- A 16th century Venetian courtesan -
Youth
updated September 22, 2022
As my barony's Chancellor of Youth, I am passionate about being inclusive of kids and teens in our activities. I became a youth officer after bringing my sister and her friend to a baronial event, and noticing there wasn’t much for them to do. In early 2016, I became CoY, and provided youth activities for Ruby Joust V. Since then, I have provided youth activities at all baronial events where it was within my power to do so.
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As a homeschooler from K-12, the mixing of learning and play has always been central to my perspective on how to approach activities for kids, especially within an educational organization like the SCA. I
spend a lot of time researching and brainstorming ideas for activities
that kids will enjoy and be interested in, but that are also educational in some way. I consider this approach to be similar to that which we use for the activities for adults and families in the SCA. I have shared some of the activities I've provided below.
Documents:
Youth activity essentials (things I bring to every event at which I provide youth activities)
Youth activity supplies you can get at the dollar store (in progress)
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Handouts:
How to Run Youth Activities at Events (working title)
This is a class was requested by a member of my barony. It is currently in the process of being developed.
"What Can I Do at Events?" A Guide for Kids
An in-progress handout for a class for kids and parents on what options kids have for participation at events.
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Pinterest boards:
You might notice on this page I often mention finding inspiration on Pinterest. I've found it to be a fabulous research and planning tool for many aspects of my life. Here are some boards of pins I've collected with ideas for youth activities:
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SCA: Chancellor of Youth:
(sections: Active games, Art, Card and board games, Fiber arts, Food, Garb, Models, Music, Topics, Toys)
My main planning board for activities, where I stick all the ideas I come across for future reference.
SCA Youth - Event Activities:
(sections: Bycockets, Cup and streamer dragons, Jester baubles, Jeweled goblets, Kubb, Medallions, Rip Rap War, Round Folding Fans, Sleipnir bells, Paper Plate Spikes, Stained Glass, Tudor Rose ornaments)
This board contains the planning I've done for youth activities at events that I've done or will do in the near future.
SCA Youth - Quiet Box:
(sections: Celtic, Egyptian, Fantasy, Knights, Medieval Legends, Middle Ages, Non-Western, Renaissance - English/French/ Flemish, Renaissance - Italian/Iberian, Renaissance - German/Scandinavian, Roman/Greek, Scribal)
A concept I'm working on to have a tub full of paper-based activities for kids to work on if they need some quiet time. Pins tagged "oktouse" appear to be usable for SCA purposes (educational, non-commercial). Please verify for yourself, however!
SCA Youth - Scavenger Hunts:
(sections: Atlantian Awards, Disciplines, Fairy tales, Heraldic beasts, Office badges)
Images I've collected for scavenger hunts I've put together for various SCA events.
SCA Youth - Yule:
(sections: Angel dolls, Diwali, Garlands, Hanukkah, Julbock, Kissing balls, Lanterns, Music, Origami, Pop-up cards,
Research, Snow globes, Star tiles, Winter scenes)
My board is for planning youth activities for our annual baronial Yule gathering.
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Paper plate Spikes
Gem Joust 2016: The populace badge of Atlantia is Spike, a unicornate natural seahorse erect azure, finned argent (in other words, a blue seahorse with a unicorn horn and a white fin). I found this cute idea on Pinterest and adapted it to be Spike!
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Sadly it doesn't appear that I got any photos of any of the completed ones - but I let the kids trace the patterns, cut them out, and color them however they wanted using crayons and/or markers. They used a hole punch and a piece of yarn to make it into an ornament.
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Stained glass windows
Gem Joust 2016: while researching craft ideas I found this neat concept on Pinterest. I did some research to try and find stained glass windows that might be medieval (or close enough) and decided on these: the stained glass face of Christ, Saint Martin Church, Colmar; a leaded glass window in the Église Saint-Georges in Villeneuve-Saint-Georges (altered); __; and ___
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I messed with the photos in the Pixlr editor until I essentially had outlines of the shapes (some I made larger and simpler to make it easier to cut them out). Then I printed those out, cut out the centers, and traced the results onto file folders (chosen for the sturdier material). I cut out the centers of those as well, leaving templates for the kids to trace onto black cardstock with white crayons.
