Do you want to have a crown fit for a king or queen? Try out this cool historical Byzantine king or queen crown craft! You can easily make your own using simple craft supplies and a cardboard box!
History of Crowns for Kids
In the early medieval era, an empire called The Byzantine Empire would rise after the fall of the Roman Empire. The kings and queens of The Byzantine Empire would call themselves emperor or empress. They wore fancy golden crowns that were covered in rare and expensive jewels.
Their crowns represented their power as emperor and empress, as well as the power of the Byzantine Empire! You can find out more about details and history of the crown at the end of the article.
Easy Crown Craft
This craft is great for children of all ages and awesome for parents! It’s a great way to develop motor skills and to keep your kids entertained.
- You can easily make this craft with some cardboard, paints, and jewel stickers.
- The crown craft in addition to adding enrichment through activity, can also encourage kids to use imaginative play by pretending to be king or queen.
This craft can be done at home and inside. Although if you want to avoid a mess from the paints either lay down a tarp or table cloth, or go outside to paint.
Supplies Needed for crown craft
- cardboard
- pencil
- ruler
- tape measure
- paint, markers or paint markers
- jewel stickers
- tape.
How to make Byzantine crown Craft with Kids
- Gather your materials
- Measure your head to find out its diameter. Make sure the measurement overlaps a bit to make sure that the crown is not too small.
- Measure the same amount onto your cardboard and mark the ends with a pencil or marker.
- Use the ruler to draw a line connecting both ends of your measurement. Make sure its done on the top and bottom, about 1in to 1 ½ in tall.
- Cut out of your card board following your guidelines, this will be the main headband.
- Try it on your head to make sure it’s the right size.
- Next using the leftover cardboard, draw an archway shape about 2in tall, 1 ½ in wide.
- Tape the arch onto the middle of your headband.
- Next you’re going to paint your crown yellow or light orange to mimic gold.
- Let the paint dry.
- Add symbols or drawings with your paint markers onto the crown. You can add lines, swirls, drawings, or even your name!
- Add jewel stickers to the crown.
- Finally after all the paint is dry, try on the crown and tape the two ends together. Ta-da! You have your own Byzantine Crown!
Prep Time
5 minutes
Active Time
1 hour 30 minutes
Total Time
1 hour 35 minutes
Difficulty
easy
Estimated Cost
$10
Materials
- Cardboard
- Paints
- Tape
- Tape measure
- Pencil
- Ruler
Tools
- tape
- scissors
- pencil
- paint brushes
Instructions
- Measure head with some overlap for extra room.
- Measure same amount onto cardboard, mark the end and beginging.
- Use ruler to draw two lines, one top and one bottom, from end to begining. This is the headband.
- Cut headband out of cardboard.
- Try on to make sure size is correct.
- Draw an archway into leftover cardboard.
- Cut out archway.
- Glue or tape into center of headband.
- Paint crown yellow or orange.
- Let paint dry.
- Add decorative designs with paint.
- Let paint dry.
- Add jewel stickers.
- Ta-da! You’re all done!
Finished Historical Crown Craft
The finished Crown Craft can be used in pretend play or as a decoration. When used in pretend play, kids can pretend by themselves or with other to be the ruling Emperor or Empress of their pretend empire. This can encourage kids to be creative and use their imaginations when playing, which can result in more fun and less boredom!
My Experience with this Crown Craft
When actually making the craft, I had a blast. The only part I found difficult was cutting out the cardboard, but that’s to be expected when working with a tougher material. I enjoyed adding all the details, even if they aren’t completely accurate or as elaborate as Byzantine crowns themselves. I had used some of my orange, yellow, and cream paint markers to help add depth and texture to the crown and help make it really look 3D. Initially I thought I would just paint on the jewels of the crown, but after digging through my supplies drawer, I found some gem sticker sheets that would work perfectly. Once I had finished, my crown I was immensely pleased with how it came out, even if it was a little rough around the edges (but that adds character).
Crowns & the Byzantine Empire
During my college’s 2023 Spring Semester I took a class on the Byzantine Empire from 600CE to 1000CE. While in that class I had fallen in love with and gained an appreciation for Byzantine art forms, as well as the rich symbolism frequently used in Byzantine art work. It was reminiscent of art made by the Romans (which makes sense, as the Byzantines thought of themselves as Romans. They only have the name “Byzantine Empire” because of modern scholarship’s need to differentiate the vast cultural, political, and societal shifts after the fall of the city Rome.), yet had its own unique twists. If you do a google search on Byzantine art you’ll find beautiful mosaics and a love for gold in artwork. Their crowns are no different! They are just as beautiful, elaborate, and rich with symbolism, so I had to make my own. That’s when the idea for this craft came to me.
I do have to thank my professor for that history class, Dr. Walter Roberts. I found the class to be interesting and informative even if I didn’t understand what was going on sometimes. Despite the tumultuous nature of Byzantine History, Dr. Roberts made the class genuinely enjoyable with his lectures, provision of primary and secondary sources, the books he had chosen for us to read, and, of course, his use of gold stars. Pretty much all the information I used in this article came from his class. In the future I hope to make more projects and crafts based off of what I learned. Thank you, Dr. Roberts!
More Crown & History Fun for Kids
How did your crown craft turn out? Tell us in the comments below!
Don’t miss out on these easy toddler crafts either!
