Saxon facts for kids: Saxons Facts for Kids
Posted onAnglo-Saxon Clothing Facts For Kids
The KS2 History curriculum explores the world of Anglo-Saxons as a part of British history, starting with the Stone Age and ending with the Viking and Anglo-Saxon struggle for power.
The perfect way to get children engaged with the Anglo-Saxon period is to learn all about the culture, language and lifestyle of these Anglo-Saxon people. We can compare their livelihoods to our modern day life and identify just how much things have changed. Whether you want to help with a piece of homework, learn more about your child’s curriculum, or simply wish to understand how the Anglo-Saxons used to dress, look no further than our clothing fact file. What’s more, there are a few crafts to get stuck into, if you want to take their homework to another level!
Image © @weststowanglosaxonvillage
What Did The Anglo Saxons Wear?
Anglo Saxon clothes were often all handmade and produced from natural materials. They were very talented people!
Men: The Anglo Saxon men wore a knee-length tunic, made either from wool or linen. They would then have woollen trousers underneath this, but some Saxons couldn’t even afford those! Those with a little more money would have leather belts to hold their trousers up, which would hold their tools. Shoes were handmade with leather, tied up with laces.
Image © Kotomi Creations via Flickr Creative Commons
Women: The Anglo Saxon women wore a linen tunic as a base layer, to be worn underneath their other clothes. Over the top of this, they would wear a full-length pinafore, called a «peplos» and this would be held up by a brooch on either shoulder. These brooches were often decorated as the women loved a bit of jewellery!
Anglo Saxon jewellery was an important part of a woman’s outfit- whether it was necklaces, bracelets or rings, they would wear them if they could! The Saxons were especially good at making glass, so glass beaded necklaces were a common appearance in Anglo Saxon England.
When Christianity started to grow popular in Anglo Saxon England, the women were then encouraged to cover their heads.
At this point, long veils were worn which came down to the ankles, but as Christianity continued, the women’s clothing changed even more.
The main characteristics of Anglo-Saxon dress were simply natural, handmade and practical!
What Did Anglo Saxon Children Wear?
Image © Dave Gunn via Flickr All Creative Commons
Anglo Saxon clothes for children were very similar to their parents, so many children wore tunics. The young boys and men wore a tunic over a sleeved top, tied round the waist with a leather belt. They would wear trousers too, but much like their parents, if there wasn’t enough money they would go without!
The young girls and women would also wear a tunic but these were a bit longer than the tunic their brother or father would wear. They didn’t need to have trousers underneath. These were fastened with a brooch on either shoulder, and a belt around the middle. A knife would be attached on here, as these were used for domestic chores during the day.
What Colours Were The Clothing?
The colour of your Anglo Saxon clothing was based on wealth. The poorer Saxons would have clothes made from natural materials and leather, so they would often have brown, black, green or yellow coloured clothes. The most common materials were wool and linen. They were extremely plain, with the occasional decorative pattern or brooch.
The wealthier Anglo Saxons would have their clothing dyed, so they often wore bright colours. Some even had silk robes. Silk was a material reserved only for the richest people. They would also wear bright, decorative brooches and jewellery which distinguished them from the poorer Saxons.
Get Thinking About Anglo Saxon England!
Saxon clothes are just one part of the lifestyle kids can learn about. Here are some questions to get your child thinking about Anglo Saxon England:
1) Who Are The Anglo Saxons? Find out more about where the Anglo Saxons came from and why they settled in England, along with any information about where and how they lived.
2) What Was A Normal Day For Anglo Saxon Children? Find out about what children did, including the domestic chores and games they played.
3) What Are The Different Jobs Anglo Saxons Could Do? Anglo Saxon people were very clever, talented people, so you could find out more about what they did and how they made so many different things.
4) How Did The Anglo Saxons Farm? Did you know that they were the first real farmers in England? Perhaps this is an interesting area to explore?
5) Who was Alfred The Great? This period in History saw lots of many famous Kings, but why was Alfred so important?
6) Was There Religion in Anglo-Saxon England? Christianity was present in the Anglo Saxon, but to what extent was religion a part of their culture? Find out some more about religion and beliefs in British history if you fancy even more research.
