Shakespeare Week

We love Shakespeare in our homeschool. Sophie and Charis love to draw pictures of all the characters and how they inter-relate whilst I slowly read through the summary of the play in the Lambs' book.

Last week was ‘National Shakespeare Week’ here in the UK, so several weeks ago I started planning a trip to Stratford-upon-Avon. We signed up for the primary school resources, and the children each received a ‘passport’ they could fill in. This was to whet their appetite a little, and they were pleased to get certificates in the post to say they’d completed them. We also made sure to read through ‘The Bard of Avon’ by Diane Stanley, which is actually one of Sophie’s set books for this year.

Unfortunately, a lot of what was going on in Shakespeare week seemed to be aimed at schools. However, there were special craft activities going on in the various Shakespeare houses, and so in the end it was definitely worth going to visit this week rather than another. (In fact, I think the kids may have been a bit bored if the craft activities hadn’t been there, to be honest).

Stratford was a beautiful town, and everything we visited was within easy walking distance. We started at the visitors centre, where we collected our tickets. We’d gone for the ‘Family – Birthplace Pass’ tickets, and got 10% off by booking online ahead of time. First up we went to Harvard House, which was owned by a rich family who would have known the Shakespeares. The kids enjoyed the ‘Apprentice Trail’ around the house, with clipboards in tow, and there were some costumes to try on. Afterwards there was a craft activity. 

We took our picnic lunch down by the water’s edge, watching the swans and geese, and the kids had a good run around on the grass. Afterwards, we headed to ‘Hall’s Croft’, the home owned by Shakespeare’s daughter, Susanna. More clipboards, involving finding little toy mice around the house, and another great craft activity. After a welcome coffee in the adjoining café, we headed off to Shakespeare’s grave, which the children found surprisingly interesting, and then walked back up to the visitors centre to see Shakespeare’s birthplace. I guess we should have done this first, but it worked out well to finish a bit nearer to where we’d parked the car. Another fabulous craft activity, and then we took the tour around the house and learnt all about glove-making and wallpaper. The kids listened attentively for quite a long time, again I was pleasantly surprised!

By this time we were all tired and it was time to head back home. There are other houses you can see in Stratford, but I’m glad we didn’t try to do more than we did with little kids in tow. The next day I got Sophie and Charis to write a report each on the day, and it was lovely to see how much they’d remembered and what had particularly interested them. 

I don’t think this is something we’ll do again for a while, since it’s such a long drive for us, but I highly recommend it as an educational day out!

Abide in Him!


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