medieval homeschool history

If you’re looking for fun medieval times crafts, you’ll love this knight Templar helmet. Also, look at my page 4 Week Free Middle Ages Unit Study & Best Hands-on Ideas and How To Upcycle A Monopoly Game History to A Medieval Theme & Free Printables.

Do you have a kid that loves the Middle Ages and medieval times crafts? They are going to absolutely love this one.

We are building a medieval knight helmet.

This style is a crusader helmet/bucket helmet but can be adjusted and you can add more detail as you become comfortable with using cardboard for costumes.

This activity takes any Middle Ages lesson to the next level through research, building creativity, and problem-solving, then ends with a fantastic craft project.

Before you enter into battle with your knight Templar helmet here are 5 mind-blowing facts about knights and their armor to share.

5 Facts about Knights and their Armor

1. There were two main kinds of armor: chain mail, made up of thousands of little metal rings, and plate armor which was sheets of metal worked together.
2. The Knights Templar was an order of military monks that provided protection for pilgrims traveling in the Holy Land during the Crusades.
3. Chivalry was a code of conduct that all knights swore and adhered to.
4. The boys who trained to be knights were generally the sons of knights or lords.
5. Some two-handed swords that knights carried were over 5 feet long.

Also, look at some of these resources.

The Middle Ages were dark and often violent but there were many amazing inventions that came out of them, gallant knights, and beautiful architecture.

It is a beautiful and fascinating time to study deeper.

More Medieval Times Crafts

Next, look at more Medieval times crafts.

• Try this Stick Weaving Tutorial to make a cute and useful medieval bag.
• For sweet girly royalty you can follow this Medieval Princess Hat tutorial.
• Medieval History for Homeschool Middle School
• Free Glass Blowing Lapbook on The History Of Glass Blowing
• Make an Easy Shield Craft before you send them into battle.
• Build a Cardboard Medieval Castle for epic adventures.
• Make a Coat of Arms Activity (Middle Ages History)
• How To Upcycle A Monopoly Game History to A Medieval Theme & Free Printables
• How to Make a Medieval Stained Glass Craft
• Medieval Chemistry and Homeschool History – Fun Hands-On Activity
• Knights Armor Engraving Fun Kids Craft
• Middle Ages Hands-on History: Make a Codex Activity

Finally, look at this fun knight Templar helmet.

How to Make a Knight Templar Helmet Craft for Kids

If you are anything like me, you have boxes coming to your house filled with goodies on a regular basis.  So, grab the next large one you get for this really fun project.

You will need:

• Large cardboard box
• Silver spray paint
• Scissors or box cutter blade
• Hot glue gun/ glue sticks
• Marker

First, cut your box so that it is one long straight rectangle.

Trim it down to about 8”-10” tall and around 32” long.

Turn the better side of the cardboard down. This is going to be the inside of the helmet; you want the cleaner side to be outside.

Take a straight edge or an open scissor blade and score through the top layer of cardboard only, not all the way through.

Do this from the top to the bottom about ½” apart all the way across.

The purpose of this is to allow your cardboard to bend wonderfully into any shape without creasing it.

The next thing you want to do is decide where the eyeholes should be.

To do that I just rolled the cardboard around the head and made a mark on the inside where the eyes were. Shape and color in your eyes so you know where to cut.

Cut out each eye hole and make adjustments as needed. You could also cut a slit all the way across if you prefer.

Here is where I am going to tell you to learn from my mistake.

We did not cut our mouth area out until after it was all glued together.

 It would have been much easier and much cleaner to cut it out at this point while it is flat.

 So, we are just going to pretend that is what I did okay? Depending on the style you have chosen to make there are different shapes and directions for them.

Now to create the top of the helmet you are going to try the helmet on the noble knight by rolling it into a cylinder, cutting off anything more than 1” excess and tape it to the size you want.

Then trace a second piece of cardboard around your circle.

Start in the center and run a bead of hot glue right at the edge of your helmet several inches long, put the round in place on the hot glue and hold for a minute or two until the hot glue sets.

You can then continue around adding hot glue and rolling it around the circle you cut out until it is done. At the very end overlap your pieces slightly and secure with hot glue from top to bottom.

If you want to be sure it is secure add another bead of hot glue all the way around the top.

Make what looks like welding dots along the edges of your helmet wherever you would like by making little puddles of hot glue, allowing it to harden before you turn it to work on the next section.

These are little rivets that were used to join pieces of metal together.

Trim any rough edges and put on any other design you like with hot glue before the next step.

Finally, take your helmet outside with lots of ventilation and give it a light coat of silver spray paint.

Allow it to dry for 15 minutes and give it another coat.

Let the paint dry completely before using it, here is what we used, it’s hammered silver and we loved the final look.