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Teddy looking over a castle wall.

Key Stage 1
Castles

Dive into the history of castles by designing and building one, create castle characters and discover the timeline of castles. Delve into illuminating letters, heraldry design and cooking in castles. Hands-On Education understand all children are individual and learn in different ways. We firmly believe learning should be engaging and fun. We have enjoyed putting these hands-on activities together and finding a range of ideas for our children to access learning.

Within this topic you will find:

  • 9 activity plans, all of which clearly explain how to prepare and carry out each activity.
  • 9 activity sheets and cards to support your child in recording their investigations.
  • 8 different videos all about life in a castle and how people lived at that time. These were created to help inspire your child’s own creativity.

This topic meets aspects within the National Curriculum in England in the following subjects: Art, Design & Technology, Geography and History.

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Annual Key Stage 1 Membership
    Relation to Curriculum in England: = Art = Design & Technology = Geography = History
    Download Links: = Activity Plan = Activity Sheet(s) = Play Video = Download Video
Click to Enlarge Activity Resources Relation to National Curriculum Downloads
Activity One - Castle Timeline

Activity 1
Castle Timeline

  • Hi1/1.2 events beyond living memory that are significant nationally or globally
  • Hi1/1.3 the lives of significant individuals in the past who have contributed to national and international achievements

Activity Two - Design And Build A Castle

Activity 2
Design And Build A Castle

  • Hi1/1.2 events beyond living memory that are significant nationally or globally
  • Dt1/1.1a design purposeful, functional, appealing products for themselves and other users based on design criteria
  • Dt1/1.1b generate, develop, model and communicate their ideas through talking, drawing, templates, mock-ups and, where appropriate, information and communication technology
  • Dt1/1.2a select from and use a range of tools and equipment to perform practical tasks
  • Dt1/1.2b select from and use a wide range of materials and components, including construction materials, textiles and ingredients, according to their characteristics
  • Dt1/1.3b evaluate their ideas and products against design criteria
  • Dt1/1.4b explore and use mechanisms, in their products

Activity Three - Who Lived In Castles

Activity 3
Castle Characters

  • Hi1/1.2 events beyond living memory that are significant nationally or globally

Activity Four - Heraldry Design

Activity 4
Heraldry Design

  • Hi1/1.2 events beyond living memory that are significant nationally or globally
  • Ar1/1.2 to use drawing, painting and sculpture to develop and share their ideas, experiences and imagination

Activity Five - Illuminating Letters

Activity 5
Illuminating Letters

  • Hi1/1.2 events beyond living memory that are significant nationally or globally
  • Hi1/1.3 the lives of significant individuals in the past who have contributed to national and international achievements
  • Ar1/1.4 about the work of a range of artists, craft makers and designers, describing the differences and similarities between different practices and disciplines, and making links to their own work

Activity Six - Cooking In Castles

Activity 6
Cooking In Castles

  • Hi1/1.2 events beyond living memory that are significant nationally or globally
  • DT1/2.1a use the basic principles of a healthy and varied diet to prepare dishes
  • DT1/2.1b understand where food comes from

Activity Seven - Bayeux Tapestry Story

Activity 7
Bayeux Tapestry Story

  • Hi1/1.2 events beyond living memory that are significant nationally or globally
  • Hi1/1.3 the lives of significant individuals in the past who have contributed to national and international achievements
  • Ar1/1.2 to use drawing, painting and sculpture to develop and share their ideas, experiences and imagination

Activity Eight - Design And Make A Catapult

Activity 8
Design And Make A Catapult

  • Hi1/1.2 events beyond living memory that are significant nationally or globally
  • DT1/1.1a design purposeful, functional, appealing products for themselves and other users based on design criteria
  • DT1/1.1b generate, develop, model and communicate their ideas through talking, drawing, templates, mock-ups and, where appropriate, information and communication technology
  • DT1/1.2a select from and use a range of tools and equipment to perform practical tasks
  • DT1/1.2b select from and use a wide range of materials and components, including construction materials, textiles and ingredients, according to their characteristics
  • DT1/1.3b evaluate their ideas and products against design criteria
  • DT1/1.4b explore and use mechanisms, in their products

Activity Nine - Castle Fieldtrip And Observation

Activity 9
Castle Fieldtrip

  • Hi1/1.3 significant historical events, people and places in their own locality
  • Ge1/1.3b use basic geographical vocabulary to refer to:
    i. key physical features
    ii. key human features
  • Ge1/1.4d use simple fieldwork and observational skills

Symbols Key

    Relation to Curriculum in England: = Art = Design & Technology = Geography = History
    Download Links: = Activity Plan = Activity Sheet(s) = Play Video = Download Video
Activity One - Castle Timeline
Activity 1
Castle Timeline
Practical Resources:
Relation to Curriculum in England:
  • Hi1/1.2 events beyond living memory that are significant nationally or globally
  • Hi1/1.3 the lives of significant individuals in the past who have contributed to national and international achievements
Downloads:

