Cockayne Farmstead Educational Programs

When planning your next class field trip, scouting, or 4H adventure, consider visiting Cockayne Farmstead! We offer educational programs to students of any age at no cost. In addition to touring the house, class or group visits can try fun activities like paper marbling, writing with quill pens, and learning games like Graces. For any questions or scheduling, please contact us at 304-845-1411 or email us at cockaynehouse@gmail.com. 

We also love working with students on class, group, or individual projects. If you have an idea for a project involving Cockayne Farmstead, please let us know.  

Cockayne Farmstead Traveling Trunk Program

The Historic Cockayne Farmstead is excited to debut its new Traveling Trunk Program!

We bring history to you!

During the 2022-2023 school year, we introduced two trunks full of original artifacts and reproductions that students can see, handle, and experience during an interactive in-class presentation that fulfills state social studies standards and teaches about Marshall County history in two historically significant eras.

Our grade-school level Traveling Trunk is packed full of 19th century artifacts that teach about daily life on a Marshall County Farm during the late Victorian era. Students will learn about clothing and cleanliness, school, chores, and what children did for fun before video games. This program is brought to your class by a costumed presenter and is highly interactive to engage young students in imagining life in the past. Students will write on slate boards, see children’s clothing of the era, guess some mystery artifacts and more!

Watch the video below to learn more!

The World War II Traveling Trunk brings local history to your classroom with a presentation designed specifically for the high school level. This forty-five-minute presentation is interactive and object-based, including actual artifacts like letters, photographs, booklets, and uniforms that tell the story of the Second World War through the lens of the Marshall County experience. Students will learn about local residents who fought in all theaters of the war and how the war also impacted the lives of everyone who stayed behind to help in numerous ways on the home front.

To book either Traveling Trunk for your classroom, please call the Farmstead at (304) 845-1411 or email cockaynehouse@gmail.com

The Traveling Trunk program has been generously sponsored by the EQT Foundation.

Then Come Experience the Past First-Hand…

This program is a standalone history lesson, but it can also be the perfect prelude to a field trip to the Cockayne Farmstead, where students will see these objects in context, learn about the family, and try more activities and games. We can handle groups of up to 40 students at a time. Fieldtrips must be scheduled between April and October, because some of the program takes place outdoors. Bring lunches for a full half day of fun! Contact us to schedule and for current field trip rates.