Crafts and Activities
Why not try making an Anglo Saxon clothing brooch, some homemade Saxon food or even a children’s rag doll! Have a look at the list below to bring kids’ learning to life.
Make A Clothing Brooch: The women wore these to fasten their tunics, so why not make your very own. Decorate with jewels and wear with pride… just click here to find how!
Make Homemade Saxon Cakes: This easy recipe can make 12 honey oat cakes exactly as the Saxons would have done it. Everything you need to know can be found here.
Make An Anglo Saxon Helmet: Whilst not everybody would have worn a helmet, the soldiers would have had lots of protection to wear when they went to battle. Find everything you need to know just here.
Make An Anglo Saxon Rag Doll: The children would have played with homemade toys, so why not make your own rag doll! Find the instructions here to bring the culture to life.
Disclaimer
At Kidadl we pride ourselves on offering families original ideas to make the most of time spent together at home or out and about, wherever you are in the world. We strive to recommend the very best things that are suggested by our community and are things we would do ourselves — our aim is to be the trusted friend to parents.
We try our very best, but cannot guarantee perfection. We will always aim to give you accurate information at the date of publication — however, information does change, so it’s important you do your own research, double-check and make the decision that is right for your family.
Kidadl provides inspiration to entertain and educate your children. We recognise that not all activities and ideas are appropriate and suitable for all children and families or in all circumstances. Our recommended activities are based on age but these are a guide. We recommend that these ideas are used as inspiration, that ideas are undertaken with appropriate adult supervision, and that each adult uses their own discretion and knowledge of their children to consider the safety and suitability.
Kidadl cannot accept liability for the execution of these ideas, and parental supervision is advised at all times, as safety is paramount. Anyone using the information provided by Kidadl does so at their own risk and we can not accept liability if things go wrong.
Sponsorship & Advertising Policy
Kidadl is independent and to make our service free to you the reader we are supported by advertising.
We hope you love our recommendations for products and services! What we suggest is selected independently by the Kidadl team. If you purchase using the buy now button we may earn a small commission. This does not influence our choices. Please note: prices are correct and items are available at the time the article was published.
Kidadl has a number of affiliate partners that we work with including Amazon. Please note that Kidadl is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.
We also link to other websites, but are not responsible for their content.
Read our Sponsorship & Advertising Policy
|
What Everybody did
|
|||
|
Nash Ford Publishing 2010.  All
Rights Reserved. |
|||
./bios/images/background.jpg» rowspan=»2″>
This a usually done with a piece of
7 amazing facts about the sea
September 27 is World Maritime Day. In 2018, this holiday celebrates its fortieth anniversary. In honor of this event «Oh!» collected for you seven amazing facts about the seas and oceans — we are sure you will learn a lot of interesting things. And be sure to read the article with your child!
How many seas and oceans are there on Earth?
There are more than ninety seas and four oceans on our planet. Surprisingly, the exact number of seas has not yet been recorded. This is due to the fact that some scientists attribute some bays to the seas, since in terms of hydrological, hydrochemical and other characteristics they are really similar to them. And other scientists categorically disagree with this.
Moreover, there is no unanimity about the oceans! At school, we taught that there are four oceans: the Atlantic, the Indian, the Pacific and the Arctic. However, in 2000, the International Hydrographic Organization united parts of the body of water, creating the fifth addition to the list — the Southern Ocean.
True, this decision has not received official recognition.
The very best!
The deepest sea is the Philippine Sea, its maximum depth is 10,265 meters! The cleanest is the Weddell Sea, which washes the coast of Antarctica. The smallest sea in terms of area is the White Sea. But the shallowest sea in the world is the Sea of Azov, its depth does not exceed 13.5 meters!
Is there gold in the sea?
If you extract all the gold from the World Ocean, then each person on Earth will get about four kilograms of the precious metal! The fact is that literally the entire periodic table is dissolved in sea water. Scientists made many attempts to isolate gold from water, but the experiments failed: in the last century, A. Davankov obtained only a milligram of gold on the Mikhail Lomonosov ship using an ion exchange column of 500 tons of water. However, the idea is still not forgotten, scientists suggest that in the near future, mining methods will be improved.
Secrets of the seabed…
About three million sunken ships rest on the bottom of the oceans.
