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For the Children[Page School] [My Good Page] [Heraldic Twister] [Boffer Fighting] [ABCDeary] [Incey Wincey Fighter] [Baby Sling]A lot of the things I have done over the years have been to keep my own children amused or educated, and to help amuse or educate others. Here is a selection of what we've done together, ranging from rhymes for the very young to the more organised activities such as page school, reflecting the changing ages of my children.
Page School itself has a separate section, as it's grown to be something reasonably significant in our lives. So if you want to see the sorts of things we've organised for Canterbury Faire and the youngsters who attend, take a look here. I've also included there Baron Callum MacLeod's delightful instructions on how to be a good page, along with Dickon's response. Heraldic Twister
Back in 1996 I mooted the idea of taking an old plain blanket and appliquing simple shields on it, with the idea of making up bean bags to toss onto it. I never got around to it until the children got large enough for it to be appropriate for them to know their heraldry. (A certain visiting Queen from Lochac sparked their interest by handing out sweetmeats to any child who could name heraldic colours.) And then I saw Dame Alys mercilessly drilling her Darton folk, using the shields from a Kingmaker set, so I figured there had to be a way to make this fun... The heraldic twister set was surprisingly tricky to construct, as I wanted the colours, charges, divisions et al reasonably well spread across the board. Having multiple combinations in a four by four matrix meant that it turned into something like the famous four-colour problem in mapping, but I muddled on through. It had its first outing at the AS38 Christmas Revel. There we learned it needed pegging on the corners, and that more shields were needed as it quickly became too intimate for adults to play (actually I think cloaks and voluminous garb got in the way more than body parts). So another row and column were added. We now play it by calling suitable combinations of manus/pedis and dexter/sinister, and then calling a colour (the metals aren't used), charges, divisions etc. It's usually played until someone falls over or can't figure out where they're supposed to go. Oddly enough, it's not the colours et al that seem to give the players the most problem, but identifying their left hand from their right! Boffer FightingNow that my children are older, they are keen to take up arms and whack anyone in sight, so we are developing our own style of boffer combat for them. I've been making boffer swords out of pool noodles (aka aqua-stix) and dowelling, and these seem to work reasonably well. Not as inclined to flick and wobble as basic foam, not heavy enough to hurt, reasonably rigid but difficult to actually get hurt by.
Boffer Sword/Dagger RecipeTake one pool noodle (aka aqua-stick). We did try at one stage to add a knuckle guard using a small, soft (ie non-brittle) plastic bowl or tub but found they were more hassle than they were worth. These swords can be used vigorously without any major problems, though you'd want them to avoid thrusting to the face. They are far less "whippy" than thin foam cutouts, and look a lot more like the adult swords, which appeals to small fry. Boffer Tourney RulesWe're still experimenting with the rules, most notably with whether to allow head blows with or without helmets or padded coifs. Here is what we're using at the moment: The Most Important Things to Remember:
Be ready to arm and take the field when you are called.
No hitting from behind, or when your noble opponent is not ready. No grappling or wrestling, tripping, pushing, or touching the opponent in any manner except with legal boffers in a legal blow. Stop when you hear HOLD called, and when you hear WARE EDGE. The marshal has the final say. They may issue a warning, particularly if you are hitting too hard. Three such warnings and you'll be sent from the field. Demonstrate behaviour that is both chivalrous and respectful towards your noble opponent, the marshals and anyone else participating, and you will be thought a winner regardless of how well you do in the bouts or melee. We found that although the children had been to umpteen tourneys, none of them were aware of what made a blow "good" or had the concept of calibration. So we've run some fighter's practice for them, specifically to talk about this and to get them used to blow combinations, instead of simply waving the boffer sword at each other from a distance of ten paces. Between that, and a talk on chivalry on the field and the concept of honour, courtesy of Sir Vitale and Sir Tycho, and we had a huge improvement in both fighting styles and general behaviour. AbcdearyI put together a laminated book for Dickon, my firstborn, using photos to illustrate various aspects of SCA life. Duncan Kerr and Lwelleyn sat down one day with it, and put the ABC terms into verse. So this is not my work but theirs (and they are immortalised in their youth as the Young Pup Underlings under the letter U).A is for Archer, with Arrows they fight
L is for lacing, so your pants don't fall down Incey Wincey FighterIncey wincey fighter climbs the castle wall Building a Baby SlingThis has nothing to do with missile combat so you can get that gleam out of your eye *right now*! This covers is how to produce a comfortable means of carrying your baby or toddler around events without having to resort to a modern backpack or stroller. Slings can be made out of any closely woven fabric. Cotton is fine; make sure to pick plain period colours. It needs to be something that's strong enough to bear weight without ripping, but soft enough to drape reasonably well. The slings are basically a rectangle: about one metre wide and two metres long. Cut two and sew together for extra strength, hem. One end is pleated and sewn flat (pleats about 5cm wide; sew it down in a square shape at the end so it's sturdy). The other end is looped through two rings (the ones I have are large wooden curtain rings, internal diameter 5cm) and pulled about 30 cm. It's then laid out flat on the main piece and sewn across. To make things more comfortable and to help keep the rings at the end, you can put a rectangle/ellipse of light foam inside the space between the two layers of fabric (the fabric will bunch up around the rings, but there's usually room to manoeuvre). To use the sling, the pleated end is passed through, under and over the rings. That should be enough to hold it. You then sling it across your shoulder. Adjusting the tightness affects how much cavity you have in front of you to fit your baby in. I've found that it's most comfortable when you fan the material across your back so that your whole back and shoulder are sharing the load -- letting the material bunch up into a tight grouping is a bit hard on the collarbone after a while. Experiment. You can carry a newborn or even a three-year-old in this. The newborn will lie tucked right up inside, keeps them warm and makes it easy to breastfeed with no-one the wiser; a 12-month-old will enjoy sitting up facing away from you with their feet tucked in; a 3-year-old can have his/her bottom supported by the sling with their legs outside it. People really do a double-take when they see a sling, but they can see how comfy the baby is and how convenient it is to have both hands free.
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