Adventures of a Knight Museum Camp

The week of the Fourth the kids went to a museum camp titled, "Adventures of a Knight".   Back when they were picking camps for the summer, they decided to do this museum camp together because they had never done a museum camp before and were a little nervous about it; they figured they would be less nervous about it if they were together.  They were right.

On the first day, upon arriving at the museum, we were greeted by a knight and a queen in full costume.  Ordinarily this would be a huge problem; Baylor does not like it when people are wearing costumes and often resists interacting when he encounters this.  After a little reassuring, though, he was okay enough to go off with the knight and queen ... and his sister, of course.

The first day they made shields with their own crests and learned about life during medieval times.  The second day they made castles out of tissue boxes, tried out a trebuchet, and watched the knights use real medieval weapons to bash and slash some melons.  The third day - the last day - was special. First, they made helmets.

(That's the queen; she did a ton of arts and crafts in that huge dress, complete with a hoop skirt and corset.  Amazing, if you ask me.  Plus, she was incredibly kind to the kids.)

The main knight was also very kind and patient with the kids.

They then had a little tournament, complete with a ring toss, Nerf bow and arrow shooting, and a pool noodle sword fight with a real knight in armor.  Amalia was the only girl in the class, but she held her own.

I was so proud of Baylor for actually participating in the events!

He and Mollie both tried out each event, even the pool noodle sword fight.

After the tournament, they helped the two knights who hadn't done the sword fight get back into their armor.

After Baylor's knight was redressed, Baylor headed over to the book area to read a bit.

Then the kids got their helmets (except for Baylor who informed us that he made his helmet for decorative purposes) and their shields and practiced their defensive maneuvers.

Mollie put on her game face for the jousting.

That's right, the jousting.  The kids all got on the carousel and prepared for a joust with the knights.  Baylor preferred to sit in one of the stationary seats, but he rode the carousel, something he hasn't done in years.

Mollie, on the other hand, chose a bejeweled galloping horse.

And then they jousted!

They got to joust with two knights, the one you could see on the video and one at the back of the carousel.

After the joust, the kids came out into the vestibule under the giant whale skeleton, demonstrated their skills with their shields, and then sat down and prepared for the fight.

That's right!  The three knights took turns fighting each other, full-clad in armor, with real medieval weapons.  They started with swords, then moved on to a mace, a war hammer, and a flail.  It was, to say the least, intense.

After the fighting, each child was made a knight, dubbed so with a real (though rather dull) sword.  As the only girl, Amalia was dubbed, "Dame Amalia the Fierce"; she later informed me that she didn't like the "dame" part and would prefer to be called a "lady".  Baylor did not want to have anything added to his name, nor did he want the sword anywhere near him, so they accommodated him and simply called him "Sir Baylor".  I tell you, these people were amazing, so kind and compassionate.

All in all, the kids had a fantastic time and had a bunch of wonderful new experiences.  Two very enthusiastic thumbs up for the Adventures of a Knight museum camp!