Medieval Times for Kids – Middle Ages Church Lesson

Learn about middle ages history for kids  with this fun, hands-on lesson on medieval times for kids.  This is week 3 of our history lessons for kids and today we are looking at how the church shaped the middle ages. We read some great books, made statues, created illuminated manuscripts, feasted on homemade pretzels, and continued our medieval literature study guide. This lesson is perfect for kindergarten, first grade, 2nd grade, 3rd grade, 4th grade, 5th grade, and 6th graders too.

Medieval Times for Kids

Help kids explore the time period after the Roman empire and before the Renissaince with this middle ages for kids lesson. The period of European history extending from about 500 to 1400. During medieval times for kids, Europe was split up among different kings and queens who lived in castles surrounded by noble men and peasants at the outskirt. This is a time of valiant knights, poor education, lots of fighting between kingdoms, and rampant diseases. The medieval church played a BIG role in the community as priests were some of the only people who could read and write. Join us in this history for kids and find out the origins of the pretzel, what illuminated manuscrips are, and more! This medieval church lesson is fun for kindergartners, grade 1, grade 2, grade 3, grade 4, grade 5, grade 6, and more.

Medieval Church for Kids

The Importance of the Middle Ages Church. During the beginning of the  Middle Ages much of Europe was ruled by tribes of barbarians. As missionaries converted many barbarians the raids slowly ended. Churches were built and communities were established . Churches were important as monks were one of the few people during Medieval times that could read and write. They not only preserved and recorded history, but they taught others to read and write too. Churches also served to temporarily house travelers as there were no inns, feed the poor, take care of the sick, and provided education to boys in the local community.

Some of the most magnificent churches in Europe were build during the middle ages.

Middle ages history for kids

Above is the beautiful St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City (Rome, Italy) whose construction began towards the end of the Middle Ages – April 18, 1506.

The iconic Notre Dame in Paris, France with its flying butrices and ornate carvings was completed during the middle of the medieval times – 1163.

Illuminated Manuscripts for Kids

Illuminated Manuscripts is a manuscript where text was decorated by initials, borders, and illustrations. They included gold and silver paint that shimmered or ‘illuminated’. We made our own illuminated writing.  I created various templates to help my children practice handwriting while at the same time make an illuminated manuscript of their own using scripture, like must of the medieval illuminated manuscripts would have. There are pages for preschool, kindergarten, and elementary age.

>> Print Illuminated Manuscript Templates <<

Another great hands on way to explore Illuminated Initials is with this fun project by Angelicscalliwags.

The Origin of the Pretzel

Did you know the origin of the pretzel? Pretzels were first given to children by monks in Medieval Times as rewards for learning to say their prayers correctly. Their shape is suppose to be a child’s hands while praying –  who knew, right?!  Here is our favorite Homemade Pretzel Recipe

Scrolls

Monks worked as scribes and spent all day copying books to make new ones. They often times suffered poor eye sight as a result and were the first to wear eyeglasses. Scrolls were made from parchment paper (dried animal skin) but you can practice writing something on a rolled up piece of paper.

Sculpt a Statue

Artists created statues to decorate churches. They used wood, metal, ivory, or stone to make tiny figures. We decided to make our own statues by using plaster of paris and sculpting with a spoon and toothpick. This is a great go along for the movie suggestion below! 

Unfortunately, it didn’t really work out so well. Did you know not everything works out perfectly at our house either! It just wouldn’t chip away easy enough.

So we made statues out of our play dough recipe. They made some creations the way they were use to.

Then we used a toothpick to “chip” away the playdough the way they had to in the middle ages when decorating cathedrals. I think our statue and face came out pretty good.

Middle Ages Books for Kids

Books are a HUGE part of our learning. These are books that we own and LOVE! (click on the book to see more)  My absolute favorite book was Marguerite Makes a Book. This beautifully illustrated book tells the story of a girl who helps her grandpa illuminate a book – a technique used in the Middle Ages.

This week we read this continued to read The Door in the Wall and complete the Door in the Wall Study Guide & Lapbook .  The Door in the Wall is a Newberry Award Winning book recommended for grades 4-8. My 1st grader really enjoyed it. It will help though if children have an understanding of the time period. This book has rich vocabulary and is a great story, it is just a little slow to start.

 Medieval Unit Movie Night Pick

If you are looking for a movie to go along with your study this week Disney’s The Hunchback of Notre Dame is from this time period and shares a lot of images of Notre Dame, an incredible monastery built during the Middle Ages.

As with all movie & book recommendations, you know your children and what is appropriate for each of them. Please be consider your child’s individual needs.