Day 2 - The sun was shining on our second day at HC - after a good breakfast, we head off to our first activity of the day - Roman writing and Clay lamp making. First the children had to order a timeline of key dates - the beginning and the end of the Roman Empire; the first two failed attempts by Julius Caesar to invade, followed by Claudius's successful one and the birth of Christ. Following this, they wrote their names in Latin and made clay oil lamps. then it was time to go outside to do some marching with Roman shields - sin/dec, sin/dec - left/right, left/right. The children lined up shield to shield - adults then had a chance to attack - we managed to break through their lines but they got their revenge when they protected themselves in the shape of a tortoise and despite our best efforts firing balls at them they managed to reach us and attack - children 1/adults 1.
We then had lunch and a play outside. In the afternoon, we went down to the Celtic roundhouse and learnt about Roman cooking - the children then had the chance to make: pottage; sweet and savoury bread; sweets and sausages. They all worked really well together and helped with every step of the recipes; the food was then cooked on the fire and finally they had a chance to try some of their creations. After a vote, the sausages won the taste test but I think that the children were surprised at how much they enjoyed the food - lots of taste testing and going back for seconds!
We then did Roman weaving and jewelry making, working in pairs to help each other - they enjoyed making the rings, bracelets or necklaces out of 'white gold' and then choosing different yarn colours for weaving. After playtime and some dinner, they made some Roman mosaics up in the attic room of the Manor House - a great experience in itself. They made some lovely mosaics; following this we had a story and then straight to bed - everyone fell asleep very quickly! What a fantastic day.
