Grade 6 Medieval Games: A Year of Knighthood Comes to Life

Sixth grade in Waldorf education is a year of new rigor. As students move deeper into the Middle Ages in their history studies, they're also asked to hold themselves to a new standard — one modeled on the virtues of knighthood: honesty, justice, nobility, prudence, courage, loyalty, gallantry, fortitude, and hope. Each spring, a year of study and striving culminates in the regional Waldorf Medieval Games in Hood Canal.

A Day of Shires and Challenges

Joining classes from other regional Waldorf schools, students are divided into mixed shires for a day of medieval-style competition, including archery, rope jousting, spear throwing, a running relay, group challenge games and more. As shires, students also complete a challenging adventure run through the woods, send arrows soaring from longbows they’ve made by hand, and let their chivalrous manners shine throughout.

A highlight of the Games is a costumed medieval feast hosted by the Sunfield Waldorf School community — a fitting way to close out an event built on camaraderie as much as competition. It's a connection our students carry forward, too: many of the same regional Waldorf classes will reunite the following year when WHWS hosts the regional Renaissance Faire for 7th grade.

Built With Their Own Hands

The longbows students take to the Games are handmade, part of a school year that included two dedicated archery blocks to prepare for the Medieval Games. Much of that preparation came from a field trip to Silver Arrow Bowmen, where students learn archery safety, bow construction, and proper shooting technique. From limb design and string tension to safe shooting form, students leave curious, engaged, and equipped to keep practicing archery.

Knighthood as a Rite of Passage

Between archery blocks, rich history studies, and the discipline of preparing longbows by hand, the Medieval Games ask a great deal of our 6th graders, and they rise to meet it. It's a fitting capstone to a year spent studying an age defined by honor and skill: not just reading about knighthood, but training for it, practicing its virtues, and finally, testing them together.