Queen Elizabeth II has reigned for 70 years which makes her the longest reigning British monarch, and the longest reigning female monarch in history. The Platinum Jubilee is an anniversary of her ascension to the throne on 2nd June 1953.
Here we share some Queen’s Platinum Jubilee ideas you might like to try at home with your child. We hope you enjoy the celebrations!
Find out about the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee
Does your child know what the Platinum Jubilee is? For young children, this short film called Queen Elizabeth’s Platinum Jubilee by Miss Ellis explains everything they might like to know.
For older children, Queen Elizabeth: World’s longest-reigning monarch from India Today gives them key facts and an insight into what the Platinum Jubilee is all about.
If your child wants to learn about the Queen’s life story and more about her role, we recommend Queen Elizabeth II (A Life Story) by Sally Morgan and Our Queen Elizabeth: Her Extraordinary Life by Kate William for children from age 8 upwards. Busy Royal Family by Campbell Books is great for very young children.
Sing the UK National Anthem
We may take it for granted that our children know the National Anthem, but we may be surprised. As it is part of our heritage, there is no better time to learn it than now.
There are lots of versions of the National Anthem available on YouTube, but like everything on YouTube it’s important to watch it yourself first for internet safety reasons.
Go exploring
There are plenty of historic royal buildings to visit both in London and outside London including Buckingham Palace, Windsor Castle, the Tower of London, Balmoral and Sandringham – to name just a few.
Don’t worry if you cannot make a trip out because there are virtual tours available either on the websites or on YouTube.
Queen’s Platinum Jubilee ideas: arts and crafts
Here are a few of our favourite Jubilee-themed arts and crafts
Crown Jewels
Your child could make necklaces, bracelets or charms by threading beads onto elastic.
Red, white and blue beads can be bought very cheaply from Ebay and other places online. Your child could thread these beads in random or repeating patterns.
Alternatively, they might use gold, silver and sparkling beads to make jewels fit for royalty.
Flag buns
Make these easy buns and then decorate them with red, white and blue icing for a Union Jack.
To make the buns, preheat an oven to 1800C/1600 fan. Simply mix 100g caster sugar, 100g self-raising flour, 100g soft butter, 2 eggs and 1 teaspoon of vanilla essence in a food processor. Spoon the mixture into 12 cake cases and bake for 20 minutes.
Once the cupcakes are cool, decorate them as Union Jacks. Start by covering the top of each cake with a layer of pale blue buttercream. Make buttercream by mixing 600g of sifted icing sugar with 300g of soft butter and then adding a few drops of blue food colouring.
Once the cakes are covered in blue icing, criss-cross lines of red and white fondant icing (which you can buy in tubes from supermarkets) across each cake to make a Union Jack. It may be helpful for your child to have a picture of a Union Jack in front of them.
Hama bead Union Jack
If your child has enough red, white and blue Hama beads at home they could create this Union Jack coaster. Huge tubs of Hama beads can be bought very reasonably online.
Platinum Jubilee fortune teller
Do you remember making an origami fortune teller when you were a child? Here are some instructions from Red Ted Art and a template to make a Jubilee-themed fortune teller.
Queen’s crown
We love this crown from Today’s Parent which is made from craft pipe-cleaners. It is a bit fiddly though and it’s definitely a craft for older children.
For younger children, make a crown by cutting a wide cardboard strip to fit around the circumference of their head (a large cereal box is perfect for this). Your child can decorate the strip with anything they like – photos cut from magazines, stickers, craft supplies you have at home, leaves from the garden etc. When they’ve finished decorating, tape or staple the strip into a loop around their head.
Union Jack garland
This Union Jack garland craft is brilliant for practicing fine motor skills and patience.
Children weave red, white and blue wool around a cardboard template to make a Union Jack design. If they do not want to make a whole garland, they can just make one to hang.
Windsor Castle
Make Windsor Castle (or any castle really!). All you need are cardboard tubes, old cereal boxes and other miscellaneous packaging you would otherwise recycle. For inspiration, type ‘easy simple cardboard castle’ into Google Images.
As an alternative to using hot glue, your child could use a cold glue gun to fix boxes together or masking tape which is easier to paint over than cellotape.
So that your child does not have to paint over shiny print, carefully peel boxes apart and turn them inside out, fixing them back together with tape or glue.
Royal guards
How about making some lolly stick guards to play with in the castle? All your child needs are wooden lolly sticks which you can save or buy online, a black and a red felt tipped pen, a gold marker pen, black craft pom-poms and glue dots.
Does your child love learning?
Whether your child has a passion for a certain subject, or they need help with a specific area of learning, TutorMyKids can help.
Our tutors build on children’s interests and passions and boost their confidence so they develop a ‘can do’ attitude. When children are enthusiastic, motivated and determined we know they are more likely to reach the highest standards of achievement.
We offer tuition in English, maths, humanities and languages to children in Cambridge, Ely, Huntingdon, Newmarket and the surrounding areas.
To find out more about one-to-one tuition please contact 01223 858 421 or hello@tutormykids.co.uk