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I provided some transparency sheets and some permanent markers and let the kids do their thing. You can see the example I made for them on the far right below.
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Fire breathing dragons
Gem Joust 2016: Another concept from Pinterest - "fire breathing dragons" made from paper cups and streamers! Unfortunately I didn't get any photos of one that was finished. I prepared paper cups of various colors with small holes punched through the bottom. They glued on googly eyes and I made a pattern for them to trace and cut out to make the spiked ridges along the top. Then they cut or tore strips from red, orange, and yellow streamers and glued them to the inside of the rim. Blow through the hole and the streamers move!
Pool noodle hobby horses
Gem Joust 2016: I found this concept on Pinterest - making hobby horses out of pool noodles! I thought, with the Joust theme and being outdoors, this would be an easy, cheap, and fun thing to put together for the kids. They have googly eyes, craft felt manes, and reins made from cheap cord. I made six - two blue, two green, and two orange. The noodles I got from the Dollar Tree, I don't remember where the rest of the materials came from but it was either the Dollar Tree or a craft store.
Below on the left you can see one of the kids from the barony atop her noble steed, with one of the foam swords I got from the Dollar Tree and a foam shield. On the right you can see two being ridden at Ruby Joust 2018.
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Scavenger hunts
Scavenger hunts are one of my most popular activities. Every year at Gem Joust I put together a scavenger hunt. I ordered these little drawstring bags from Amazon, and I found a bunch of bags little red gem-shaped vase fillers on clearance at Michael's. I put some in several bowls and put the bowls under the signs I put up all over the site.
Gem Joust 2016: I used the different activity stations (armored fighting, rapier fighting, A&S, etc) and wrote the clues in the form of riddles.
Gem Joust 2017: I put heraldic beasts on the signs in different colors and wrote the tincture words on the handouts, with blanks for the modern words for the colors.
Gem Joust 2018: I put officer badges on the signs and the blanks on the handouts were the names of the offices with the description of each one after the blanks (text for handouts here).
Gem Joust 2019: I put Atlantian youth award badges on the signs and the blanks on the handouts were the names of the awards with the description of each one after the blanks (text for handouts here).
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Pennsic children's characters - Belle
Pennsic, from 2016 on: Through my friend Lady Esa inghean Donnchaidh, I learned of the Pennsic Known World Children's Fete, an annual event at which she and others dressed up as Disney characters. I had the yellow ballgown Belle wears in Beauty in the Beast, which my mother made for my sister's high school production of the musical. I'd only gotten to wear it once before, at Dragoncon 2014, and I was excited to have another opportunity to wear it. We were provided with stickers and temporary tattoos to hand out, and it was so much fun (Bonus: very little fabric is actually touching my skin, that costume is one of the coolest garments I own!).
The following year I brought little bottles of bubbles from the Dollar Tree, leftovers from the site tokens for Midsummer Faire, which were quite popular. In 2018, I couldn't find those bubbles at any of the local Dollar Trees, but I did find these with butterfly caps from Efavormart. With a discount and including shipping, the total was $27.29 (compared to the ~$33 for the Dollar Tree ones).
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Pie tin medallions
Fiber and Foliage 2016: I provided medallion/pendant blanks cut from pie tins, with the edges folded over to eliminate sharp edges. Kids drew designs on the backs with ballpoint pens, so that when they were flipped over they looked embossed. They then applied a thin layer of shoe polish I got from the Dollar Tree to the front to make the design show up better. After it dried I put pieces of duct tape on the backs to cover the folded edges.
This particular activity didn't turn out as well as I'd hoped. The idea wasn't bad but I don't think the materials were well suited.
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Tapestry table
Fiber and Foliage 2016: Yet another Pinterest-inspired activity based on this blog post. I used an embroidery frame to start with, and my father cut some legs for it, which are held in place with screws and wingnuts so they can be folded flat or removed. I got a jute table runner from a craft store. You can see where we rolled the end around a length of wire, which we rubber banded to the legs. I included tapestry and plastic needles, and embroidery floss. The idea is that over time, when one part fills up, we can unroll a blank section and roll up the embroidered part.
