It was very challenging to find preschool and kindergarten learning activities for medieval times. Here is my compilation.
Here's what we did for our unit.
First, we read The Knight at Dawn (#2 from the MTH series).
Then I read Bear one or two chapters a day from the research guide companion. I think these guides are above her head and I have no idea what she is retaining, but I am finding them a fabulous way to gain more knowledge for myself. I tried to come up with one activity per chapter to help her absorb what I was reading.
But this castle was missing a lot of the parts so we also built a castle out of legos. We included the barbicon and the portcullis and heavy doors and the watchtower with crenals and marlons, as well as a moat with alligators and crocodiles. (I have to say that I learned a lot of new vocabulary myself with this book.)
Sang the songs from here.
Explored this interactive castle.
I printed out a picture depicting the feudal system and made name tags for her to match to the tiers.
I also printed out these cards from this ESL website (very good for flashcards for 3 part cards and games). I printed them quite small to save on ink. Bear can look at them through the magnifying glass to add an element of interest. I read her the cards and we talked about the pictures.
We made stained glass windows with tissue paper, contact paper, and black sharpie.
We recited all the nursery rhymes we could think of that had to do with castles, queens, and kings.
Some other books we read that fit within the theme were:
Sir Small and the Dragonfly by Jane O'Connor
The Knight and the Dragon by Tomie DePaula
The Princess Knight by Cornelia Funke
The Bravest Knight by Mercer Mayer
The Vegetarian Dragon by Julies Bass and Debbie Harter
linked to The Preschool Corner. Click on the button to check out other preschooler activities.
Looks like a great unit. We loved sir small and the dragon too.
ReplyDeleteHave you seen the David macula castle books?
Brilliant!
ReplyDeleteThis is a fun unit Julie! I like your castles.
ReplyDeleteThis is the same Magic Tree House unit study we are (still) doing right now. We are also reading some of the same books you mentioned at the end of your post. It's taking us longer to complete the study than I'd thought:-), but it's a lot of fun!
Can't wait to see what you do next:-).
JC still loves the MTH series but doesn't like any of the research guides. I borrowed all of them and kept on renewing them until I had to return it yesterday. I learned some cool things about Egypt from the guides but JC couldn't care less. She said it was boring and wanted the stories instead. She's already been through most of the audiobooks so my reading it is her is her 2nd time hearing the stories. I'm hoping when she reads the books independently when she gets older, I will assign her research projects from them. And the first place I'll look is here thanks to you for doing such a thorough job! Have you also checked out their website? They have fun activity worksheets for each book. I printed them out and I'm saving them for when JC is older. I have to say that MTH series serve as a wonderful introduction to so many topics/places/people that I could not have introduced to a child of 4 years without boring her to tears. She seems to remember everything from the stories and seems to connect to the events. I guess this is the benefit of a "living book"?
ReplyDeleteBear doesn't really care for the guides so far. The dinosaur one, she flatly refused. The knights and castles one she has sat through a bit, but not all of it - I skim through some of the chapters. I don't think I'll even bother for the Mummies. She loves the stories and sits through them in one or two sittings! My mouth gets so dry! I wonder if my library has them on cd.
ReplyDeleteThat's so cool! I wish I could do all that you do for Bear with Robbie. Your children are so blessed to have you.
ReplyDeleteThe audiobooks are great in the car but I have to warn you that when I used them during her lunch, she forgot to eat because she was so consumed with the story! And the story was about Shakespeare out of all things! MTH has some kind of spell on JC.
ReplyDeleteWhat a fabulous unit you put together! You had so many great ideas, I'm now excited for our unit on the Middle Ages (but we still have Rome, gladiators and things like that ahead of us!!)
ReplyDeleteWe used those books during our study of England last year and loved them. :) The research guides are great.
ReplyDeleteThis is an awesome castle unit - you definitely went into a lot more depth. Sometimes I feel that Anna is not retaining something, and then out of the blue she surprises me with comments about things way over her head. I really like your Lego castle :)
ReplyDeleteSo glad you posted this! I've been reading these books to my son at bedtime!
ReplyDelete