I have to admit, as a kid I took “Home Ed” class and learned some needlepoint. It worked out well in my Goth High-school years when I embroidered cobwebs into my jeans. Embarrassing as that is, you too can now teach your kids the art of needle-craft, why not, it’ll keep them off their damn Nintendo Wii games:

Got cabin fever? Learn how kids kept busy during the long winter months in 19th-century Brooklyn. December 26 – January 4, 1 – 3 p.m. Before video games, movies, and television, indoor games and projects helped pass the long winter days. At Lefferts Historic House, you can try your hand at needlepoint, write your New Year’s resolution with quill & ink, learn to play Nine-Man Morris, and help get the House ready for the new year.

—E.C. Stephens