We have generations that have grown up in the Society, so we can assure you that our events are family friendly. We have Youth officers in most of our groups and we have active youth members all over the Isles. It is easy for young members to get involved from the minutes they start, especially in the Arts and Sciences and archery, with children’s tournaments at events like Raglan Fair each year. It’s a fantastic way to learn about history in a real and practical sense. We as a Society play a lot of games, indoor and outdoor, and kids are enthusiastic participants. As they grow they can take on with marshal skills, like fencing from 14 and heavy armoured combat from 16. Sometimes younger children get to have combat tournaments with “boffer” weapons.
We encourage children and teens to find ways to participate in all our events; kids are often enthusiastic helpers in the kitchens, servers at feast, messengers and water bearers, heralds and bellringers. We have young bards and entertainers who participate in bardic circles and entertain us at feast.
Obviously children will need supervision by parents/guardians when participating in our activities.
A personal experience
The SCA is cool, I love the clothes and it's great to meet new people, there's always someone to be friends with. You have the opportunity to learn new and very different crafts in the arts and sciences, learning how to make stuff is the best, one time we got to use a forge and make forks. I like that I am trusted with more grown up activities, I enjoy cooking in the kitchen for feast. When I bake things I always have people to share them with and they are very encouraging. We play a lot of games at the events we go to which I love.
Meri Baxter, Eplaheimr