10 Medieval Activities Middle Schoolers Will Enjoy
Hands-on medieval activities like these will definitely bring the medieval period to life for your older kids.
Without a doubt, the best way to teach middle school history use as many interesting projects and activities as possible.
Tweens are very familiar with this part of European history thanks to its castles, battles, arts, and food. It’s full of some cool stuff.
So, it’s incredibly easy to get them excited about studying the Middle Ages.
If you’re worried that it will be hard to step away from the textbook, don’t stress.
These activities are simple to plan and implement. Just use them in place of a history lesson.
Medieval Activities
There are a lot of great activities you can add to your lesson plans to help your older kids really understand what it was like living in Europe during the Middle Ages.
Below you’ll find 10 of the best ones for tweens and teens.
When Did the Medieval Period Start and End?
The medieval era was the time in European history between the fall of Ancient Rome and the beginning of the Renaissance Era.
It was between the years 500-1500 A.D.
Teaching Medieval History
When tweens think of this part of history, the first things that come to mind are most likely kings and queens, knights, castles, and jousts. The glamourous and dramatic parts of this period of world history.
However, life wasn’t all that great for everyone in the Middle Ages. The social classes of the feudal system were drastically different from one another.
Wars were common, and diseases like the Black Death killed millions of people. Everyday life was often hard for peasants, who had to work very hard just to survive thanks to extreme poverty and oppression.
There’s a reason we know this period in Europe as the Dark Ages.
It’s important that when you teach middle schoolers about medieval history, you cover these differences.
Yet despite all these difficulties, this was also a time of great creativity and achievement.
What Can We Learn From the Middle Ages?
Why bother teaching this part of history in your homeschool?
There are so many things kids can learn by studying this period of European history.
One of the most important lessons is that even though life was often difficult and the people of the Middle Ages faced many challenges, they still found ways to enjoy themselves and create beautiful and extraordinary things.
For instance, during the Middle Ages, people built some of the most beautiful and impressive buildings in the world, like Notre Dame Cathedral and Westminster Abbey.
They also created works of art that are still admired today, such as the paintings of Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo.
In addition, brilliant thinkers like Thomas Aquinas developed new ideas that have shaped our world.
Great inventions like the printing press, mechanical clocks, and eyeglasses had an enormous impact on the world.
So, what can we learn from the Middle Ages? We can learn that even in tough times, people can accomplish great things.
To keep track of all the great inventions and important people, use a timeline in your homeschool.
Common Medieval Activities
Even though there was a huge divide between the social classes, there were actually a few activities that everyone took part in.
One was hunting. This was a popular pastime because it was a way to get food and also a way for people to show off their skills.
Another common activity was attending religious festivals. They held these to celebrate various religious holidays and usually included feasting and merriment.
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Medieval History Resources
Use these resources as part of your medieval studies.
- The European World is based on primary source materials and will give your tweens an excellent picture of the Middle Ages in Europe.
- Great Medieval Projects is a book filled with hands-on ideas tweens will love making.
- You Wouldn’t Want to Be in a Medieval Dungeon puts readers into the story as they ask – “It’s the end of the 15th century, and your local castle is looking for a jailer. Do you want the job?” It’s full of funny illustrations to help teach kids about medieval punishment.
- Build a medieval world with LEGOS.
The European WorldGreat Medieval ProjectsYou Wouldn’t Want to Be in a Medieval Dungeon!The LEGO Castle Book
Medieval Project Ideas
These hands-on activities will help tweens discover this time period in a whole new way. They center on feudalism, battles, food, armor, and more.
When you step outside the textbook and make history interactive, you bring it to life for kids.
Use these ideas to make the Middle Ages a fascinating period to study in your homeschool!
Tweens will have a blast creating their own medieval weapons (including swords, spears, axes, daggers, etc.) and armor (helmets, shields, leg armor, etc.) out of Duck tape.
They can use them during a study of the King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table.
Include a little science into your medieval history studies by experimenting with simple catapults.
Use blueprints to draw (with chalk) a scaled footprint of a medieval castle right in your driveway.
Engaging and fun medieval activities that you can easily add to your middle school lesson plans.
Tweens can step back into the Middle Ages as they build in the game of Minecraft.
Teach tweens the finer points of feudal society in medieval history with this fun activity.
Eating is always a fun activity. Get the entire family involved in preparing for a medieval feast.
The hands-on portion of this activity also includes how you eat!
The Black Plague had an enormous impact on communities during the medieval ages.
This activity will help you tween see how it spread and how it affected everyone.
If your tweens don't already know how, encourage them to learn how to play one of the most popular medieval games - chess.
Make your own coat of arms as part of your Medieval history homeschool studies.
As you can see, this time period is easy to make interesting for kids.
There are tons of awesome hands-on activities to choose from to immerse your middle schooler into medieval life.
Which one of these medieval history activities are you excited to add to your lesson plan?
We also enjoyed building a castle out of boxes and painting it. Our medievaluation feast was the favorite, however. We had each of the kids perform something, as well. One of them played greensleeves on the guitar, some told jokes, others told stories or recited something.