota in the spring, with the hope that bluebirds (versus house wrens) will use a higher percentage of them. We will be moving the houses from near a wooded area to along the fenceline on the southern part of the museum’s grounds.

In 2025, parts of the Bluebird Trail are partially submerged due to a beaver dam down stream from the museum. Although the birdhouses themselves are not underwater, part of the metal poles are submerged. This is not an ideal location for bluebirds, so we anticipate that the number of bluebirds will be fewer than in past years.

You can download the Gildwood Slotbox birdhouse for bluebirds and installation instructions below. Also, there is a link to helpful information about bluebirds – including what bluebird chicks look like and how to maintain a bluebird trail.

Click here for helpful documents regarding bluebirds from the Bluebird Recovery Program of Minnesota.

Activity Kits

In 2023, there were four different activity kits available for young people (and the young at heart) when they visited the Scandia Farmers Market. The kits were developed by the museum, funded by the Scandia-Marine Lions Club, and assembled by volunteers.

If you were not able to attend on the days they are handed out, the links to the contents of the kits are below. Each list includes a supply list to do the project(s) in each kit at home.

Activity Kit – Birds and Bird Feeders

This activity kit contained the following items to make a suet log feeder:

  • Wood log with 1.5″ drilled holes
  • Eye screw
  • 3″ dowel
  • Suet cake
  • Twine
  • Pinecones (2)

Bird word Scramble and Bird word Scramble – Answer Key

Bird Mandala Coloring Sheet

Bird Trivia

Activity Kit – July – Summer Bird Feeding Tips

Activity Kit – July Bird Seed Blends

Activity Kit – July – Certify Your Habitat to Help Wildlife

Activity Kit – July – Attract More Birds to Your Yard with Trees and Shrubs

Let’s Go Birding (packet)

Bird List at William O’Brien State Park

This trio of sheets was included:

  • Match the Tools with the Birds – Birds of the Hardwoods
  • Match the Tools with the Birds – Birds of the Prairies
  • Match the Tools with the Birds – Birds of Pinelands

This is similar to one of the above Match the Tools with the Birds sheets: Beaks & Tools

Activity Kit – Monarch Butterflies

Monarch Waystations

Collecting and Spreading Milkweed Seeds

Coloring sheet – life stages of a monarch butterfly

Activity Kit – August – Monarch Butterfly Craft

Gopher State Coloring Sheet

All About Butterflies

The Monarch Butterfly

Beautify this Butterfly

Activity Kit – August – Life Cycle of A Monarch

Monarch Maze

All About Monarchs Crossword Puzzle

Each Monarch Butterflies Activity Kit included two types of milkweed seeds (Common Milkweed and Rose Milkweed). In addition, the kits contained the items to make the Monarch Butterfly Craft:

– Butterfly cutouts (6)
– Orange tissue paper in 2 different shades – about 6”x6” or so square of each color
– White cardstock – 1 sheet
– Green cardstock (4 1/2″ x 11″)
– Foam brush
– Toilet paper tube
– Clear or white drinking straws (3)