Ancient European knights wore chain mail armor for protection during battle or tournaments. Let students try their hand at making their own chain mail. Cut the links out of several 1/2-inch diameter galvanized steel springs. Fit the loops together, squeezing the openings shut with needle nose pliers. Continue linking the loops to create a chain link helmet or glove. Younger children can simply practice joining the loops to make a flat sample of chainmail.
Feudal lords administered their vast tracts of land and peasant serfs from their large, drafty stone castles. They hired knights to defend the realm and from that stems the well-known correlation of knights and castles. Building a castle to defend offers several design possibilities, from a playhouse-size castle made of refrigerator boxes to miniature clay or salt dough sculptures or creations of small boxes, Styrofoam, plastic building sets or wooden blocks. Artists Helping Children offers several castle craft options, including some printable paper versions.
Knights often decorated their armor and flags with their personal coat of arms for easy recognition and identification purposes. Students can create their own coat of arms and draw or paint it on a paper or cloth flag. Additionally, they can personalize a cardboard shield with their heraldry design.
Give students an engineering challenge to build a trebuchet siege weapon out of craft sticks, rubber bands and a bottle cap. They will need to construct the base, the pivot arm and the cup holder from which to launch marshmallow boulders.
Medieval Catholics created elaborate religious paintings and statues of Jesus, Mary and the saints to serve as prayer aids. Students can research the style and content of these icons and create their own using any combination of media that suit their chosen icon, such as drawing, painting, mosaic or sculpture.
Ancient European church altars were often decorated with a triptych, a hinged three-panel painting depicting religious scenes. Artistic students may enjoy creating their own wooden or cardboard panels and painting them in ancient European religious style.
Ancient church architecture expressed reverence through inclusion of grand, eye-catching features such as the beautiful stained windows that you can still see in the ancient churches in Europe today. Stained glass is easy to replicate as a craft project using black construction paper and colorful tissue. Cut a design in the center of a large piece of black paper, leaving a 1-inch frame around the outer edge. Glue or tape colored tissue paper over the design openings and seal the window between two sheets of wax paper by applying heat with an iron. Alternatively, cover it front and back with clear contact paper.
Parchment was the medium of written communication for thousands of years before the invention of paper. Animal skins are hard to come by as crafting materials, but students can at least imitate the look of ancient parchment that recorded royal proclamations and other important documents. Tear uneven edges on a plain piece of white paper and crumple it well. Flatten out the paper and soak it in tea until it turns beige or light brown. Let it dry and record your proclamation thereon and tie it up in a roll with a ribbon.
Ancient European windmills provided an important source of power before the days of steam engines and electricity. Let students make their own miniature windmill using only an origami sheet, a thumbtack and a paper or plastic cup. Fold the origami paper into a pinwheel shape and secure the center with a thumbtack. Invert the cup and push the tack into the side just below the top edge. Blow on the wheel to set it spinning.