Medieval history can be one of the most compelling areas of learning to explore. Filled with stories of valiant knights and tower castles, perhaps down to the continued popularity of the stories of King Arthur but it remains exciting and especially because it has a lot of clear imagery for children. This will meet objectives in the NC for Design Technology (eg building structures, exploring how they can be made stronger, stiffer and more stable and using a range of tools and and materials).

Sally: Not knights, which was a male role. But there were very powerful women, who led armies and controlled battles. Moats: Extra protection for castles. Water was channeled into the moats, while other moats were filled with rainfall. Fantastic Fun with Learning read the book The Queen of France and shared how to make a fabulous rose crown and going on a rose hunt – wonderful to see the blooms in the photo’s on the blog and such a fun activity involving different sense pop on by and find out how to make the crown. Childhood is wonderful and bringing stories alive through crafts and activities is by far our favourite way to engage with early literacy. Last week saw the first ever Poppins Book Nook and it was wonderful to see so many of the activities linked up to Tuesday Tots so this week I’m featuring Knights Castles and Dragons Activities based on books brought to live by the bloggers of the Poppins Books Nook that linked up to Tuesday Tots.

Between the end of the 11th century and the middle of the 13th, a change took place in the relationship of knighthood to feudalism. The feudal host, whose knights were enfeoffed landholders obliged to give 40 days’ service per year normally, had been adequate for defense and for service within a kingdom; but it was scarcely appropriate for the now more frequent long-distance expeditions of the time, whether crusades or sustained invasions such as those launched in the Anglo-French wars. The result was twofold: on the one hand, the kings often resorted to distraint of knighthood, that is, to compelling holders of land above a certain value to come and be dubbed knights; on the other hand, the armies came to be composed more and more largely of mercenary soldiers, with the knights, who had once formed the main body of the combatants, reduced to a minority—as it were to a class of officers. The video includes the need to build castles on hills or near a water supply. This could be used as a way into pupils being able to understand some of the physical features highlighted in the curriculum (beach, cliff, coast, forest, hill, mountain, sea, ocean, river,

I think the title ‘’ Knights and Castles ‘’ is a good title because it summarizes the content of the book to a large extent. It would also be a good idea to ask what they know about kings and queens? What were they like in the past? What are the similarities and differences between a monarch in the past and monarch today? And castles built with an outer wall around the curtain wall were known as concentric castles. Inside domestic life often centred around the Great Hall where the wealthy could entertain guests with lavish feasts. Castle toilets were very smelly. Clothes were hung there to stop moths from eating them. That is why the toilets were called 'garderobes'.Fatima: So I've heard lots of stories about knights that can't be real. Like St George fighting a dragon. So what was it really like to be a Knight? Sally: Okay. Well how about we start from the outside and work our way inwards? We can look at all the important things as we go. Sally: William was related to the King of England, who had just died. So William thought he should be the next King of England. But a man called Harold was actually crowned the next King. So there was trouble ahead. Another St George and the dragon activity this time a DIY St George and the Dragon felt board from Royal Baloo to explore the story with. Our Pictures of the Castle PowerPoint is perfect for the whole class, featuring fantastic photos to help support your teaching for a Castles and Knights topic.