We have learned lots of things about castles and were given the challenge to turn an empty shoe box into a labelled model of a castle! P2B had to decide which parts of a castle that we had learned about would be part of their own castles. They added many things, including a moat, portcullis, drawbridge, arrow slit windows, towers and bailey. We had to use lots of different skills to complete this task – we had to design, plan, cut, draw, build, colour, make, glue and label our castles.
What a brilliant job we did! Click through the slide show below the class photo to see all of our final models. If you look closely, you can see that some people added fireplaces, tables, people and clan crests inside!
We finished off our learning about castles by visiting Craigmillar Castle. We were given a tour of the castle where the tour guide was very impressed by our knowledge! We looked around the castle walls and the bailey, saw clan crests and HUGE gates! We went inside and climbed lots and lots up a spiral staircase. We even went onto the roof where we got a good view but it was a bit windy! On the way back down we went into the dungeon and saw the toilet (a hole in the wall!) and went into the Great Hall where the fireplace was so big that we could all get inside!
After getting back down all the stairs, we went inside to get a closer look at some artefacts. Our favourites were the helmet, the shackles and the pee pot! Yes, it is what you think it is!!
We would definitely recommend you visit Craigmillar Castle, as you will learn lots and have a fantastic time, we certainly did! Whatever next?