Thursday, 13 February 2020

Knight School at the Tower of London


We did not pay entry to the Tower of London or for the Knight School experience

Over the February Half Term, visitors to the Tower of London can enrol in Knight School and train to become a Paige, Squire and finally a Knight alongside Sir Anthony Woodville.  We were invited to a preview event and Archie (6) and Dylan (8) had a go at training to see if they would be knighted at the end.



It was our first visit to the Tower of London and Knight School was the first thing we explored.  During Half Term (from the 15th - 23rd February) it will be running every day between 10am and 4pm and is included in your general entry.  The children were greeted by two 15th century characters who immediately made them laugh as they explained life in 1471.  As part of the training, they had to learn to dance and tell jokes, serve the Knight at table and then joust on pretend horses.  Finally as they neared the end of their training was the bit they had been most excited for, the swords.  Each child was given a foam sword and they were taught the three main moves before being set free to attack 'Roger'.  They boys loved the comedy and were really proud of the medals they were presented with at the knighting ceremony.  The whole experience lasted less than an hour and got the children really excited for what else was to come.




The knights had spoken about King Henry's armour being on display in the white tower so that was our first stop after a quick snack break (there is a cafe directly opposite the Knight School grounds).  Inside the White Tower you can discover many sets of armour from throughout history as well as lots of information on weapons, cannons and all the other things young children are fascinated by.  We found an interactive room towards the top of the tower which had somewhere you could learn about shooting a gun, screens where you could build castles and many other games that are both fun and very educational. 




After discovering the armour, we wanted to go and see the Crown Jewels and the children loved watching the guards outside with their guns, hats and very methodical way of moving.  The jewels were bright and sparked a lot of conversation with the boys about the monarchy and the queen. 


We walked around and learned about the animals that had lived in the tower, the elephant sent over as a gift and the polar bear that was chained up and the boys found it really fascinating.  There was plenty more we could have looked at but we had to cut our visit short as we had somewhere else to be.  We all really enjoyed our day at the Tower of London, there was so much to do for children and families and the Knight School really brought it all to life and helped encourage the boys interest in history.  If you are around London next week then I would really recommend a visit!  Both the boys have asked if we can go back soon!






Knight School at the Tower of london, half term activities for kids, London with kids
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