“Home in the Woods” – Combined Gardens and House Tour

Home in the Woods Tour Description

1st-3rd grades

In this joint field trip, students explore Thomas Cole’s 1847 painting Home in the Woods in depth!  In the Gardens, next to a log cabin similar to the cabin in the painting, students activate their imaginations while engaging in activities the family in Cole’s painting would have done.  Students “forage” in the Gardens for items to then make a “stew” on a “campfire.”  They also imagine fishing then practice washing laundry with a pail and washboard. In the House, students tour and discuss landscape paintings, particularly spending time looking atHome in the Woods and practicing observational skills.  They will also spend part of their tour sketching, as Thomas Cole did.  Both House and Gardens conversations focus on the relationship between humans and their environment and the use of natural resources.

NC Standard Course of Study Connections: 

ELA – SL.1-3.1, SL 1-3.3, similar analysis to RL.K-2.1 and RL.K-1.3

Science – 1.L.1, 1.L.2, EX.1.L.2 

Social Studies – 1.H.1; 2.H.1.2, 2.G.1, 2.G.1.2, 2.G.2.2; 3.H.1

Visual Arts – K-3.RE.1.1, K-3.RE.1.2

Learning objectives: Students who experience a Home in the Woods tour will be able to

  • describe what natural resources appear in the painting Home in the Woods and how the humans have interacted with their environment
  • practice visual literacy and scientific skills of observation and interpretation
  • compare the activities in the painting and in their experiential play to life today, considering change over time
  • perform and describe similar activities to the settler family in the painting

Location: Reynolda House Museum of American Art

Available: until December 12 2025; March 17-July 19, 2026;  returns Fall 2026

Accommodates: 8-48 people

2 hours and 15 minutes (includes a short break)

$8 + tax per student

Questions? Contact Julia Tanner, julia@reynolda.org

REQUEST A K-12 Visit

Sample tour Schedule:

9:45 Introduction at Reynolda House

10-10:45 Conversations with art at Reynolda House

10:45-11:15 Restroom and snack break (provided by school); walk to Gardens

11:15-12:00 Hands-on activities at Reynolda Gardens