Activity Two - Design And Build A Castle
Activity 2
Design And Build A Castle
Practical Resources:
Relation to Curriculum in England:
  • Hi1/1.2 events beyond living memory that are significant nationally or globally
  • Dt1/1.1a design purposeful, functional, appealing products for themselves and other users based on design criteria
  • Dt1/1.1b generate, develop, model and communicate their ideas through talking, drawing, templates, mock-ups and, where appropriate, information and communication technology
  • Dt1/1.2a select from and use a range of tools and equipment to perform practical tasks
  • Dt1/1.2b select from and use a wide range of materials and components, including construction materials, textiles and ingredients, according to their characteristics
  • Dt1/1.3b evaluate their ideas and products against design criteria
  • Dt1/1.4b explore and use mechanisms, in their products
Downloads:

Activity Three - Who Lived In Castles
Activity 3
Castle Characters
Practical Resources:
Relation to Curriculum in England:
  • Hi1/1.2 events beyond living memory that are significant nationally or globally
Downloads:

Activity Four - Heraldry Design
Activity 4
Heraldry Design
Practical Resources:
Relation to Curriculum in England:
  • Hi1/1.2 events beyond living memory that are significant nationally or globally
  • Ar1/1.2 to use drawing, painting and sculpture to develop and share their ideas, experiences and imagination
Downloads:

Activity Five - Illuminating Letters
Activity 5
Illuminating Letters
Practical Resources:
Relation to Curriculum in England:
  • Hi1/1.2 events beyond living memory that are significant nationally or globally
  • Hi1/1.3 the lives of significant individuals in the past who have contributed to national and international achievements
  • Ar1/1.4 about the work of a range of artists, craft makers and designers, describing the differences and similarities between different practices and disciplines, and making links to their own work
Downloads:

Activity Six - Cooking In Castles
Activity 6
Cooking In Castles
Practical Resources:
  • Hi1/1.2 events beyond living memory that are significant nationally or globally
  • DT1/2.1a use the basic principles of a healthy and varied diet to prepare dishes
  • DT1/2.1b understand where food comes from
Relation to Curriculum in England:
  • Hi1/1.2 events beyond living memory that are significant nationally or globally
  • DT1/2.1a use the basic principles of a healthy and varied diet to prepare dishes
  • DT1/2.1b understand where food comes from
Downloads:

Activity Seven - Bayeux Tapestry Story
Activity 7
Bayeux Tapestry Story
Practical Resources:
Relation to Curriculum in England:
  • Hi1/1.2 events beyond living memory that are significant nationally or globally
  • Hi1/1.3 the lives of significant individuals in the past who have contributed to national and international achievements
  • Ar1/1.2 to use drawing, painting and sculpture to develop and share their ideas, experiences and imagination
Downloads:

Activity Eight - Design and Make A Catapult
Activity 8
Design And Make A Catapult
Practical Resources:
Relation to Curriculum in England:
  • Hi1/1.2 events beyond living memory that are significant nationally or globally
  • DT1/1.1a design purposeful, functional, appealing products for themselves and other users based on design criteria
  • DT1/1.1b generate, develop, model and communicate their ideas through talking, drawing, templates, mock-ups and, where appropriate, information and communication technology
  • DT1/1.2a select from and use a range of tools and equipment to perform practical tasks
  • DT1/1.2b select from and use a wide range of materials and components, including construction materials, textiles and ingredients, according to their characteristics
  • DT1/1.3b evaluate their ideas and products against design criteria
  • DT1/1.4b explore and use mechanisms, in their products
Downloads:

Activity Nine - Castle Fieldtrip And Observation
Activity 9
Castle Fieldtrip
Practical Resources:
Relation to Curriculum in England:
  • Hi1/1.3 significant historical events, people and places in their own locality
  • Ge1/1.3b use basic geographical vocabulary to refer to:
    i. key physical features
    ii. key human features
  • Ge1/1.4d use simple fieldwork and observational skills
Downloads:

Suggested Resources

Suggested Books
Suggested Books
Look Inside A Castle
by Conrad Mason and Barry Ablett

A flap book with bright and colourful illustrations.

Suggested Books
Suggested Books
What Were Castles for?
by Phil Roxbee Cox Sue Stitt

A great informative book providing facts about castle life.

Suggested Books
Suggested Books
King Maximo and the Number Knights
by Howard Schrager

A beautiful story of 12 knights and their quest to explore numbers in nature.
Suggested Books
Suggested Books
A Street Through Time
by DK

Use this amazing picture book to put castle life into historical context.

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