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Jester baubles
Yule 2016: I created this jester baubles craft for the kids. I got wooden dowels, round dowel caps, ribbons, bells, and rubber bands (the kind used to make loom band bracelets), and I cut circles out of disposable plastic tablecloths. I cut the ribbons at angles in pieces ~__ inches long. You can see the instructions standup here.
These ended up being fairly popular which I suspect has to do with the noise-making quality of the results!
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Tudor Rose ornaments
Yule 2016: I put together this craft based on the Tudor Rose. I got small paper plates, red and white fake rose petals from Dollar Tree, and yellow pom-poms. I had yarn and hole punches already. You can see the instructions standup here.
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Youth activity nights
March 2017: I tried for a time to coordinate a monthly youth activities gathering. Unfortunately due to conflicts with scheduling and difficulty in finding a site, it just didn't work out. I was able to coordinate a couple of meetings. For the first, the venue I reserved was a library with walls made of windows, which proved to be highly distracting for the kids. I was able to get feedback from parents and kids as to what sorts of activities they were interested in. We used air-dry clay to make small Thor's Hammer pendants (inspired by this image on Pinterest), and I gave them some worksheets about Viking myths. The second gathering was a meeting taught by Lady Damiana Morena, my youth officer-at-large, about a couple of period games.
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Sleipnir bells
Gem Joust 2017: I found this image of a wooden bell in the shape of the Norse god Odin's horse Sleipnir on Pinterest. I experimented with different ideas before creating a wire jig they could use to create the shape. They could then tie jewelry endcaps to each leg loop with embroidery floss to make the chimes. It was mostly the parents who did this one for their kids - I think the size was simply too small for their fine motor skills.
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Edible Viking treasure necklaces
Gem Joust 2017: At Pennsic 2016 I got to take the class "Burn the Coloring Pages, Toss Out the Foam Crowns!" taught by The Honourable Lady SæhildR barngóðR, the lady who runs It Takes My Child to Raze a Village in Midrealm. During the class she demonstrated one of her fabulous activities: edible Viking treasure necklaces.
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For Gem Joust 2017 I decided to try offering this activity, and it was by far the most popular. I had string, Ziploc baggies, and snack foods with holes in them (pretzels, cookies, Life Savers, Cheerios, etc). The kids could make their own necklaces, and I also had each child pick one item to put on a necklace for the Baroness and one for the Queen.
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Despite its popularity, this activity was ultimately very messy, with crumbs everywhere and candy melting in the heat. It was also difficult to keep away the insects that were attracted. Furthermore, the children were so distracted by the food that most came up to the station, made their necklaces, and left immediately, without looking at the other activities. For these reasons, in addition to concerns regarding allergens, I have decided to avoid offering food-based activities at events again, unless the event is small, indoors, and I can try to find out about and accommodate dietary concerns.
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Spike thank you cards
Gem Joust 2018: Another fantastic idea from The Honourable Lady SæhildR barngóðR, the lady who runs It Takes My Child to Raze a Village in Midrealm. I had prepared this activity for Ruby Joust 2017, but didn't end up bringing it out.
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I got a set of blank notecards. I found an outline of a seahorse online and added a horn to it to make Spike, Atlantia's populace badge. I adjusted the size to fit the cards and printed it out. I cut out the shape and traced it on each of the notecards. The kids decorate front of the cards and then our Baronage gives them to The Crown as largesse at Coronation.
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Round folding fans
Gem Joust 2018: Another Pinterest inspiration - this Chinese fan craft at Activity Village. Gem Joust is the last weekend in May, and it's always really hot. I had the kids choose paper (white or construction) and cut them in half lengthwise. Then they decorated both halves however they wanted. They taped them together along the short side, accordion pleated them, then wrapped a piece of tape around the bottom half inch or so.
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When I stepped up to be Chancellor of Youth there were tubs of supplies in the barony's storage unit. Among them were popicle sticks with holes drilled through one end. I had them tape the popsicle sticks to each side above where the tape was wrapped with the end with the hole hanging off. Then they chose yarn or ribbon to thread through the hole of one of the popsicle sticks. They could tie the sticks together either with the fan open or closed. Unfortunately I didn't get any photos.
Salt dough star ornaments
Yule 2018: After hours of research for inspiration, I decided to make salt dough ornaments in the shape of 8 pointed stars, which were used in period as decorative tiles. The kids decorated their ornaments using permanent markers, which I think worked fairly well. I only had a couple of kids make some, partly because only a few kids were able to come to the event.
