Instruct the children to make a list of words that describe their family; tangible and intangible words can be used. A favorite family, a place they go for summer vacation or a unique family heritage are all concepts that can be incorporated into a coat of arms. Traits they feel describe their family or parents, such as kind, strict, funny or active, can also be used.
Guide the child to narrow his family traits down to four. Research animals that match these traits and find pictures of them by looking online or in magazines. Children also can draw the animals freehand. Put the pictures on tag board with the word that describes each one underneath.
Make a shield from more tag board; shields for coats of arms came in a variety of shapes, usually determined by the time period and geographic region. They were also divided into any number of sections in order to display a variety of elements that represented or described the family, so kids can use their imagination when it comes to arranging their representative animals and descriptive words on the shield.
Discuss castle life and why they were built the way they were; what was the purpose of the great room, the guard tower and the moat? Kids can role-play as knights, princes, kings and queens and also make items that were used in castle life, such as candles and candle holders, wine goblets, swords, musical instruments or tapestries, just to name a few.