These are ancient galleys, and ships of the first seafaring merchants full of foreign goods, and pirate ships with looted treasures, and Spanish galleons that transported gold from the New to the Old World, and ships of explorers and discoverers, and many warships.
One of the most interesting mysteries is the Dutch ship Frau Maria, which was wrecked in 1771 near the Aland Islands in the Baltic Sea. His cargo was works of art purchased by Catherine II for the Hermitage and Tsarskoye Selo. The ship was accidentally discovered by a Finnish diver at 1999 at a depth of 41 m, but still remains at the bottom. In its hold, according to archaeologists, there is a collection of Saxon porcelain, gold and silver figurines, about 300 paintings by Flemish artists, including Rembrandt. True, the lifting operation is estimated at 80 million euros, while there are doubts that the cargo that has lain on the seabed for 250 years is still of historical and cultural value.
Reason to think!
Do you know that the World Ocean is the dirtiest place on the planet? Every year, three times more garbage is dumped into the sea than fish are caught.
And in one liter of Mediterranean water there are ten grams of oil products. There is a big slick in the Pacific Ocean — it is an accumulation of plastic and other waste brought by currents. This area is called the «Garbage Sea», its size is almost 8% of the total area of the Pacific Ocean. Scientists believe that there are more than 100 million tons of garbage here. Reason to think, right?
Amazing phenomena
One of the most legendary places in the Mediterranean is the Strait of Messina. Two whirlpools literally reign here — Scylla and Charybdis, which collide with each other and with the shores, creating a dangerous situation for ships. They were known back in the time of Homer: he described a natural phenomenon as two monsters that Odysseus and his team encountered, and he did it so colorfully that for many centuries sailors were afraid of the myth of Scylla and Charybdis.
The sea… in space!
Objects called seas exist not only on Earth: for example, the South Sea is on Mars and on the Moon (the dark spot on the surface of the lunar disk is called the Sea of the Moon).
By the way, at present, even the surface of Mars is better explored than the seabed! Scientists suggest that we know no more than 10% of all the mysteries of the oceans.
Also read:
16 interesting facts about chocolate that will surprise you
8 games that will teach your child how to be safe
How to teach your child to tell time by the clock: 8 tips from a psychologist (video)
Photo: Andrew Neel, Erin Simmons/Unsplash
holiday
By Panda English School
80% of people around the world use English for work. Everyone knows this. Panda English School teachers have created a selection of interesting facts about the English language for you.
1. English originally had 29 letters.
In 1011, the monk Berfert of the Benedictine abbey created an alphabet consisting of 23 letters. In those distant times, there were no letters “J”, “U” and “W”. To convey various sounds, the monk added an ampersand, the AE ligature and four letters, which were based on the ancient Anglo-Saxon runes “ȝ”, “ƿ”, “þ” and “Д.
Only in the 16th century did the English alphabet acquire its familiar form.
2. There are more words in English than in any other language.
According to the latest data, there are about 1 million words in the English language. The number is impressive, isn’t it? However, the average English speaker knows only 20-30 thousand words.
3. The longest English word has 45 letters.
This is the record word “pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis”. This is the name of the disease of the respiratory tract, which is translated into Russian as «pneumoconiosis».
4. From all the letters of the English language, you can make one complete sentence.
Don’t believe me? Here it is: “The quick brown fox jumps over a lazy dog”. This famous pangram will help you memorize the English alphabet easily.
5. Some English words can be read from left to right, and vice versa.
Words-palindromes can be found not only in Russian, but also in English.
An example is the well-known words level, dad, madam.
6. The shortest English sentence.
I’m. This is exactly what the shortest and most logically complete sentence sounds like.
7. At one time, the category of gender existed in the English language.
The Russian language has a gender category. Previously, the category of gender was also in English. But to avoid gender inequalities, it was removed. However, the gender of many nouns can be determined. Gender can be indicated by personal and reflexive pronouns, noun suffixes, and additional determiner nouns man and woman.
8. There are abbreviations in the English language.
The word «goodbye» we use every day to say goodbye is actually short for «God be with ye.» «Ue» is an obsolete form of address, corresponding to the modern «you».
9. There is a word in English that was invented by accident.
Linguists call the word «dord» — a ghost word. The history of its creation is very interesting.
