Days of Knights and Damsels; An Activity Guide »

Laurie Carlson is the author of Colonial Kids, Westward Ho!, More Than Moccasins, Green Thumbs, and Kids Camp! She has taught preschool, primary grades, and children’s art classes.

Kids can re-create a long-ago world of kings, castles, jousts, jesters, damsels, magic fairies, and Robin Hood—all they need are their imaginations, materials they can find at home, and the activities in this book. Dressing up in a coat of armor made from plastic milk jugs, whipping up a batch of curds and whey, writing secret messages in invisible ink, and telling time with a sand glass made from soda bottles are just some of the fun projects. Every activity is illustrated, and sidebars highlight colorful facts about life hundreds of years ago.

Children's Literature

Over 100 activities from the Middle Ages are presented for children. Directions and pictures are included for making clothes (hats, wigs, ruffs, tiaras, jewelry, helmet, ladies' favors), crafts (sand glass, sundial, soap, coins), food (trenchers, tarts, blackbird pie, mead, gingerbread), projects (knit bags, coats of arms, dolls, magic tricks), and games (Alquerque, draughts, Fox & Geese, 9 Men's Morris). Sketchy drawings leave room for interpretation of fabrics or designs and give children basic ideas on which to build. Most materials are easy to find and many of the projects are modest and simple enough for children as young as five (but, as a result, insulting to 10 year olds). The author's choice of projects makes this book seem most suited to seven- to ten-year-olds; teachers of older or younger students may want to pick and choose. Most projects come with a paragraph or two telling how or why the activity was important to people in the Middle Ages. All in all, a decent jump-start to creative interpretation of life in the Middle Ages and a helpful augmentation to elementary school medieval studies.