Before you become a knight, you must go through the proper training. Take a look at my son's 9th Birthday! Knights-In-Training Royal Celebration! The formal invitation Check out the goodies and decorations. Alright! Let's get this party started with a fanfare from the King! (Yes, that's my 'awesome' husband, oh the things I talk him into.) Training has begun! Get some inspiration... Shield Designing is first. Every good knight needs a personalized shield! Well done! Now it's time for the Battle Training. Get your gear! Take one bow... (straw) and strap on a pack of color-coded arrows! (Q-tips) Now choose your castle to take cover in. The serpent castle on one side or... or the dragon castle on the other! Load one arrow into the bow,aim and fire (blow)! Repeat again and again! Good work! Even the king got in the middle of this battle! That's the spirit! Time for Catapult Assembly Training. Head to the supply table. Gather what you need. Follow the directions carefully...you don't want a faulty catapult! Don't forget your ammunition (marshmellows)! Load up the catapult with marshmellows...I mean ammo. a little target practice. Take teams, ready...fire! Aim for your target! Get your mask on for protection! Now, just what you've been waiting for... it's time for Sword Fighting Practice. You'll need some energy first, eat up. OK, you're ready, careful now... Do a little practice first, then... get on those 'horses' and knock your opponent off! <><><><> <><><><> <><><><> You've got it! Great jousting! Try not to enjoy it too much, this is serious training! Good work! Your training is complete. Your knighthood has been officially granted by the king! Time for the Celebration Banquet! -Corndogs on a stick (knights love anything that can resemble a sword!) Fruit Kabobs (yes, they're on a stick as well!) Round Table Snack Mix (Round pretzels, round soup crackers and cheddar popcorn) Flaming Arrows -Chocolate dipped marshmellows with red sugar sprinkles! (Oh, look- they're on a stick too!) Shield cookies- rectangle shaped cookies with a frosted petite cookie on top. To drink, Knight's Fuel otherwise known as juice pouches. And Birthday Cake! Happy 9th Birthday, Jacob! Before leaving, all knights receive their reward for good training. Payment in gold (chocolate coins), RingPop (from the king) and little knight figures. A reward well deserved! Many thanks go out to the grandparents for their help! The paper decorations were ordered from Birthday Express and the foam swords were ordered from Amazon. Catapult directions were found at the Knight for Hire website. Costumes, hoppity horses and various props were brought from my mom's friends. The king's robe and crown were borrowed from our church. A big thank you (especially from my child) to Lowes for their many appliance boxes and helping me stuff them into my car! (I drove home with my seat as far forward as possible and cardboard over my head! The things we do for our kids?!) Now the hard part...getting those thank you notes finished! Linking up to: MyInsanityPartyParty
Are you ready to embark on knight training? Grab your free poster today - available to the first 500 pre-orders that apply!
My boys love all things having to do with Knights, battles, honor, and chivalry. I think all young boys are enamored with knights at some point. Have (...)
Yes, you read that correctly- Knights! Swords, code of honor, the works. Let's start at the beginning. We have always been big fans of the tales of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. My husband's long time mentor fanned that flame years ago when our oldest son was young and since then we have become collectors of all things King Arthur-y! (yes, I made that word up!) Our book cases overflow with tales of long ago and we admit to watching more than a few movies based on the same premise. There is just something that speaks to a young boy's heart when he hears words like honor, courage, swords, code and yes, fighting! You can just see their eyes light up and they seem to stand just a bit taller. I love that! When I was offered the chance to be part of a book release for Heather Haupt's new book, Knights in Training, I jumped! And maybe begged! I am, after all, training TWO knights!! Ages 9 and 15! Let me just tell you up front, moms of boys, you need this book! Seriously. I figured I would like it. Instead, I loved it! Heather has done her research, not only by raising two knights of her own, but really looking into what being a modern day knight means to our young boys. Knights in Training is 277 pages long and is divided into three parts- The Boy-Raising Adventure The Chivalry Challenge Continuing the Quest The first part, The Boy-Raising Adventure talks about boys in general, how they are different from girls, (can I get an AMEN!?) and why we do not want to raise "typical" boys. A lot stood out to me in this part, hence the prolific highlighting in my book, but this is the quote that stood out to me, the one I needed to hear- "Take boys as they are and provide them a context to grow into the strong, self-determined heroes they aspire to be..." p. 38 As a mom of two girls born first, I like quiet, orderly behavior. I don't "get" rough housing and most things boys. I am having to learn the value in those things and allow my boys to become the men God intended them to be. Yes, they need to learn to be polite and courteous, and sometimes even quiet, but in most cases that is simply not their natural bent. The second part of the book, The Chivalry Challenge is where you will find the meat of the information. Each chapter is based off the 10 points in the Code of Chivalry. These include- Love God Obey Stand Against Injustice Protect the Weak Respect Women Don't Give Offense Speak Truth Be Generous Persevere Pursue Excellence This part of the book is full of encouragement