How to Build a Castle in 48 Hours

How to build a Castle in 48 hours.

The first question you ask, is 48 hours?

We had a Parent Teacher conference with Zachary's teacher on a Friday afternoon. 

At the conference she said that one way to really bring up his grade in Social Studies,

was to do the extra credit on his Castle project. 

Mike and I looked at each other, then the teacher,

 "Um, WHAT castle project?"

"The assignment all 3rd graders were assigned 2 weeks ago."

"When is it due?"

"Monday."

"Monday? THIS coming Monday? As in 3 days from now Monday?"

"Yes.... Didn't you get the papers on it?"

"No......"

"Oh, and be sure to include all these in your castle.

 Turrets, Towers, Bailey, Crenallations, Porticullis, Moat,

 Gate House, Gate, Keep, Drawbridge, and Outer Wall.

 I do not have the definition paper of these items anymore,

so you can look them up online. 

 If you have a WORKING drawbridge, he will get extra credit for it."

*Sigh*.....

So off to Michaels for $80. of stuff to build a castle.

In 48 hours.

This is what we made the castle of. 

 Cardboard, paper cups, paper towel rolls, toilet paper rolls, glue,

 ribbon, spray paint, acrylic paint, paint brushes, styrofoam, paper,

 stickers, toothpicks, building sticks, felt, string, sweat, love.

First, establish where you want the main castle to go.

Dig out the moat.

How many Towers to put in? How big?

Fill the moat in with something that looks like water,

unless you are brave and use real water.

We used ribbon that sparkled and had wires in it,

so I could crinkle it up to look like waves.

Paint all the outer edges brown so it looks like sand or dirt.

Glue in the outer Castle wall so you can

start constructing the rest of the castle.

Make sure all the towers are even and all the paper and cups fit exactly.

Decide where to put all the towers at.

Let your kid use for about 10 seconds long enough to snap a photo the dremil to

 sharpen the building sticks into points for the Baileys fence.

Take over the dremil and finish sharpening all the fence posts and Gates.

Make sure there is a huge mess in the kitchen area

 because whats the point of cleaning when you have

little pieces of styrofoam and shavings of wood everywhere.

Thank God for Pizza Delivery!

Paint dozens of little sticks black.

Then paint again for a darker effect.

Then spray with acrylic gloss so they are shiny like rod iron.

Temporarily place everything together to make sure

you have all that you need finished and ready for the next step. 

Spray Paint everything.

Be sure to let  your child whose project this is do some of the spray painting.

However, do not let them do much because he will spray one spot with half a can,

 and then you have to stop what you are doing,

 and head to Michaels to buy yet another can of spray paint.

Finish  spray painting all the castle walls, inside and out.

Don't forget the tops of the towers.

Be sure to add fine little details to the castle.

Decide where all the stuff in the Bailey go.

Paint the Bailey like grass and grass/wood huts.

 Place your animals in them.

 Baileys are where they keep their livestock and extra storages for food.

Put all your fancy smancy stickers on the walls.

Check out our Drawbridge!

Going down!

All the way down!  Yay!  Extra Credit!

This part was strictly Mikes genious at work.

Just turn the larger circle clockwise and the bridge lowered.

Turn it counter clockwise and it closes.

This is why its good to be married to an Engineer.

 If it was me figuring it out he would not of gotten extra credit!

Also check out our Crenellations.

Thats the rectangles on top of the castle

where the guards can stand in the open spaces

inbetween and protect the castle from enemies.

Here is the Gate and Gate House. And the Porticullis.

 (spiky points at the bottom and/or top of a gate)

See your learning something today aren't you?

Don't forget some alligators and piranhas in your moat!

Every good castle needs knights and their horses protecting it.

Great coloring job Zachary!

The inside of our castle.  Almost looks liveable.

Zachary's Land Rules Flags.

Have your cat stop looking at the fish to check out your work.

Is this an 'A' project Mike and I did? Oh, I mean Zachary did?

Yes it is an 'A' project!  yay!

The little Towers are Turrets and the big one in the back is the Keep.

Great job for only 48 hours. I almost would hate to

 see how it would of looked if we actually had 2 weeks to work on this.

  It might of rivaled a real castle!

After the castle is done, pay your teenage daughter

 to clean up the mess that was left behind,

 because she can always use money,

and all you want to do is go to sleep and dream of castles.

Oh, and the reason we didn't have the Castle Project info was because it was handed out on a day that Zachary was sick.  He has been sick quite a bit lately, and has missed alot of school.

So, while not entirely his fault that he didn't give us the papers,

he still could of TOLD us about it!