Cracker Country Homeschool Day: Growing Gardeners

Cracker Country is hosting a homeschool day called Buzz, Bloom, and Grow: A Florida Garden Adventure! on Monday, November 9, from 10 AM to 2 PM. It's part of their Homeschool Day program, which is built for homeschool groups and families. This particular session lands during the state's growing season and turns the museum into an open-air classroom on plants and agriculture.

Cracker Country is the Florida State Fairgrounds' 19th-century living history museum, where you explore Florida's past through historic buildings, costumed interpreters, and hands-on activities. On this day, educators in historic dress welcome guests at authentic 19th-century structures like the 1885 Carlton House, Okahumpka Depot, Terry Store, and the School House. Young learners get their hands dirty in the garden, try period chores like butter churning and laundry, and take a lesson in the schoolhouse. There's also a General Store on site that sells nostalgic and reproduction items, historical toys and games, books, and candy, with the proceeds supporting the museum's education programs.

It's a morning and early afternoon that lets kids see how people lived and worked in Florida over a century ago, with the garden as the main thread. If you're homeschooling, it's a way to get a history and science lesson in one go. The museum is at the Florida State Fairgrounds, 4800 US-301, Tampa, FL 33610—use the MLK Blvd Entrance, Gate 2. Admission is $1 per student, with an optional $2 add-on for the 'Florida plants and history' lecture.