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Girdle books
Ruby Joust 2019: I was super excited to have come up with a way to make this project work at a big event. We had leftover felt from costuming a high school production of Grease (many poodle skirts!) so the kids had several colors to choose from. The supplies were felt, Elmer's Carpenter's Glue (x2), Offray ribbon (3 for $1 x3), 12pk of 4.5" x 3.25" mini notebooks (x2), Aleene's Quick Dry tacky glue (x2), plastic gems, puffy paint, and sequins.
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Here are the steps:
1. I cut the felt in the color they chose out for them using the pattern
2. I had them pick a ribbon color, then I cut the ribbon the right length
3. I had them place their mini notebook on the right bottom side of the felt piece and cover the front cover with Elmer's Carpenter's Glue
4. I I folded the ribbon piece in half and held the halfway point with my finger at around halfway down the spine of the notebook
5. I had them take one of the ends of the ribbon and place it across the glued notebook cover widthwise
6. They folded over the felt on top of the glue and ribbon and pressed it down thoroughly
7. I flipped the whole thing over and had them repeat steps 3, 5, and 6 for the back cover
8. Depending on skill level, either I or they tied a knot in the top of the top end of the felt and pulled it tight
9. Decorating time! They used Aleene's Quick Dry tacky glue to add plastic gems and sequins, and puffy paint to make designs.
The glues actually dry pretty quickly, but the puffy paint takes about 4 hours to dry enough to make them safe to handle, so I set up a separate table for the projects to sit and dry.
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Goblets
Rip Rap War 2019 (pirate themed): The kids decorated plastic goblets from Dollar Tree with plastic gems (attached with glue dots) and metallic paint Sharpies. Inspired by this source I found on Pinterest!
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Wanted poster photo booth
Rip Rap War 2019 (pirate themed): I made the photo frame out of postal wrapping paper, Sharpies, white glue, and a display board. I duct taped it to the mini card table. The laundry basket contains pirate hats, moustaches, hooks, and eyepatches. Inspired by this source I found on Pinterest!
Parrots
Rip Rap War 2019 (pirate themed): Made with paper cups, googly eyes attached with glue dots, feathers taped on as wings and tails, pipe cleaner feet, beaks of construction paper taped on, a hole poked in the top with the dental hook to hold the feather on top, and yarn that ties under the opposite arm to hold it on the shoulder. (Yes, those are the leftover cups from the fire breathing dragons!) Inspired by these two sources I found on Pinterest!
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Pom-pom cannons
Rip Rap War 2019 (pirate themed): Made from balloons and plastic cups with the bottom cut off. Inspired by this source I found on Pinterest!
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Spyglasses
Rip Rap War 2019 (pirate themed): Made from transparencies, toilet paper tubes, paper cups, and paint pens. The kids drew scenes on the transparencies and taped them to the open ends of the cups. (Yes, those are the leftover cups from the fire breathing dragons!) Inspired by these two sources I found on Pinterest!
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Foam swords
Rip Rap War 2019 (pirate themed): Made from foam sticks, craft foam sheets, and duct tape (gold or silver). I created a pattern for them to use to cut out the foam for the guards, and to cut out the holes so they could slide the guards on. Duct tape was attached around the points to hold the guards in place. Inspired by this source I found on Pinterest!
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Scavenger hunt at Rip Rap War
Rip Rap War 2019 (pirate themed): I created a special scavenger (or "treasure") hunt for RRW. I traced the site map, then added a few elements to make it more piratey. My partner Lord Vytautas Vilkas graciously printed them for me on fake parchment paper. I got six mini wooden chests from a craft store. Each chest held a different item: a skull bead, a gold lump, a piece of sea glass, a ring, a shell, or a gold coin. I put a chest in each location marked with a red "X" on the map, along with one of the signs. After they finished the treasure hunt, the kids put their treasures in a plastic bead canister, added 1/2 a teaspoon of sand, tied a bit of ribbon around the lip, and screwed the lid back on to hold the ribbon in place. (I had originally had the idea to do bottles with corks, but I was worried about glass breaking and I couldn't find any good ones made of plastic) Inspired by this source I found on Pinterest!
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