Kids Project-Medieval Castle- Need Ideas.

[summerluvin_ca]

My ten yr old darling daughter is building a medieval castle for her social studies class. It's a big project that she has been working on for nearly a month already and needs more ideas and perhaps some help.

She used a cardboard box (2' * 2') for the main building and attatched 2L pop bottles as turrets. She used mac tak with a small cobblestone pattern to decorate the box outside. (it does look really great, and I'll see if I can get pics of the WIP)

It has to have 2 levels and she was quite brilliant and made a spiral staircase with a cardboard roll and cut popsicle sticks. She stole mum's silver sharpie to "paint" mini styrofoam balls for a trebache (sp?) or catapult.

She's having some issues trying to build it though and I'm hoping some one may be able to help. She says that it would be bonus marks if it actually worked too.

She needs to have a kitchen area and bed suite. Just not sure what to include in the kitchen area. She also has made some tapestry like flags to hang on the outside of the castle.

It also needs to have a wall surrounding it and we have some river rocks but I think that it may be too awkward as is trying to bring it on a school bus. Does anyone have a recommendation for building a wall with the river rocks?

Thanks for any help you can offer. or if you have any ideas what else she should include let us know.

Thanks again

[Aislynn]

Wow!  What an enterprising project for a ten year old!  It sounds like she's doing a fantastic job already.  I took a stage design class for which we built models, and found that hot glue makes excellent "rock" walls.  Just build a cardboard wall, and she can make little glue dobs and then paint them to look like rocks.  Perhaps incorporate some of the smaller river rocks with this?

As for the catapult, I can't think of anything easy and simple.  Perhaps use this as a guide:  http://www.redstoneprojects.com/trebuchetstore/catapultstore.html

So you'd need a high lever, with a weight at one end, and a catch at the other to hold the lighter, thing-to-be-flinged, down on the ground until you're ready.  I'm thinking popsicle sticks, dowel rods, and maybe a twine-wrapped rock for the weight?  It doesn't need to be too heavy, just heavy enough to overbalance your shooters.  But maybe I'm overthinking?

And for the kitchen, there'd probably be counters with storage, a big table, probably also with storage (think: medieval island), and a big fireplace with a spit. 

Wish her luck, it really sounds amazing!

[sweets4ever]

Wow, I love this thread!!  My brothers and I all had to build these castles in 6th grade.  I loved it!

Mine was built all from soda cans and one of my brother's was build from wood with painted clay ball "stone walls."  I'm thinking you could use the clay balls for her rock wall as well.

[summerluvin_ca]

Thanks Aislyn for the link and the advice.

It is a very enterprising project. Especially considering that it is her first year in an LD class and Social Studies is one of a couple of mainstream classes that she has with a regular grade 5 classroom.

I didn't want her to be all stressed out over the project and that is of course why we had her start it as early as she did. She gets very frustrated with herself when things don't work out how she wants them. I've been very impressed with her attempts at it (i did have to do the mac tak on the outside of the castle because the pop bottles kept slipping) but she was intent to make the spiral stairs because the teacher made a side comment to the class that she would love to see one done but doesn't expect them to do it. (Bonus marks there...just for paying attention)

I thought of a fireplace of sorts and she had found a fimo turkey that I had made for my barbies as a kid and made a long dining table to set it up on. I love the idea of the spit.

I'm going to hand her the glue gun and let her go to town and see how this wall turns out. I think maybe a couple of rocks as a base to hold it up.

She said last night that she wants one of the turrets set up like a dungeon on the inside. (Future Craftster I think?!)

I'm going to have to find a place for it because of all the work and details that she wants to add to it....I'd hate to just throw it away.

tc

Mandy

[brookem]

sand paper can be cut into shapes and painted to add texture to walls and such like