My son wanted a medieval party for his 9th birthday. The invitations, written on scroll paper, read as a newspaper article.  "Once upon a time, there was a brave and valiant knight named Sir Braydin.  On the anniversary of his 9th birthday, he invited other brave knights and fair maidens from near and far to celebrate.  The festival took place...(location details).  Celebrants feasted on cake and took part in games of bravery and chivalry.  To honor Sir Braydin's birthday, noble guests brought nonperishable food items in place of gifts". We donate the food to a local food pantry.  Games and acitivities included: 1) Squire Training:  A relay between two teams.  Each kid put on a pair of gloves, then a pair of tights, ran to little sister's rocking horse and rode it, knocked over a stuffed dragon and rescued the damsel in distress (a doll). 2) Helmet and Shield: We had poster board shields and helmets precut.  The helmets are an incredible design with an actual moving visor.  The pattern is offered by the Cleveland Museum of Art at www.clevelandart.org/educatn/kidsprojects/armor.html.  While the shields were being decorated, each kid had a helmet fit to his head. 3) Make a Catapult: Each person made a catapult from a hangar (pre-formed by us), a rubber band and a plastic spoon.  We found the design at www.mos.org/learn_more/ed_res/cheapbook/catapulto. 4) Storm the Castle: Using their catapults, the kids tried to toss jelly beans into a small cardboard castle.  Pattern for the castle is found at www.yourchildlearns.com/castle.htm.  Four kids surrounded one castle and stayed about 5 feet away while shooting.  The person with the most jelly beans inside the castle became a king. 5) Fencing: We hired an instructor from a local fencing academy to demonstrate the art and teach the kids some basic moves.  Then two people at a time were able to put on fencing gear and spar with each other while being supervised by the instructor. 6) Sword Fight:  Each guest received a 4-ft. inflatable sword from Oriental Trading Company and they had free time "fighting" with no hits allowed above the shoulder. It was quite a sight to see so many knights wearing helmets and shields sword fighting with one another. 7) When changing from one activity to another, we had a trumpeter blast a few notes to get their attention. The cake was made into a castle with knights.  Since plates were not in use long ago, we made our own trenchers. We took a loaf of bread and left the pieces out of the package so they became somewhat stale. Each guest was served a piece of cake on his bread trencher. I thought the bread would end up in the trash but was amused to see the kids eating it after their cake was gone.  Favors included the inflatable sword and a list of phrases we use today (like "caught red-handed" and "get off your high horse") which have their origin in medieval times, along with their explanation.  Examples of these phrases can be found on the internet. We heard positive comments about this party from both kids and their parents for days.  Everyone had a wonderful, memorable time!