and ideas as well as a few challenges. Each code is stated and then defined by Heather. She tells what it looks like in practice as well as what it doesn't look like. Using examples from her own family she tells what teaching these concepts might look like. At the end of each of these chapters is a section called Throwing Down the Gauntlet. Here she gives specific activities you can use to teach your kids the specific concept. Sword fights? Polishing silver? Jousting? Playing games? Serving others? These ideas and many more have made the learning so much more fun. Well, maybe not the polishing part. But by mimicking the chores a page or squire would have done, we can teach our boys discipline, hard work and patience. We can teach them integrity and how to put others first. By hanging up our Code of Chivalry poster we are reminding ours sons daily the behavior we expect from them. And by loving them and embracing their "boy-ness" we are telling them that God indeed made them in a special way. The final section, Continuing the Quest, is about just that! How we can make these lessons stick! Also included at the end of the book is a great chart of age appropriate chores as well as a fabulous resource list! We had several of the books Heather mentioned, but have added a few new ones to our wish list! Speaking of wish lists, you need to add Knights in Training to yours! Knights in Training is now available to purchase and you can follow Heather on Facebook as she encourages you and others in the Chivalry movement! May we encourage and love our boys daily, as we train them up in the way of the Lord! Blessings,
One of the grand things about writing a book is hearing the stories from others about how this idea of knight training is helping their sons. I love hearing the stories of boys who are inspired to live with purpose and who, even at young ages, grab a hold of these ideals and strive to […]
We want to teach our boys to be boys of honor! Join the Chivalry movement with Knights in Training and raise godly young men for the Lord!
The year before Kalyn Ponga arrived at the Newcastle Knights, the club had just received their third consecutive wooden spoon. The then 19-year-old Queenslander landed at the forlorn club with little to no pressure to perform. Now, the Knights are seen as serious title contenders and Kalyn Ponga is the NRL’s new poster boy; often […]
Junior Knight Training at Medieval Times Toronto
My OTP! Can’t get enough of these boys!
My boys love all things having to do with Knights, battles, honor, and chivalry. I think all young boys are enamored with knights at some point. Have (...)
Are you raising boys? Heather Haupt's Knights in Training is a must-read for parents who want to teach their boys to live with honor, courage, & compassion.
Before you become a knight, you must go through the proper training. Take a look at my son's 9th Birthday! Knights-In-Training Royal Celebration! The formal invitation Check out the goodies and decorations. Alright! Let's get this party started with a fanfare from the King! (Yes, that's my 'awesome' husband, oh the things I talk him into.) Training has begun! Get some inspiration... Shield Designing is first. Every good knight needs a personalized shield! Well done! Now it's time for the Battle Training. Get your gear! Take one bow... (straw) and strap on a pack of color-coded arrows! (Q-tips) Now choose your castle to take cover in. The serpent castle on one side or... or the dragon castle on the other! Load one arrow into the bow,aim and fire (blow)! Repeat again and again! Good work! Even the king got in the middle of this battle! That's the spirit! Time for Catapult Assembly Training. Head to the supply table. Gather what you need. Follow the directions carefully...you don't want a faulty catapult! Don't forget your ammunition (marshmellows)! Load up the catapult with marshmellows...I mean ammo. a little target practice. Take teams, ready...fire! Aim for your target! Get your mask on for protection! Now, just what you've been waiting for... it's time for Sword Fighting Practice. You'll need some energy first, eat up. OK, you're ready, careful now... Do a little practice first, then... get on those 'horses' and knock your opponent off! <><><><> <><><><> <><><><> You've got it! Great jousting! Try not to enjoy it too much, this is serious training! Good work! Your training is complete. Your knighthood has been officially granted by the king! Time for the Celebration Banquet! -Corndogs on a stick (knights love anything that can resemble a sword!) Fruit Kabobs (yes, they're on a stick as well!) Round Table Snack Mix (Round pretzels, round soup crackers and cheddar popcorn) Flaming Arrows -Chocolate dipped marshmellows with red sugar sprinkles! (Oh, look- they're on a stick too!) Shield cookies- rectangle shaped cookies with a frosted petite cookie on top. To drink, Knight's Fuel otherwise known as juice pouches. And Birthday Cake! Happy 9th Birthday, Jacob! Before leaving, all knights receive their reward for good training. Payment in gold (chocolate coins), RingPop (from the king) and little knight figures. A reward well deserved! Many thanks go out to the grandparents for their help! The paper decorations were ordered from Birthday Express and the foam swords were ordered from Amazon. Catapult directions were found at the Knight for Hire website. Costumes, hoppity horses and various props were brought from my mom's friends. The king's robe and crown were borrowed from our church. A big thank you (especially from my child) to Lowes for their many appliance boxes and helping me stuff them into my car! (I drove home with my seat as far forward as possible and cardboard over my head! The things we do for our kids?!) Now the hard part...getting those thank you notes finished! Linking up to: MyInsanityPartyParty
