Homeschooling : How to make a Roman Soldier's Helmet

Noah has been fascinated by the Romans for quite some time now. As I posted recently we've been working on a Roman Fort model as well as and Ampitheatre. We've also watched lots of documentaries about the Roman Emprire and read lots of books. So it was no surprise when during are one on one time last week he asked to make a helmet to go with his Roman Centurion's costume. 
 

Noah trying on his Roman Centurion's Helmet

I did a quick five minutes of online research and then launched freewheeled it. Here's what we did...

Roman Centurion's Helmet Tutorial

• First I freehand drew the different parts we would need to make the helmet onto some cardboard (from a box). I got inspiration for the pieces here, you could print their templates and then trace them onto cardboard.

Cutting out the pieces

• Next we painted all the pieces with silver paint (metallic for kids from a supermarket). You could also use gold or grey. We used a roller to apply the paint and because our box was white we only needed one coat. We painted the crest section red and then cut into it like for a fringe to give a feathered effect.

Painting the helmet parts silver

The crest is painted red

• Once all the parts were painted and dried, we began to assemble the helmet. First we stuck the cheek guards to the semi-circular front piece. We then added the rectangular and pointed front piece. We also had to add on an extra rectangular piece to hide some annoying lettering on our box which the paint didn't cover even with two coats. We used staples to join the pieces together as they hold better than glue.

Sticking the pieces together

• Finally we attached the two long rectangular strips to the front piece and adjusted them to fit around Noah's head. Well perhaps one or two other people might have tried the helmet on first!

Avé César !

Five Little Things : Promenons nous dans le bois ...

Lotta was the only child at her pony class on Saturday and so we were treated to a wonderful walk in the woods with her teacher Jennifer. Lots of cross for Lotta, up and down over big bumps and a wonderful photography opportunity for me and Noah. 

Tree Bark

The bumps...

A beautiful friendship begins

Pine Cone Stars

The forest floor

Homeschooling History

Noah at Rockingham Castle

As you may remember from previous posts, Noah really likes building things. When I discussed what he'd like to learn about this year, most of his ideas began with the word 'make'. So when we are learning about history making stuff has become an important part of how we do things. Making swords, daggers, shields and jewellery, castles and scrolls have all been useful projects to bring history alive. The kids also like to dress the part, Noah has a Roman Centurian costume as well as a shield we made following instructions from this book. Of course I don't have a single photo!

Today I want to share with you a project we've been working on for quite some time with the help of a kit from Usborne Books (see here). They have a series of wonderful cut-out model making books which all begin with the words Make This. We have several of these, Make this Roman Ampitheatre, Make this Medieval Castle but today I'm going to talk a bit about Make this Roman Fort.

Book Cover

We have been working on this one for quite a few weeks. These kits contain a well made series of templates to cut out and assemble. They involve a lot of cutting and have been a great way for Noah to improve his fine motor skills with scissors. There is a number scheme and instructions to follow for putting everything together. The instructions are clear and concise but some of the assembling is very fiddly. Noah is seven and needs help from an adult to follow the directions and stick the pieces together successfully. We have experimented with several glues (prit stick and liquid glue) and have come to the conclusion that the most important thing is to be patient! Holding those pieces together as long as possible is the key. 

The fort coming together

While we've been cutting out and building we've also been watching a variety of short documentaries about what life was like as a Roman soldier, as well as Roman engineering and how they built their forts. Noah has also been really interested in Roman battles and their military tactics. 

Close up on the soldier's barracks

Videos like this one which use modern computer technology to reconstruct buildings from the past helped us get a real feel for what a Roman fort would have been like. It also helped that we visited Hadrian's wall and the fort Vindolanda last summer.
 

A very wet August day at Vindolanda

We're planning to visit some Roman sites here in France later in the year. 

We've also been reading a lot of books of course. Including quite a lot about the Gaulois and the battles between Vercingetorix and Caesar. We get a lot of them from the library which means they're mostly in French hence the interest in les Gaules! We did come across this series though which is similar in style to Horrible Histories which we also own and which the kids really liked - You wouldn't want to be a gladiator! (link).

Five Little Things : Knitting and Dwelling in Possibility

 

Well possibly a few more than five. While studying for the great online MOOC ModPo I really enjoyed the Emily Dickinson poems. In her great poem I dwell in Possibility she proposes that poetry is a freer imaginative world than prose. In fact the world she describes is limitless as the sky. Whether you agree with this or not - I also find prose to be a wonderfully large imaginative space - what I really like about this poem is the invitation to live in a place of what is possible. Not probable, or likely, not practical or convenient but possible. For me, to live always with an ear open to adventure, to taking a journey of the mind, to beginning something and seeing where it leads you. 

 

Olivia's blanket - some of wool's possibilities

 

Dickinson ends the poem with these beautiful lines,

 

For Occupation - This - 

The spreading wide my narrow Hands

To gather Paradise -

 

And as I was reading the poem again recently, I thought how this act of spreading my hands also talked to me about knitting. How from such humble beginnings you can go in so many directions. Just take a stroll around Ravelry and you can see the creative possibilities are endless!

 

Yesterday I signed up for an exciting local project. We're going to yearn bomb the town centre to liven it up a bit next winter. I looked at a lot of pictures of what other people are doing and picked up some wool and it got me really excited about all the possible things we can do with wool. Hopefully I'll share some pictures of where this project takes us later in the year. For now, here are some pictures of where my 'wool journey' has taken me recently*...

 

Blue Shawl

Beautiful Blue Waves

Close up on that lovely Malabrigo Wool

Maya's Bolero

From the back

And here are the works in progress*...

 

Lotta's artichaut

For Me - A Cardigan

Wool really does offer us so many possibilities just as words do if we give ourselves permission to live in a world of possibility. What a wonderful idea to practice with our children to, to try and say yes to their imaginations, their flights of fancy and crazy ideas as often as we possibly can. It may not always be easy but I can guarantee we'll have some fun adventures.

 

Here is Emily Dickinson's poem in full to inspire us all...

 

 

I dwell in Possibility

by Emily Dickinson

 

I dwell in Possibility -

A fairer House than Prose -

More numerous of Windows -

Superior - for Doors -

 

Of Chambers as the Cedars -

Impregnable of eye - 

And for an everlasting Roof

The Gambrels oF the Sky - 

 

Of Visitors - the fairest - 

For Occupation - This - 

The spreading wide my narrow Hands

To gather Paradise -

 

Of Visitors – the fairest –

For Occupation – This –

The spreading wide my narrow Hands

To gather Paradise –

 

*For those who want to know what the patterns are, from the top... I think the first one is called Old Hand Lace Master but as Ravelry wont work today I can't give you a link. It's knitted in Malabrigo Rasta colour Azules. The shrug for Maya is Nora's Bolero by Pickles a Norwegian company whose patterns I love. It's an easy knit. I used Malagbrigo Lace in Pearl and Fyberspates Cumulus in Silver. The latter's mix of silk and apaga gives the bolero a beautiful drape and a lovely shimmery feel to it that the photos aren't quite capturing. Cumulus is also the wool I'm using for Lotta's little wrap bolero - yes they're both getting boleros but not quite the same style view the age gap. It's the Artichaut pattern by de rerum natura a company whose environmentally friendly and humane wools are a delight to use. It's one of theirs I'm using for my cardigan which I'll tell you more about soon.