Princess Hat and Knight Helmet
 
 Princess Hat  -  Roll a large sheet of paper, about 15x24" into a cone
shape.  Tape the ends together.  Trim the paper so it sits evenly on their
head.  Stape tissue paper around the edge.  Glue a strip of fabric at the
peak so it hangs down.
 
 Knight Helmet - Cut the helmet shape from a one-gallon plastic milk jug.
 Cover it with aluminum foil.  Cut a visor for the unused part of the jug.
 Cover the visor with foil and attach it to the helmet with brass fasteners.
 Cover the ends of the fasteners inside the helmet with tape.
 
 Games
 
 Silver Treasure Game  -  Cut circles from cardboard.  Wrap each circle in
aluminum foil to represent coins.  To Play  -  Hide the coins around the
party area.  To begin the game, announce that the dragan has broken into the
castle and ahs taken the silver treasure.  All the princesses and knights
look for the treasure.  The one who finds the most coins becomes a knight of
the round table.
 
 Capture the Dragon  -  Select various types of cardboard boxes to make a
dragon shape.  Cover the boxes with glue and construction paper.  Decorate
with pieces of cut paper.  Add a paper tail and features to the head.  Cut
three long, thin strips of poster board.  Staple the ends of each strip
together to make three hoops.  To Play  -  Toss the hoops over the dragon's
head.  The player who gets the most hoops over the head wins.
 
 Bowl the Castle Over  -  Cut and discard the top sections from 6 half-gallon
milk cartons.  Cover the cartons with glue and paper.  Using sissors, cut
turrets along the top to look like a castle.  Add stone designs and doors
with a marker.  To Play  -  Set up the castles like pins in bowling.  Using a
lightweight ball, have your guests take turns trying to bowl over the
castles.  
 
 Crafts.......
 
 Sword in the Stone ----  Cut an egg cup from the bottom of a cardboard egg
carton for each.  Turn it botton side and cut a small slit in the center.  To
make a sword, cover one ice cream stick with aluminum foil.  With scissors,
cut the ends off another ice-cream stick and color it with markers.  Glue the
two sticks together.  
 
 A Royal Snack - - gather an assortment of breads, cheeses, fruits and nuts.

another idea for coins:
use the metal o.j. lids.I like them because they are
indestructible. You could even write on them with markers.

 We did a unit recently with castles ect. it was part of a"Fairy Tale"
theme.  You might be able to use some of these ideas.
 
 Books:
 King Bidgood's In The Bathtub by Audrey Wood  (funny)
 A Medievel Feast by Aliki (Thomas Crowell)
 Puss In Boots Charles Perrault
 Rumpelstiltskin by J. Grimm or there are other Rumpelstiltskins if you
prefer
 
 Hats
 For the Princesses - Cut a lg circle from paper, cut once into the center
point, roll and staple to form a cone to fit the child's head.  We used
strips of crepe paper, long pieces of colorful curling ribbon and tulle (soft
netting) hanging from the top to decorate.  THe children also added color
(paint/marker), jewels and glitter.  I attached elastic to hold them on but
that's really not needed.
 
 For the Princes - Make the old tried and true newspaper folded hat, remember
them?  
 I found directions in many books.  We make them out of plain newsprint.  The
children then painted them and added a large feather to stick into the brim.
 
 
 **Using the Prince's hat and crowns for the girls
  we danced to baroque music and did this movement poem:
 
 Here is the Prince with the feathered cap   (Boys take off caps and bow)
 Here are his boots that go tap, tap.           (Boys march around)
 Here is the Princess with a crown.            (Girls touch crowns with both
hands)
 Here is her lovely velvet gown.                  (Girls hold out imaginary
skirt and curtsy)
 Here is the castle tall and wide.                (Lift arms for tall and
wide)
 Here they can play safely inside!              (Wraps arms around self and
hug self)
 
 Medieval Banners
 1) We used a "shield" shape cut from paper.
 2) Have the child write their name across the  top. 
 3) Below the name the children colored  stars, strips, suns, animals ect. to
personalize their own banner. We brainstormed ideas that might have a
personal meaning to a child.
 4) We mounted this on paper that resembled a banner. (Sort of flag shaped?)
 5) We talked about how royalty would have their own banners to proclaim who
they were to others.  When you saw a banner, be it on a castle or maybe on a
coach when royalty traveled, you would know who it belonged to.  We compared
this idea to flags of different countries.

* A very interesting book with ideas for this time period is called Huzzah
Means Hooray!! filled with great activities for children!!  Can't think of
the author right now, but will try to come up with it.  We actually hold a
"Royal Court" when we've explored this topic...The book has great ideas for
making a knight's costume out of milk jugs!

* The book Huzzah Means Hooray is by Laurie Carlson and is put out by 
 the Chicago Review Press.  It is filled with activities from the days 
 of damsels, jesters and blackbirds in a pie!!!!  I believe I purchased 
 my copy from Instructor Teacher's book club.

* To keep my little boys (sometimes girls too) from turning everything into
toy guns, I had a knight and castle unit and we made swords.  These are
really sturdy.  For each sword you will need black electric tape, silver duct
tape, two gift paper roles or tubes...one larger than the other, two paper
core tubes from fax paper rolls.  Fax paper rolls are extremely sturdy and
thick and can be used for lots of different things.  For the sword slip the
smaller gift wrap tube into the larger tube and the end of the smaller one so
it sticks out the larger by about 4 inches or so.  This top part will be the
handle.  Cut the bottom of the tube into a v shape for the point of the
sword.  The whole blade will be wrapped in the duct tape.   For the handle
cut a hole on both sides of the smaller orotruding paper roll so that the fax
tube can go into it making it look like a cross. this will be completely
covered by the black tape. To make the handle stronger slip another fax roll
over the smaller tube so that also will be covered with electric tape.  I
tell my kids they have to slay dragons instead of each other.

* The group I have are older 3yos and younger 4yos.  We are going to be doing
a week on Medieval times for part of our Summer Camp themes.  
 
 Some of what we have planned:
 
 Castle building from appliance boxes.  
 
 Pomeanders: Plunge whole cloves all around an orange, fasten ribbon all
around, including a loop to hang in a closet or other place which needs
freshening up.
 
 Mail by Pony:  In the dramatic play area we are going to have feather pens,
scrolls, ribbon, and stick ponies.  
 
 Knight helmets: Using a gallon milk carton, cut out the portion below the
handle and the bottom of the carton.  Decorate with grey tempra/soap mixture,
and finish off with a feather.  String might be needed to assist in keeping
the helmet on.  
 
 Counting gold coins: Spraypaint cardboard "coins" gold.