Children -Re-enactment on the March

[Gaius Julius Caesar]

Right GJC! It makes the mouths of adults sound nicer, too, :wink: doesn't it?

Thats the theory anyway...in practice..... :oops:

[Sutoris]

There's one boy (11year) in LegioXI.
He's helping the priests.

[M. Demetrius]

Hmm. Like an altar boy?

[Chlodovicus]

Hmm. Like an altar boy?

My 11 yr old refuses to be a "slave," and I refuse for him to be an altar boy.

[Sutoris]

Hmm. Like an altar boy?

Yes, and he's very interested in the rituals.

[Gobae]

Our Celtic group did a primitive trek with our daughters a couple of years ago. It went quite well and I heartily recommend adult re-enactors involve their kids if the kids are interested.

Sometimes this can be more difficult if a group is more military oriented, but it's by no means impossible. One of the potential options might be to find others in your group open to the idea of including kids and expand your event offerings to include historically appropriate events where a family or kids would have been present.

Finally, if your child really isn't interested (they've tried it at least once but still don't like it), don't force them to participate. First, it will probably do nothing more than turn them off to the whole thing. Second, they'll be miserable, you'll be miserable, and others in your group will probably be miserable too.

[Gobae]

Shoes have been a problem due their small size. After they got to a certain age they cheap 'Iron Age shoes' were no longer suited for their feet, and I've so far been lucky to find a source for good shoes (thanks Martin Moser!) for them. I'm still mystified why regular re-enactment shoe vendors don't sell smaller sizes,

We simply make them; they're not that hard. At this point (because the kids keep growing out of them ) we have several sizes available for other member's kids.

[Chlodovicus]

Shoes have been a problem due their small size. After they got to a certain age they cheap 'Iron Age shoes' were no longer suited for their feet, and I've so far been lucky to find a source for good shoes (thanks Martin Moser!) for them. I'm still mystified why regular re-enactment shoe vendors don't sell smaller sizes,

We simply make them; they're not that hard. At this point (because the kids keep growing out of them ) we have several sizes available for other member's kids.

Mr. Crowther,

Thanks for the replies. We have a few book-smart academics and a military historian with this embryonic bunch, but not so much practical experience. I absolutely agree the kids will need to have the interest or it is a waste of everyone's effort. It is the same with sports.

The concensus obviously is carbatinae for the children as the most realistic and practical shoes. I need to pick a few RAT brains as to ordering as we have no workshop available. For this spring/summer we just need to get as equipped as we can.

[M. Demetrius]

I'm not sure where to send you to order them, but as several have said, they're really easy to make. If you could all get together for a potluck lunch or something, and had the scissors, knives, leather and sewing kit there, you could probably all go home with a pair by the end of that day. Try making a pair from felt, from any of the several how-to sites. They really are simple to make. If you need some pointers, PM me, and I'll see if I can help from long distance.

[Robert Vermaat]

I'm not sure where to send you to order them, but as several have said, they're really easy to make. If you could all get together for a potluck lunch or something, and had the scissors, knives, leather and sewing kit there, you could probably all go home with a pair by the end of that day. Try making a pair from felt, from any of the several how-to sites. They really are simple to make. If you need some pointers, PM me, and I'll see if I can help from long distance.

Really simple? That's shoes with proper hard soles? And hobnails?

[M. Demetrius]

No, carbatinae are one-piece, soft soles, like moccasins, more or less. No hobnails. We do add a saddle-leather sole, since we have lots of thorns on everything from vines and trees to grass and cactus here in Texas, but it isn't historically necessary, and from what I've seen, the originals didn't usually have that outer sole.
http://www.andyburke.co.uk/ancient.htm
http://www.larp.com/legioxx/civcloth.html
On the other hand, I have thought of putting hobnails on an outer sole so I don't have to repair the stitching as often. Might just do that one of these days.

[Robert Vermaat]

OK, so we're talking calcei when there's an added sole? And carbatinae without one?

Btw, I don't recommend shoes without soles for older children, as they need more support for their developing feet.

[John Conyard]

Just make some carbatinae, then add a second hard sole using hobnails, glue, clothing tacks or whatever you feel comfortable with. Simple, cheap, hard wearing and easy to adjust.

Cheat and use chrome tanned leather for extra water proofing. Cheat and add a heel. Whatever the child needs and likes. The child likes to be part of the design process and it gives them ownership of the finished product.

[jvrjenivs]

No, carbatinae are one-piece, soft soles, like moccasins, more or less. No hobnails. We do add a saddle-leather sole, since we have lots of thorns on everything from vines and trees to grass and cactus here in Texas, but it isn't historically necessary, and from what I've seen, the originals didn't usually have that outer sole.
http://www.andyburke.co.uk/ancient.htm

To my knowledge, that aren't crbatinae, but shoes from the pre-Roman period.

[Gobae]

Btw, I don't recommend shoes without soles for older children, as they need more support for their developing feet.

Good thing our ancestors didn't know that, or the kids might not have been able to walk. :roll:

Quite frankly the amount of walking that will be done in them is unlikely to adversely affect a child's feet (assuming they don't have a preexisting condition).