This half term, families visiting the newly reopened Windsor Castle can get creative during drop-in arts and crafts activities in the Castle’s brand new Learning Centre.
The ‘Handsome hats and helmets’ art activities will give budding, designers the chance to create hats fit for a queen, inspired by those worn by Her Majesty The Queen throughout her reign. Children can also take inspiration from the Castle’s spectacular displays of armour and create their own medieval knight’s helmet.
Families visiting during half term will have the rare opportunity to see the colourful wartime ‘pantomime pictures’, which are on display at the Castle’s Waterloo Chamber throughout 2021. During the Second World War, The Queen (then Princess Elizabeth) and her sister Princess Margaret took part in the pantomimes in the Waterloo Chamber to raise money for charity. The portraits that usually line the walls had been removed for safekeeping, so 16 pictures of fairy tale characters were painted onto wallpaper and pasted on the bare walls to make the space more festive. After the war, the portraits that usually hang in the room were returned, and the pantomime pictures remained hidden beneath them for decades.
At the recently opened Undercroft Café, located in one of the oldest surviving spaces in a 1,000-year-old Castle, families can pause for a refreshing drink or bite to eat before continuing their visit with a children’s multimedia guide. Narrated by a cartoon dragon called Scorch, this interactive guide features puzzles and animations that bring the history of the Castle and the role of the Royal family to life for young visitors.
Families can also pick up a Windsor Castle children’s guidebook, which reveals the secrets of the world’s oldest and largest inhabited castle through lively illustrations, photographs and fun facts, such as which king kept a pet giraffe and why the Crown Jewels were hidden in a biscuit tin.
Find out more about what’s on at Windsor Castle.
