Homestead

Visit The Homestead for hands-on activities, demonstrations, make and take projects by community groups emphasizing our western, agriculture heritage. Milk June the “Cow”, meet alpacas, learn about bee keeping, touch animal skins, and more. Make rope and crafts at the Make and Take area. Observe spinning, whittling, and other skills at the front porch. Explore the pollinator garden. Admire prize winning flowers and vegetables grown by Colorado residents and have your gardening questions answered by the experts.

A detailed downloadable schedule will be available in 2021!
All Homestead activities are included within General Admission ticket. Click here for Tickets

Homestead is located inside the Exhibition Hall, inside the Fair gates. Click here for Event Map

Activities Include:

• Youth Scavenger Hunt
• Smoky Hill Quilters
• Speed Piecing Techniques for Quilters
• Wildlife of the Wild West
• Life on the Prairie pre-European contact
• Milk June the Cow
• Pioneer Laundry
• Meet and Take Selfies with Alpacas
• Basket Making
• Dye Natural Fibers Activity
• Spinning and whittling demonstrations on the front porch
• Test your beef knowledge with the spinner cow
• Bee keeping and bee crafts
• Backyard Bass Fishing
• Pioneer Crafts
• Arapahoe County Centennial Farms display
• Play the Water Prize Wheel
• Antique Corn Grinding
• Arapahoe County Centennial Farms display
• Rope a Steer
• Dinosaur Ridge
• Test your garden soil
• Explore the pollinator garden
• Community entries in Home Grown and Home Harvested contests
• Rope making
• Make and Take crafts

Continue The 2021 Homestead Experience

Arapahoe County Fairgrounds and Park

• Arapahoe County Fairgrounds & Park: http://www.arapahoecountyeventcenter.com
• Calendar of events open to the public: http://www.arapahoecountyeventcenter.com/news
• Arapahoe County Fair: https://www.arapahoecountyfair.com

Animals

• Bee and beekeeping information: Eastern Colorado Beekeepers, serving the I-70 Corridor and Eastern Plains (info@easterncoloradobees.com). Contact Katie Thompson (303-517-5722)or P.O. Box 772, Strasburg, CO 80103
• Farm tours: LaZyB Acres Alpacas (lazybacresalpacas.com).To learn more about alpacas or schedule a tour, e-mail lzbalpacas@aol.com or call Larry and Becky Zierer (303-644-4110)
• Farm animal rescue, therapy animals, and classes: Peachy Farms (Peachyfarmscolorado@gmail.com).To learn more, contact Katrina Wright (303-828-7411)
• Honey Bee Information, Products from the Hive & Education: Happy Busy Bees (HappyBusyBees.com).Offering local honey, beeswax candles, and bee-themes merchandise plus beekeeping classes. Contact Debbie Komperda at BeeSwarmRescue@gmail.com or 720-989-7293.
• Promotion of horses, sport of rodeo, and western heritage through a pageant competition: http://arapahoeroyalty.com

Artisans

• Basket making with Jennifer Robinson: jhmrobinson@gmail.com
• Fiber Arts with Sara Greer: azariahsfibrearts.com or e-mail sara@azariahsfibrearts.com
• Quilting with Diane Henderson:hendersondmo@msn.comor 303-690-4851
• Quilts of Valor: Contact Jan Weber at jwebers@msn.com or 303-525-8271
• Smoky Hill Quilt Club.Meets 3^rd Thursday at Smoky Hill United Methodist Church.Contact jwebers@msn.com for more information on the club.

For more information about the organization or to nominate a veteran to receive a quilt please go to QOVf.org

Farm to Table

• Dairy MAX: https://www.dairymax.org
• Colorado Beef Council:https://www.cobeef.com
• Colorado Corn Growers:https://coloradocorn.com
• Colorado Department of Agriculture:https://colorado.gov/agmain

Gardening

• Plant education outreach: Colorado Master Gardener volunteers. For answers to your plant questions, e-mail mastergardener@arapahoegov.com or 303-730-1920.
• Soil testing: Colorado State University Soil Testing lab: http://www.soiltestinglab.colostate.edu/
• Plants, gardening information, classes, and community events: Tagawa Gardens:www.tagawagardens.com or 303-690-4722.Located 7711 S. Parker R.; Centennial, CO 80016

Historical Experiences

• 17 Mile House: https://www.arapahoegov.com/openspaces or 720-874-6726
• Centennial Farm Program: https://www.historycolorado.org/centennial-farms-r...

Nature Experiences: Park, Trails, and Gardens

• Arapahoe County Open Spaces:https://www.arapahoegov.com/openspaces
• Aurora Open Space and Natural Resources/Aurora Nature Centers: www.auroragov.org/nature
• Barr Lake/Milton Reservoir Watershed:www.barr-milton.org
• Barr Lake State Park:https://cpw.state.co.us/placestogo/parks/barrlake
• Denver Botanic Gardens:https://www.botanicgardens.org
• Cherry Creek State Park: https://cpw.state.co.us/placestogo/Parks/cherrycreek
• Cherry Creek Stewardship Partners:http://www.cherry-creek.org
• Dinosaur Ridge:https://dinoridge.org
• Storm water Permittees for Local Awareness of Stream Health in Arapahoe County (SPLASH):www.splashco.org

Agribusiness

• Information on local agribusinesses: I-70 Corridor Chamber of Commerce (303-644-4607) or P. O. Box 386, Strasburg, CO. 80136

Make and Take

• Basket (cup) weaving:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OHpX0C77lqM
• Clothespin people:https://www.thefunkystitch.com/30-beautiful-clothespin-dolls/or
• Corn husk people:https://hiphomeschoolmoms.com/how-to-make-corn-husk-dolls/
• Dream catchers:http://smashedpeasandcarrots.com/easy-paper-plate-dream-catcher-tutorial/
• Leathercraft: Tandy Leather at 3535 S. Platte River Dr. St. M Englewood, CO80110
• Ojo de Dios:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6mnnNhzHQjI
• Origami cat head: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4G10yxUrQ8
• Yarn people:https://www.littlehouseliving.com/simple-toys-make-yarn-dolls.html or