Sod house

Have you ever played in the dirt and made little mud houses? Well, a long time ago, when people needed a place to live, they didn't have fancy houses like we do now. They used what they had around them, like dirt, grass, and sticks, to make their homes.

One kind of house that people made was called a sod house. This is a house made out of chunks of grass and dirt, which is called sod. The people stacked the sod in rows like bricks, making walls that were really thick and heavy.

To make the roof of the sod house, people put more sod on top of the walls, and then used poles or sticks to hold it up. They might cover it with grass or other materials to keep the rain out.

Sod houses were popular in places where there weren't many trees to make logs for a log cabin, and where wind was a big problem. Since the walls of a sod house were so thick, they helped keep out the cold wind in the winter.

Sod houses weren't always easy to live in, though. They could be cold, damp, and dark inside. Sometimes, animals like snakes or mice would make their homes in the walls, too! But for many people, a sod house was a warm and sturdy place to call home.