A Faire Amount of Learning

My husband took the day off yesterday and we took our boys to a medieval faire called King Richard's Faire.



My husband and I had been years ago and thought the boys would really enjoy it.

There were lots of street performers all around us putting on shows
We had been talking about taking them for a few years as part of our whole medieval unit.  I'm so glad we decided to finally just go; we had such a great time. The boys loved the set up of the village, all  the costumes and, of course, all the weapons.

We bought our tickets prior to arriving by stopping at a local Walgreens that had them for sale, we not only saved $10 that way but we managed to bypass the very LONG line waiting to purchase tickets and get in.  We knew it would be crowded no matter which weekend or day we decided to go since they are open for only a few select days in fall so we were prepared for the crowds.

The boys were enchanted with all the sights, smells, and sounds of the day.  We ate cinnamon buns, peasant bread, French fries, chicken fingers, and ice cream.  We watched a glass blower at work, a candle maker carving a candle into a dragon, a whip wielder (who even caught his whip on fire!), and several stage shows.

The candle maker begins sculpting
His completed dragon
 When watching the glass blower the boys were given masks with special lenses so looking into the flames wouldn't hurt their eyes.  When watching the candle sculptor, they were given warm bits of wax as he broke them off or cut them away so they could see what it felt like and try sculpting the warm wax on their own until it cooled and hardened

 We saw a show on all the different types of tigers and learned the importance of saving these species and many others. We got to see a Liger and learn all about the different cross breeds.  The boys got to try their hand at archery & using throwing stars.  We saw lots of "people" powered rides-- Ian pointed out to me that their swing ride worked using gears propelled by some men that had to crank and turn them.  We saw some swinging ship rides that rocked back and forth as fast as the people inside could pull on the ropes.  


A baby Bengal tiger

Alec was so excited to see this man in a saders costume

Comparing the sizes of a three month old tiger and a 9 month old tiger

A white tiger

Baby chimpanzee

Getting our bows and arrows

people powered boats


Alec


Ian

Evan

Throwing star practice (the boys remembered how to do this properly from karate)

Can you see the wheel and gear system they use to power these swings?

Watching the glass blower at work

Wearing protective masks to watch the glass blower

The mud show 


It was... muddy!

More street performers-- this guy entertained all the kids with
his giant bubles

We had fun watching the jugglers and balancing acts too

This guy is using his whip, blind-folded!, and trying to cut down the
straws in his partners hand

He light his whip on fire and did a whole act that way

Linking Up With:
Saturday Shuffle Blog Hop #118

Comments

  1. the 4 M'sOctober 16, 2019 at 10:35 AM

    Wow! Lots of entertainment! We haven't been to any type of medieval fair in the US but have gone to several medieval towns in France where they have different shows with birds of prey or horses! Fun times!
    www.chezmireillefashiontravelmom.com

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