Homes, Trades and Games of Long Ago · Drawing 08 of 40
Haying time
Long ago, in summer
In summer, families made hay. They cut grass with a scythe and turned it with a rake to dry. A cart carried away the hay, which would feed animals in winter.
Look together
What is the hay for, once it is in the barn?
An idea to try
With cut grass or torn green paper, make a small haystack and a shoebox wagon. Your child tells the four steps: cut, turn, gather, store.
For the adult reading along
A little more to discover
Agricultural tools and collections help us explore haymaking before mechanization. Cut grass had to dry before being stored. Scythes, rakes and carts helped prepare this feed for animals.
This imaginary scene does not describe every farm or period. The child brings water, away from the blade. Find the tools, then tell the story of the grass travelling from field to barn.
Sources and illustration notes (2)
Imaginary farm and family; simplified tools, the scythe is not handled near a child.
These links lead to other websites. Explore them with an adult. References identify the institution and the related lesson; some linked pages are in French.
- Société des musées du Québec — Musée québécois de l’agriculture et de l’alimentationMuseum founded in 1974 in La Pocatière; tools, trades and farm life of the past; first permanent agricultural school in Canada in 1859.
- Musée québécois de l’agriculture et de l’alimentation — Harvesting hayMowing, drying, turning with a rake, carting and storing; photograph from the Archives de la Côte-du-Sud.
Page prepared on September 19, 2026. Illustrations simplify places and scenes; they are not historical documents.
This drawing is from the book Life in Old Québec to Colour
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