D.I.Y Knight Shield for Pretend Costume Play

I decided to take the easiest route possible – cardboard and GOLD SPRAY PAINT! In less than 20 minutes of working together, he had a costume (well enough of it for him to be satisfied) and I was ready for my second cup of coffee!

Supplies Needed:
Spray paint
Cardboard
Pencil
Access to a computer and images (or just draw your own)
Tag board
Scissors
Tape

I cut one shield template out of cardboard and then had him trace his.  Tracing is a great precursor to writing and lets little ones practice their fine motor skills.

Then, we hopped back on the computer to find a dragon (per his request) he pointed to the one he liked and I made it as big as possible, while still fitting on a piece of paper.  I printed this on tag board and cut it out.

We wanted a black dragon surrounded by gold, so we painted the shields black first.

Then, I set the dragon over the black and spray painted gold around it.

When the paint dried, I lifted up the golden dragon to reveal the black one underneath.  And although you may think the gold dragon on black background was planned, you’re wrong. I ran out of gold paint.  No worries – the thought of bringing 3 young kids to the store for new paint called for a quick adjustment.  I sprayed the cardboard totally black and just glued the gold painted template on!

When they were completely dry, I cut a rectangle out of the cardboard, bent it and taped it on.  Nothing fancy – but hey, who needs fancy when you are crafting with an anxious 3 year waiting to play knights.

Let me just tell you, that I have an enormous fondness for gold spray paint – it makes any paper or cardboard object instantly a treasure, in this case REGAL!

In any case – if you are like me and need something fancy in just a few minutes… stock up on the gold spray paint!

More Knight Shield Ideas:

• Make Jane Make has this cute knight costume 
• Bruggie Tales takes the cardboard route
• Storm the Castle makes an AMAZING shield too (also a fan of gold spray paint!)
• Kiwi Crate grabs for tinfoil to make their shield.