The Michigan Folk School
  • Home
    • Contact Us >
      • Show Your Interest
    • General policies & information
    • Mailing List Sign-Up
    • Staebler Farm County Park & Campus
    • Our Other Facilities
    • Instructor Portal
  • Learn
    • Instructor Profiles
    • gift certificates
    • Calendar
    • Categories >
      • archery
      • blacksmithing
      • boats & trailers
      • broom craft
      • bushcraft
      • children's classes
      • community learning
      • fiber
      • food
      • gardening & farming
      • glass
      • health & home
      • home improvement
      • homesteading
      • jewelry & metalwork
      • leather
      • millinery & dressmaking
      • sailing
      • woodworking
    • Open Studio
  • Teach
  • Finding Flow
  • Donations

Select a Class by Discipline

Class  Categories
 archery
​ blacksmithing
 boats & trailers

 broom craft​
 bushcraft
​
 
children's classes
​fiber
​
food
​gardening & farming

​glass 
health & home
home 
improvement
​homesteading
jewelry & metalwork
​
leather
millinery
​​​ & dressmaking
sailing
woodworking 
Open Studio  Categories
 blacksmithing
 broom craft​
​ fiber
​
​ glass 
​
​ leather
 woodworking ​


children's classes

Courses with a Green background indicate Semester-Long class
Courses with a Gray background indicate single class
Picture
Blacksmithing for Kids
Beginner
Blacksmith shops were as common and as important as gas stations are today. Every village, town, and city once employed a blacksmith. They were responsible for fixing or creating a variety of useful items such as knives & swords, hammers & chisels, and hinges & hardware, just to name just a few.  The sounds of the iconic hammer pounding on an anvil and smell of the coal harkens back to a time when things moved a little slower, more deliberate.  This beginning blacksmithing course for children slows down the modern world and operates to the cadence of the hammer striking the anvil.  In this course your child will learn about this staple trade and ancient craft.  Students will learn about lighting and maintaining a coal forge, reading the flame, striking and simple bending, and tools and hardware. Students use this knowledge to take home a projects that they heated, pounded and manipulated, leaving them with both an appreciation of the trade and a sense of wonderful for the world of folk craft.

While this is a child's course, it is intensive and demanding.  We strongly encourage children to enter the Smith Shop with a high level of maturity.  Kids aged 12-17 years are welcome to join this class.   No prior prior experience is required.  A parent or guardian is required to sign a wavier at the start of class for the child to participate.  You may also add to your Intro class experience a Blacksmithing Open Studio session the day after or another day in the future.  Click here for the Form.
Course Fee: $230  - Supply Fee: $20  Location: Folk School
Instructor(s): Wade Buck or Karen Quinn
Sun 1/22, 9am-4pm
Sun 5/21, 9am-4pm
Sun 7/16, 9am-4pm
Sun 9/17, 9am-4pm
Sun 12/17, 9am-4pm
Sun 4/23, 9am-4pm
Sun 6/18, 9am-4pm
Sun 8/20, 9am-4pm
Sun 11/19, 9am-4pm
Picture
Picture
Picture
Parent/Child Blacksmithing Workshop
Due to the popularity of our blacksmithing program, we have decided to add a special experience for parents and children to smith together. In this class, we invite you to join your aspiring-blacksmith kiddo for bonding, fun, and unforgettable memories. Parent and child will use teamwork at their own forge a craft a simple project that they take home at the end fo the experience.  

For everyone’s safety, children must be at least nine years of age.  Besides the precautions that we have put in place with regards to COVID-19, everyone must wear long pants, sturdy footwear, safety goggles, and, for some, cotton gloves. 
Course Fee: $140 (for two people) - Supply Fee: $10  Location: Folk School
​Instructor: Wade Buck
Tue 1/24, 6pm-9pm
Tue 3/21, 6pm-9pm
Tue 5/23, 6pm-9pm
Tue 7/18, 6pm-9pm
Tue 9/19, 6pm-9pm
Tue 11/21, 6pm-9pm
Tue 2/21, 6pm-9pm
Tue 4/25, 6pm-9pm
Tue 6/20, 6pm-9pm
Tue 8/22, 6pm-9pm
Tue 10/24, 6pm-9pm
Tue 12/19, 6pm-9pm
Picture
Cooking With Kids
This course will give children some basic cooking skills and help parents/guardians work with their kids in the kitchen. Parents will learn kitchen management and kids will learn to be comfortable in the kitchen and what goes in to making what they eat. The course will focus on introductory skills and "elevating" kid friendly foods (homemade chicken fingers, bechamel macaroni, etc.). Students will eat in class and leave with recipies. 
Children should be age 8 and up.

