My son has been pretending he is knight for a few weeks. In all that time he’s been using a cutting board as his shield, it was high time we made him one! When we had a playdate scheduled with a friend who loves art and knights it was a done deal. Now you will notice that my directions and pictures don’t match perfectly, follow the directions because if I did this craft again I’d do a few things differently to make it easier . Oh and crafts while chatting to a girlfriend and holding a baby… just have extra things on hand in case you miss a step or 3.

1. Gather your materials. You will need some cardboard, foil, colored and scotch tape, paint/crayons/markers, scissors, paper and a toilet paper roll.
2. Start by cutting out your shield from the cardboard.
3. Next cut the white paper so it fits into the middle of the cardboard. This is where your child will draw their coat of arms!
4. Time to paint and color your shield. We started with colored pencils
5. Then added paint.
6. Next we taped them on the cardboard. DON”T  Instead cover the whole shield with foil. Tape it on the back.
7. Then add your white paper when it’s dry . Tape it on with colored tape ( painters tape works great).
8. Cut a toilet paper roll in two and secure it with tape. This picture was taken 4 days after the craft was made . What was it I said about skipping steps while chatting, holding a baby and making crafts?
9. Time to play – our boys played for 1.5 hours and amazingly no foil came off, ripped or otherwise needed repair.

Book

Imagine You’re a Knight! (Imagine This!) by Meg Clibbon is a fantastic book for children interested in what being a knight is all about. There are so many great details and answers given that I am eager to read more in tis series. My son loves this book and not just because it answers his many questions about knights but also because it’s the type of book that you can open and close as time permits , reading a little or a lot and still enjoying it. I like the humor and illustrations by Lucy Clibbon. It’s a great choice for 4 and older. 3 year olds might find it to be too much.