Portcullis Construction

I have fond memories of studying the middle ages when I was a girl.  We visited that era multiple times.  Being in a household of all girls, I'm sure you can imagine our rapt attention as we learned about courtly behavior, medieval dress and the day of good ol' chivalry!  It was all quite 'romantic' and the brocades and silks... :sigh:  I still swoon, even now, when I watch Errol Flynn's The Adventures of Robin Hood. (Makes me wish I had the time and skill to sew up a bunch of cool costumes.) What was supposed to be a 4 week study turned into three months of eating, breathing and living the middle ages.

Although they love it for different reasons (there is zero appreciation for silk gowns over here), my boys are equally enthralled with the middle ages.  Last week we focused on castle construction and warfare.  Yes, that is what they are into!  Xander's favorite book was Siege!: Can You Capture a Castle?  It is amazing how even a detailed and somewhat complex book can capture their attention when curiosity is piqued.

After I soothed my parched throat from all that reading, we proceeded to make portcullis' for our castle!  I'm all about using what we have around the house, so we used a mix of bamboo skewers (to get enough height) and popsicle sticks (a crafting essential if you have kids). 

We began by surveying our castle drawbridge and entry gate.  With their trusty measuring tapes, we noted the height and width we would need our portcullis to be and then set to work.  (We're nipping that 'who needs math in real life?' myth in the bud!)

Glue and sticks made for 3 happy boys.

There are few things cuter than seeing your two year old running around shouting 'portcullis' at the top of his lungs, although I have to admit that watching him state, "I the king" and ordering his older brothers around the week before was pretty cool too!

And of course they loved playing with the finished product later that afternoon.  Since there were three of them, we ended up having an outer and inner portcullis at the gate and the other one stood in for a siege ladder.

A glorious battle ensued afterwards full of many brave deeds and resulting in a demolished castle.  Somehow all three portcullis' survived to see another day.