Course Fee: $50  - Supply Fee: $20  Location: Folk School
SHOW YOUR INTEREST
Picture
9 Class Sessions
Course Fee: $550 or $61 per session
Supply Fee: $50 one time

Location: Folk School Campus
Instructor: Wade Buck

9 Class Sessions
Course Fee: $550 or $61 per session
Supply Fee: $50 one time

Location: Folk School Campus
Instructor: Wade Buck
Blacksmithing Workshop Wednesdays
Semester-Long Class for Beginners
Our semester long classes are designed to give students a complete immersion in folk craft and artistry.  After successful completion of a semester long class, some students will use this introduction knowledge to enter the Folk School Apprenticeship Program (details coming soon).

​
This blacksmithing class has been designed to meet the needs of students currently studying from home.  This class is a full semester with a solid curriculum based on the science of metal.    
Students in this course will use metal and other related materials to create small sculptures, utilitarian items, and tools. Students will use a coal forge and learn a variety of different hand tools and other equipment such as hammers, belt sanders, and drills. They will explore various techniques as tapering, joining, and heat treating. There will be class discussions upon group completion of projects which will reinforce the vocabulary of the smith and concepts used to create their art. Projects will include coat hooks, key chain leaves, bottle openers, and a knife with one open project at the end of the semester.

This course is for the student who is committed and serious about blacksmithing.  This is not for the dabbler.  There will be research homework assigned and a student evaluation will be given at the end of the semester.​
SHOW YOUR INTEREST
Picture
9 Class Sessions
Course Fee: $550 or $61 per session
Supply Fee: $75 one time

 Location: Folk School Campus
Folk School Sampler
Semester-Long Class for Beginners
Our semester long classes are designed to give students a complete immersion in folk craft and artistry.  After successful completion of a semester long class, some students will use this introduction knowledge to enter the Folk School Apprenticeship Program (details coming soon).

A Folk School Sampler offers a introduction to four (4) craft mediums - leather, wood, fiber, and paper.  Students in this course will utilize historical evidence, proper terminology, the science of material, mathematical reasoning, and reverse-engineering to better comprehend each craft medium.  Students will use their developing craft skills to develop projects within each craft medium. Student projects include a kitchen broom, botanical-infused paper, leather-bound journal, shaker box, spoon. 

The mediums of leather, paper and fiber will encompass two class sessions.  Wood will encompass three class sessions.  

This course is for the student who is committed and serious about folk craft.  This is not for the dabbler.  There will be research homework assigned and a student evaluation will be given at the end of the semester.
SHOW YOUR INTEREST
Picture
9 Class Sessions
Course Fee: $550 or $61 per session
Supply Fee: $75 one time

 Location: Folk School Campus
Jewerly Workshop Wednesdays
Semester-Long Class for Beginners
Our semester long classes are designed to give students a complete immersion in folk craft and artistry.  After successful completion of a semester long class, some students will use this introduction knowledge to enter the Folk School Apprenticeship Program (details coming soon).

This course will use metal and other related materials to create pieces of jewelry, small sculptures, and other utilitarian items. Students will learn a variety of hand tools and basic equipment such as hammers, files, and saws. They will explore various techniques from annealing, forming, connecting and more. There will be class discussions upon group completion of their projects which will reinforce proper vocabulary and concept used to create their craft item. Projects will include rings, bracelets, and pendants with an open project at the end of the semester
​
This course is for the student who is committed and serious about folk craft.  This is not for the dabbler.  There will be research homework assigned and a student evaluation will be given at the end of the semester.
SHOW YOUR INTEREST

Our Mission: The Michigan Folk School is committed to creating a community engaged in authentic, hands-on experiences through the teaching and sharing of traditional folk arts, crafts, music, and skills in an inspiring natural setting and to promote the preservation of forest and farmland.


Picture

Email

registrar@MiFolkSchool.com
734-436-8973

Campus Address

7734 Plymouth Road, Ann Arbor, MI 48105

Business Address

Washtenaw County Parks & Recreation Commission
2230 Platt Road
Ann Arbor, MI 48104

​Join Our Family

Sign up to receive our catalogs, e-newsletters and other cool updates. (Don't worry. We don't share your info, and we don't send you a lot.)
  • Home
    • Contact Us >
      • Show Your Interest
    • General policies & information
    • Mailing List Sign-Up
    • Staebler Farm County Park & Campus
    • Our Other Facilities
    • Instructor Portal
  • Learn
    • Instructor Profiles
    • gift certificates
    • Calendar
    • Categories >
      • archery
      • blacksmithing
      • boats & trailers
      • broom craft
      • bushcraft
      • children's classes
      • community learning
      • fiber
      • food
      • gardening & farming
      • glass
      • health & home
      • home improvement
      • homesteading
      • jewelry & metalwork
      • leather
      • millinery & dressmaking
      • sailing
      • woodworking
    • Open Studio
  • Teach
  • Finding Flow
  • Donations