Category Archives: History

Castle

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This post was written by Owl.

When we went to Granny’s house a few weeks ago, we played with the big wooden castle.  In the night, when the little ones were asleep, Monkey and I were allowed to stay up so we could make a battle scene with the castle.  We placed the drawbridge just the right distance away from the castle.  Then, we decided to make a moat out of blue paper.  Later, the scenery around the castle grew to include green grass and and a little bridge made out of brown paper leading to the prison door, so that the guards can go in and out.  Then Monkey put on some paper logs, and we both made some fish to go in the moat.  Then we put the soldiers in place, and the battle began.  It was England against Scotland, and we can’t tell you who won because the battle hasn’t finished yet.  Some battles last a very long time (like the 100 years war, which was really 101 years.)

Lego museum plans

This is a guest post by Owl – the first of many, I hope.

My new Lego creation is going to be a museum room, called room 11.  It will be a medieval themed room.  It will have:

  • a star-shaped fort
  • a star-shaped information board about the fort
  • an old portrait of a knight’s head
  • a suit of armour on a pole
  • a table laid for a feast with a golden goblet
  • a statue of a horse
  • information about drawbridges
  • a toy drawbridge to play with

If I can manage it, I will make the museum with an opening front so that you can see the things inside.  Of course, this is only one room.  I will be making some more rooms later.

British Museum

I am beyond exhausted but I really want to blog the British Museum visit that I did with the boys two days ago.  This is the kind of “home education” I want to do more of – getting out and about, and making the most of the many interesting places there are to visit, which we would not have so much time for if the kids were in school.  However, at the moment I would struggle to take all four of them up to London on the train, so we still try to fit in all the outings we want to do into the holidays, and occasionally at weekends.  I know this will get easier as the kids get older, but in the mean time I am very grateful for the help of the friends who made it possible to spend some time with the big boys, doing something just for them….

My friend collected the two little ones, and then the boys and I walked up to the station and caught the train to London.  The boys enjoyed the train ride, during which we played Thomas the Tank Engine top trumps and discussed our Prehistory topic which we are just starting.  We then had a short (thankfully) ride on a crowded tube train, and a pleasant walk in the sunshine to the museum.  By the time we had arrived, had the obligatory toilet stop and met up with Owl’s godmother, we decided we were ready for an early lunch.  We had a relaxing cup of coffee while the children ate their packed lunches, but had to speed up once they were finished as they were showing signs of needing to move on (let’s just say some running around, chasing each other and fake slipping on banana skins was involved…)

I had already identified the two rooms we wanted to go to – I knew that would be enough, and I was determined to keep it simple.  The rooms were Britain and Europe 800 BC – AD 43 and Europe and the Middle East 10,000 – 800 BC, and we spent most of the time in the first one.  I asked them to draw pictures of anything they liked, and they both spent a long time drawing the Lindow Man which was gruesome but fascinating.  They then drew a selection of other objects including shields, mirrors, coins, spoons and a helmet.  It was a successful activity, and gave them something to focus on, though it came more naturally to Monkey.  Owl likes everything to be perfect, which is quite a challenge when you are trying to draw something quite detailed and difficult, but we got there in the end.

                            

We then had a look at the hands on table, and were able to touch and find out about several artefacts including an axe head which I think was 5000 years old.  We then went into the second room and had a look round more quickly, before giving in to demands to visit the shop!

We stepped out of the museum into a beautiful sunny afternoon, and walked up to Euston station to wait for daddy’s train to arrive.  We spent half an hour or so on the grass outside, eating the rest of our packed lunch and doing some of the Usborne Grammar and Punctuation cards which proved very popular and filled in the time peacefully.  We then walked into the station to meet daddy for a quick coffee (grown-ups) and giant chocolate coin and drink of water (children) before getting the tube and then the train back home.  It was rather hot and crowded, but not too bad and we played top trumps again (woodland animals this time) to pass the time.  We arrived home in time for the boys to have supper while daddy collected the little ones who were also worn out and happy after a busy day with their friends including a long walk and a farm visit.  It was a very tiring but lovely day.