Middle Ages – Feudalism Worksheets and Activities (an *Awesome* Simulation Activity!)

The kids learned so much from our hands-on activities about feudalism. We did a simulation of feudalism that helped the kids understand the roles and responsibilities of the various members of society. And we also studied of some well-known medieval paintings from that period. So first, a bit about our feudalism worksheets.

For this unit, we are using Early Times: The Story of the Middle Ages, (affiliate link) by Suzanne Strauss Art as our spine. (We used the Early Times: The Story of Ancient China andNative America on the Eve of Discovery: The Story of the First Americans, Book II (affiliate links) history books she wrote as well. These history books are working well for our family. Generally, I read this aloud and we discuss things together.)

I made some notebook pages for the kids and we spent some time going over the roles people had in medieval society.  The kids took notes on some notebook pages I made.

Feudalism was based on an exchange of rights and duties between nobles.

A lord provided his vassal with a fief or estate. This could range in size from a few acres to hundreds of square miles. The fief included peasants who worked the land as well as their houses or villages.

• The lord protected his vassals.
• He provided a court of justice to settle dispute.
• He acted as a guardian for young children if a vassal died.

 A vassal, meanwhile, gave his lord military service (about 40 days per year).

He agreed to serve his lord on certain holidays and special occassions.

Nobles could be powerful lords or simply knights.

I made a different Middle Ages and feudalism worksheets for my kids.

There are Middle Ages Event cards which include the major events and people of the Early, High and Late Middle Ages.

There are also specific notebook pages provided (with teacher notes).

The first page is a review of some of the kings of England.  The material on the about Henry II, Richard I, and King John went along with some of our other activities (that I talked about in some of our earlier Middle Ages posts). For example, we watched The Lion in Winter (affiliate link) with Katherine Hepburn and Peter O’Toole about Eleanor of Aquitaine and Henry II. And, we also read the entire novel, The Adventures of Robin Hood (affiliate link), which we all loved.  We talked a lot about King John (Robin Hood’s nemesis)… and the fact that he was Henry II’s son (as was Richard the Lion-heart, who was off fighting in the Crusades when this novel took place.)

Here’s a glimpse at some of the feudalism worksheets:

The link to download is at the bottom of the post.

Next we evaluated some medieval art:

We started by looking at some medieval paintings and comparing peasant life and the life of the nobility expressed in these paintings. I chose 10 paintings/illustrations for the kids to examine. (They are all in the packet, though I only show a few below.) Some questions we discussed:

Look over all of the paintings. In most of the paintings, what is in the background?

List the jobs you see being carried out by serfs.

Describe the serfs’ clothing. What colors are used in the paintings for their clothing? Does this surprise you? Explain.

Feudalism Simulation Activity: Will YOU survive the Middle Ages?!!

I wanted the kids to understand the disparity between those peasants who worked the land and the nobility, so I designed a simulation for them to see if they would survive as peasants.  I created about 20 different cards with different scenarios.  They had to work hard in their fields (running). For this hard work, they earned some tokens (or M&Ms). Then they had to see what fate had in store for them as they drew one of the cards.  Would the get to celebrate up at the castle with a feast day? Would they have to pay taxes to the king? Would they have to provide service to the king? Or, would they catch the plague?  After three rounds, they counted how many tokens they had left. Would they have enough to support their family and survive the Middle Ages?!

To Play: I made copies of the cards and put them in a paper bag. We randomly selected who would be the aristocrat/king. The aristocrat was brought to a chair that had nice goodies. They sat back and watched events unfold (and collected taxes). On a feast day, they supplied one piece of bread for everyone.

To start, the peasants had to work the fields (running back and forth 6 times.) Then the, peasants were given 6 M&Ms (or tokens… see the other set of cards).

Round 1: The peasants chose one card (at random) and paid the appropriate fees. After that round, the peasants had to go work the fields again (running down the field and back). They then chose their second card, followed the directions on the card. They worked the field one final time (running down the field and back) and chose their third and final card.

The kids counted up the M&Ms (or tokens) they had left and determined how well their lives went as peasants.

If you lose all of your M&Ms you lose your house and become a beggar. If the Church (adult) has any money they will feed you. If not, well, your future is bleak.

How well do you do after three rounds? Check the results page!

Start a new round, so everyone has a chance to be the aristocrat (just kicking back, collecting taxes and relaxing.)

There are three pages of cards to print out. I suggest you print those on card stock.  You can print out the cards to use with M&Ms or if you prefer to use tokens, you’ll find cards with the word “tokens” on the last a little further on in the packet.

This activity was a HUGE hit with the kids!  They were still talking about it months later!! 🙂  I love that kind of engagement!

This packet has just been updated!  See more details about what was added below! You will find the new Middle Ages event cards, extensive teacher notes, student notebook pages and the new Feudalism Activity in the packet!

This 50+ page packet is $6.99.

Remember that after you submit your payment details you will get a link in your browser. You will ALSO get an email in your inbox with the transaction link from SendOwl (the service I use); just click on the link to bring up the button to download the pdf. If you have any trouble, feel free to reply to the Sendowl email, or email me directly — liesl at homeschoolden dot com

Middle Ages/Feudalism Packet Worksheets and Activities 50+ Pages

$6.99

$6.99 Middle Ages – Feudalism Packet

Don’t forget to check your PayPal email address for the download link!

So what else is in the Middle Ages – Feudalism Packet now?

You will find Middle Ages event cards (for the Early, High and Late Middle Ages) with extensive teacher notes, an awesome feudalism simulation, art analysis, and lots of different notebook pages (with answers provided, of course!). Plus, there is a new cut-and-paste feudalism activity.

The Middle Ages – Feudalism Packet is now well over 50 pages!!

There is an entire set of Middle Ages Chronology Cards. This material covers the significant events of the Early, High and Late Middle Ages. You will find an overview page (page 8), about 25 Middle Ages cards, teachers’ notes and student note-taking pages.

There is also a new feudalism cut-and-paste activity on pages 36 to 39. (Of course, the watermark lines aren’t in the packet!)

I also included the notebook pages that I’ve made for the kids, so you don’t have to do a huge scavenger hunt for them here on the blog. You’ll find these on pages 58 to 102 of the Middle Ages-Feudalism Packet.  Some of those topics include:

• Early Middle Ages Map Work: England and France during the Early Middle Ages
• The Medieval Christian Church
• The Silk Road, Genghis Khan, Kublai Khan
• Marco Polo
• The Crusades
• Medieval Scholars
• The Hundred Years’ War
• The Black Death
• Black Plague Simulation Activity

You might be interested in these related posts:

• The 4 Alls: Learning About Feudalism in the Middle Ages (a project we did, best for K-2)
• Middle Ages Projects and Books – We had so much fun with these activities!

Disclosure:  Please note that some of the links above are affiliate links, and at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you decide to make a purchase.

You might be interested in these history units too:

From here we went on to cover the Age of Exploration

$4.50 Age of Exploration Packet Quick Preview

European History 1500-1750: Renaissance and Reformation and other European History topics

$6.99 European History Packet 1500-1750 – Renaissance, Reformation, Age of Absolutism, Scientific Revolution, Enlightenment 90+ pages (See more details here) Quick Preview 

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Happy Homeschooling! ~Liesl