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Taking your kid to the Renaissance Festival
I’m attempting to weed through the 2 million folders of pictures I have to sort through, and as I was doing that I found the pictures from when we went to Sherwood Forest Faire last Spring.
For our family, the first rule for taking your kid to the Renaissance Festival: they have to be at least 2.5 years old.
It’s an arbitrary age, but then they’re at a point where life won’t end if they miss their naps for the day, they can walk around for most of the day, and in my daughter’s case, she’s partially potty-trained.
Many people will bring their infants, but for us that was not a plan we wanted to try, before that age, we left the baby at home with Mimi (my Mom who generously kept them).
Tip 1 for taking your kid to the Renaissance Festival: Pick a costume out.
Once you get there your kid will probably want one. For little girls it can be the princess outfit already in her closet. For your son, a simple piece of cloth with a hole cut in it for his head will suffice, oh and a sword, which can be picked up at the dollar store. You have those items and you’ve got the start of a magical day.
Resaons not to wear a costume: weather, it might be too cold for the outfit; don’t have one, as I said it’s super simple to create one, but if you can’t, it’s still a lot of fun to not go in costume, and a good portion don’t wear costumes, but I really enjoy going in costume.
Tip 2 for taking your kid to the Renaissance Festival: Bring some small snacks.
Food costs more there, just like it’s an amusement park, and your kids will get hungry. Most festivals allow you to bring in snacks. You can’t bring a big huge cooler, but you can have some snacks in your purse or back pack.
That being said, make sure to try some of the food there. This time we tried out crepes made on the spot, and it was fascinating for us to see how it was made. It’s a great chance to learn about other cultures and other food styles.
Tip 3 for taking your kid to the Renaissance Festival: bring some spending money
There are a lot of fun games and ways to spend money there. This past time the kids earned their spending money and the boys both earned almost $30 to spend (grossly exaggerated wages helped), and Princess earned about $20. They spent it jousting, fishing, on a magic necklace, and some fun toys. We let them spend it how they wanted, but we had veto power. They weren’t allowed to get a few things they wanted that we knew would end up in the trash bin very quickly.
That being said there are a lot of things you can do without spending money, keep reading.
Tip 4 for taking your kid to the Renaissance festival: take in a show
There are lots of great shows that welcome audience participation, go watch some. They’re free (they gather tips), and they’re fun. I’d check the schedule at the beginning and make note of shows you want to see. When we go to the Texas Renaissance Festival we always see the jousting. This year at Sherwood Forest Faire we loved the magician’s show, it was funny.
A word of warning, many of the shows at Renaissance Festivals have adult humor, so keep an eye out for that because you don’t want to end up covering your kids ears or having to leave rather than explain the joke.
Tip 5 for taking your kid to the Renaissance festival: Enjoy the ambiance.
For me the best part is just watching what’s going on:
watching the kids play on the pretend castle, and guard against attackers,
making faces in the face cut-outs,
escaping from jail,
firing the cannon,
and the ever popular, being in the pillory.
So, I’d say have a blast at the Festival, bring your kids when you’re ready to, and take a lot of pictures. I took about 100 pictures that day in March, and now I need to sort through the best ones to get it manageable.
Comments
20 responses to “Taking your kid to the Renaissance Festival”
How funny you wrote about it today – we went to North California Ren Faire this past weekend. Daughter didn’t ask about costume even once, but she did want to do things, and we were not quite prepared for how much everything costs. The shows were great though, and it was fascinating to see so many people dressed up. I kept thinking about you when I was seeing families all properly dressed for this event 🙂
Your post reminded me I’d written this, but not published it.
Did yours have a falconry show? That is one of my favorite shows every year.
I’d agree with all of these tips, except we didn’t take our little ones until they were school age because of all the walking involved.
Yeah, Jeff did a lot of kid carrying early on. He’s much more likely than I am to give in and carry them.
Can I bring stroller though?
Yes, but you probably want an all-terrain stroller or a jogging stroller because the ground isn’t always smooth.
We have one a couple hours away…hmm. 🙂
Good warning about the shows! It’s something that we do try to be careful of.
One time we went there and the group was called, I kid you not, “The Saucy Nuns,” and it was a trio of women singing acapella and I can state with almost complete certainty that no real nun would sing those songs…… They’d blush, a lot.
I shared Natalie’s surprise over the cost of everything when we visited a Renaissance Faire last year – especially since the entrance tickets are fairly highly priced! I think your tips are spot on, and would love to try out our local one in a few years, when I think the kids will be more ready to enjoy it.
I think of the games they have as being like the traditional carnival games they have at 6 Flags or other amusement parks. They’re a fun add-on, but you don’t have to pay to enjoy them. There are so many shows you can do that are free and fun, I don’t really bother with the extra charge items, but my kids love them. So, I let them choose to spend their money there if they want. They usually have 1 or 2 items they want to try.
Thanks for the great tips! I’ve been wanting to go to one of those but I think we’ll wait another year before we go. Had no idea that’s what it was called…a pillory.
So here’s the mnemonic I learned at Colonial Williamsburg:
A pillory is for your head like a pillow.
Stock is for your feet like stockings.Ever since then it’s stuck.
Awesome!
This looks like so much fun. We try to bring snacks with us too. My son is always ready to snack.
My kids too, especially if they’re feeling bored.
ohh my goodness it looks like they had so much fun!!
I LOVE going there, it is soooo much fun.
What wonderful fun! I couldn’t imagine taking B2 to anything like that at her age, although I would have happily taken the older three when they were two. Then again B2 still naps for three hours each day, is VERY grumpy if she is tired, bored, hungry…….Maybe when she’s older, not napping and not grumpy!!
There’s always that one child who will wander away. I think at 2 the boys had backpacks on with leashes because they had a tendency to wander……. It made things interesting.
Thank for you creating this content. For a dad such as myself who is a fan of middle-age lores and tales but have never been to a renaissance fair, I find these tips super helpful. So thanks!
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