To encourage settlement, the U.S. government gave away land to people who were willing to travel west to settle down. Traveling was by covered wagon pulled by horses. A diorama of several families in covered wagons, traveling across the prairies, fording a river, or hunting buffalo for food demonstrates the challenges faced by early settlers of the American West.
The daily life of a pioneer was a hard one. Everything he ate, wore or used had to be homegrown or -made. In the vast open country, there were no stores to buy what he and his family needed. Before settlers could build a home, they had to clear land and chop wood to build a cabin. They needed a constant supply of water nearby. The land had to be good for growing crops and raising animals. Dioramas showing how the land was cleared, stages of building a log cabin and what the cabin would look like inside bring pioneer days to life.
As areas were settled, villages grew and different building types developed. A diorama depicting a pioneer village would include a smithy, a general store, a church, a doctor's office, a school, a sawmill and a grist mill. In the villages, the houses would have a porch and there would be wooden fences around the house to keep stray animals out of the garden and to keep the settlers' own animals in.
Curiosity about what children did for play a hundred years ago leads to exploration of toys and games that were simple but instructive. Ballgames, skipping, hide-and-seek, marbles, tag, toy animals and dolls could amuse pioneer children for hours. In the winter, snowball fights, building snowmen, sledding and skating on ice-covered rivers were popular pastimes, and any would make a good subject for a diorama. Children today also enjoy these amusements.