Castles

Introduction Short Film

Pause and stop this film at 1m 04s because the rest isn’t useful.

This short film is a great way to introduce your new topic on castles. I love the creativity in this short film, and it is a great way to introduce a ‘little world’ linked to sand castles.

Main Focus: Introduction to Castles (with questions)

This is a great resource to start your topic on Castles for KS1 classes. It introduces Year 1 and Year 2 classes to why castles were build and materials they were made from.

We have also created a few questions to check the understanding of your class. We have differentiated this to cater for all Ks1 and included shorter text and multiple choice answers.

Main Focus: The Drawbridge

The first KS1 resource explains what a drawbridge is, what is is usually made from, its function and where it is located in the castle. Once your class have read the information, they will complete the sentences by circling the correct answers. This will show their understanding of what has been read.

The second activity involves your class making a castle and movable drawbridge. This is a great STEM resource and is a great opportunity to get in some designing and engineering using a simple pulley.

We have created written instructions as well as picture resources for your class to follow.

Main Focus: Stone Castles and Motte and Bailey Castles

In this resource your class will learn about stone castles and motte and bailey castles.

We have identified key features of each castle and the function it serves and importance within the castle.

We explore: the keep, portcullis, curtain wall, arrow slits (or loops), gatehouse, drawbridge, battlements, moat, motte, bailey, wooden bridge and palisade.

Once your class have read all the information about the parts of a castle, they will label them using their understanding.

The final part of the activity is your class making their own towers.

Main Focus: Catapult

This is another informative resource when learning about castles.

This activity introduces your Year 1 / Year 2 class to the function of a catapult within a castle. Catapults were mainly used to lay siege to a castle. This means catapults were used to attack castles from a distance.

In the STEM part of the activity, your Ks1 class will then create their own catapults using lollipop sticks, elastic bands and a spoon.

in addition to this we have included an instructions writing activity, which has been differentiated. Your class can either:

• independently write instructions.
• order the instructions from 1-5.

ATTACK!

As a fun game, you can ask your class to try to knock down light targets or try to catapult the small balls into plastic cups.

Main Focus: Knights

This is a resource that focuses on knights, their role within the castle, labelling a knight, exploring a coat of arms and your class at the end can design their own.

Your class will watch an interesting video clip from the BBC that gives a lot of background information and facts about knights. Once they have completed watching the video clip, they can find new vocabulary in the word wheel and tell you something they have learned.

This is a brilliant site to help with coat of arms ideas – Click here.

Main Focus: Water Well

Your KS1 class will learn the following information about wells and complete the simple sentences to show what they now know. Then you Year 1 / year 2 kids will create their own working water well as explained in the final page of the resource. Building the well will require the teacher to drill a hole in lollipop sticks (slightly wider than the stick or dial rod you choose) before starting, and will require assistance throughout. Also, to ensure the water lifts up water, put two small objects such as a pebble in one side of the bucket to tilt it.

Dial rods (£8 for 100) and Mini buckets (2 inch – £1 each) can be purchased from Amazon.

Water Well

A castle well was a deep hole that supplied water to the castle. They weren’t easy to build because they had to be dug out by hand with a hand shovel. If your castle was built beside water, the well didn’t have to be as deep.

Cistern

Another way to get water was to collect the rain in a cistern. This is a bit like gutters on your house. The pipes collected the rain as it fell and then it ran into a cistern for people to collect and use.

Little World Pack

This is a little world pack that includes: castles, knight, lance, catapult, towers, portcullis, sword, shield, drawbridge and flag for you to laminate and stick to lollipop sticks for creative play and little world stories in sand.