Posts Tagged ‘history’

Medieval Wax Seal

Friday, June 8th, 2012

medieval-wax-seal

My husband bought a medieval wax seal before we were married and never used it. I jumped up and down and said, “Can we use it, please?” He finally relented. It was brand new, and I suppose he never intended to use it. He just thought it was cool.

The kit included three waxy metallic candles in blue, dark red, and gold. It also included the letter “E,” which stands for “Evans,” our family name.

medieval-wax-seal-2

We lit the candles and dripped the wax in a puddle to seal a letter. The children had each written a letter to God, which they sealed, only to open when they are adults.

The seal was made out of metal. It was heavy for its size. You press the seal into the hot wax. It leaves an imprint. Then you wait for the wax to cool before lifting it up and looking at it.

medieval-wax-seal-3

If you don’t have a medieval wax seal, I suppose you could use candle wax and a rubber stamp. But it might ruin your rubber stamp, so choose a stamp you don’t like. You could use a stamp that represents your child, like a monkey stamp for my daughter, who climbs on top of everything, including the roof of the neighbor’s shed.

Now the children each have a letter that has been sealed with our family seal. My husband let each child press the seal into the melted wax.

medieval-wax-seal-4

Toy Castle Adventure

Saturday, April 28th, 2012

A fun writing assignment for kids is to write a toy castle adventure. If you don’t have a toy castle, you can make one out of small cardboard boxes, and spray paint it silver. Then use dolls to re-enact your script. Take a look at our fun Toy Castle Adventure:

Toy Trebuchet

Tuesday, April 10th, 2012

toy-trebuchet

Watch my children as they play with a toy trebuchet. We put together the pieces of the wooden kit before filming the launching of objects across our backyard. After all, what kid doesn’t want to build fun historical weapons of war? Take a look at how the kids squeal as we have fun with this toy trebuchet.

Medieval Unit Study

Friday, September 2nd, 2011

medieval-unit-studyThis video shows you the hands-on activities we will be doing for our Medieval Unit Study. The activities include building large and small cardboard castles, shield-making, catapult and trebuchet models, archery, and a Medieval feast.

Medieval Unit Study: Hands-on Activities:

I’ve linked to a few activities to get you started with this time period:

Life-sized cardboard castle, medieval feast, cathedral tour, and more in the Unit Study Treasure Vault!