I think pupils do a lot of passive lesson activities this time of year. Mindful of this, I went to the supermarket last night and purchased cocktail sticks, bamboo skewers, sponge fingers, marshmallows and a variety of other sweets, and this morning set my year 8 class a challenge: to recreate a Medieval castle using these sugary treats.

They worked in 2s or 3s. They had to use the textbook (which has a helpful chapter on the changes castles underwent following the Norman Conquest) to design their castle and work out exactly how many of each kind of sweet/stick they needed to build it. I then carefuly counted the sweets out, telling them that I was counting once the castles were finished and if any sweets were missing, I would get to eat the castle. This kept them honest about the quantities they needed and ensured there were enough buildings materials left over for my colleague, who is repeating this lesson this afternoon.

They rose to the challenge well.

Unfortunately I didn’t anticipate how sticky they would get, and had to send them away a little early to wash their hands before their next lesson. I then had to spend a few minutes with a cloth and cleanser, wiping down the tables. It reminded me a bit of the infamous Nutella jousting incident of July. But, I think it was worth the extra effort.

See the rest of the castles here.