Our Pick for Families: Farm Museum turns work into play

Families can dig into the past at the North Spokane Farm Museum’s annual play day Saturday.

Displays and demonstrations will help people understand how much farming has changed, said Donna Weiss, a museum board member.

“It’s such a marked difference in what our ancestors had to use and now,” Weiss said.

Teams of draft horses will plow the fields. There will be antique tractor demonstrations in the morning, as well as some to climb on throughout the day.

And, attendees can see what kind of work went into processing grain once it was grown.

“We have some old grain grinding equipment that kids can use,” Weiss said.

There will be quilts on display and a flea market. Plus, the museum’s regular exhibits will also be open, including farm artifacts from 1850 to 1950, working kitchens from the 1920s and 1950s, dozens of sets of Ironstone China, dolls and folk carvings of farm scenes.

Weiss said families are invited to bring picnic lunches. She recommends bringing water, as well as sun shades for chairs, to beat the expected heat.

She said when children visit the museum, “the kids, especially the young boys, they really like the tractors.”

The girls are often more interested in the horses, she said. They’re her favorite, too.

“I just enjoy seeing them work,” she said. “… and thinking about how farming used to be and how far we’ve come. You can really get a sense of that at the Farm Museum.”

When: 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday; the museum is open 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily, April 1 through Oct. 15.

Where: North Spokane Farm Museum, 6223 W. Ridgeway Road, Deer Park

Cost: $5 suggested donation

Info: (509) 466-2744 or www.northspokanefarmmuseum.com