Colours from nature

Children will explore how Medieval people used natural dyes to colour their clothing and how the different types of dyes reflected whether they were rich or poor.

Teaching Outcomes:

• Learn about the clothing worn by rich and poor people in medieval times and how it was coloured using natural dyes from plant materials.
• Learn and investigate how dyes can be created from everyday plant materials.

Children will:

• Learn how dyes can be made from plant materials and how these are fixed using a mordant.
• Chop dye stuffs to make natural dyes as in medieval times.
• Learn about medieval clothing for rich and poor.
• Create a medieval outfit for a cardboard figure and display it with a description of the clothing used.

• Teacher’s instructions for making and using natural dye and medieval clothing for men and women
• Medieval person with stand and 3D text display card
• Dyeing clothes in medieval times

• 1 metre of white 100% cotton sheeting cut into quarters
• Ingredients for 4 plant dyes
• 8 chopping boards
• 8 knives suitable for children to chop vegetables
• 4 large saucepans
• 4 wooden spoons
• Access to a hob to boil dyes

There are no weblinks needed for this session.