Middle Ages Unit Study - Castle Life

Middle Ages Unit Study
Week 18: We made castles from paper and cardboard.

Life in a medieval castle was not all fairy tale, fun and games. Castles were military fortresses that housed the lord and his family, soldiers and servants. During war times they were flooded with townspeople trying to escape danger.

 Although beautiful to look at, they were difficult to reach, cold and dark.

 Glass was expensive, so the tiny windows were closed tight with shutters.

Bathrooms were overhanging rooms inside the castle. A hole in the structure allowed waste to fall on the garden or moat below.

Many castles contained smithies. Although weapons could be created, they were more commonly used for horse shoes and nails.

Many lords were robber barrens who earned their money and status by taxing the local people and stopping river bound ships to collect tolls.

 Despite the rough hard life, there was time for feasts....

 with music,

and games.

After learning about castles, and castle life, we created paper/cardboard castles. The activity came from the Storm the Castle website where the free printouts can be downloaded.

 First the floor plan was glued to a sheet of cardboard.

 Next the buildings were cut from the paper and transferred to cardboard.

 The towers were colored and stood-up on the floor plan.

This activity was simple but excellent. It is good for three dimensional design visualization. Since kids can decorate their castles with paint, crayons or glitter its fun from a craft perspective too.

 Please come back next week for more middle age activities.

All of the castle photos above were taken at the Marksburg Castle near Koblenz, Germany which is a fantastic day trip from Ramstein.


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