On day one we had some Old World activities for the kids. Each family got the assignment to come up with an activity booth to teach the children something about life in the Middle Ages. It was so much fun. We had Alchemy, Spinning, Heraldry, Shield making, Tunics, and Folk Medicine. Here are some of the photos of the fun we had.
My niece Rebekah is a chemist and she taught the kids about Alchemy. Her booth was always full. She told what basics of chemistry they did know back then. It was so much fun. My sister Mary also was in this booth and she did sun reactive dyes with the kids. I forgot to get a photo of that.
You can see here that she let the kids do experiments. It was really fabulous!
My booth was the Folk Medicine. I am into herbs and so I had several samples of the herbs that they would have used back then and what they used them for and what we use them for today.
They kids loved the fact that the top property of most of the herbs and spices back then was to prevent flatulence. The all giggled. We took some especially fragrant herbs like, mint, lavender, rose petals, and such and made little sachets to wear around our necks. We talked about how most people didn't bath and that you would have these handy to sniff and especially stinky times. They also ward off bugs like lice.
My niece Anna had the kids making Shields. She had lots of information about crests and what the symbols stood for. All the kids had fun painting them. I even noticed many of the adults painting their own that afternoon.
My sister Lil and her husband Doug brought natural fibers and taught the kids how to make yarn with drop spindles.
The kids had so much fun and kept bringing me their bits of string to show me what they made.
My sister Anne (who was in charge of all the activities) and her daughter Rebecca had a booth where the boys could make tunics and the girls made flower garlands for their hair. The boys got to design the front of their tunics with crayon drawings that they ironed in.
The last booth the kids got to go to was Grandma's Nursery Rhymes. Most of our nursery rhymes come from the middle ages and were political statements about their times. The kids had to recite any rhyme they know to her to get a bag of sugared and spiced nuts from her. They were so tasty!
The smart grand kids stuck around and got more nuggets of wisdom from grandma.
My sister Jeanne and her daughter Alisa also had a booth where the kids were making family crests. They are still being finished and are really great but I forgot to take a picture of that.
Here are some more photos of the corsets I made. We have to show off the funness of it all!
I don't know just what Josie was doing that day but she did look impressive.
Jeanne, Alisa and Amanda looking lovely. I have to tell you that I actually made Jeanne's for her last year and she has lost enough weight that she took the back of the corset in 6-8 inches. I am very impressed!
Here is a view of the back of the corsets.
Josie and Jeanne in their loveliness. They made their own skirts.
This one is one of my favorites though. This is little Hannah and it is her 6th birthday today. She is my littlest princess.
