Design a coat of arms

What can we use instead of hard-to-find items like child-safe scissors, markers, or poster board?

If you don't have child-safe scissors, use adult scissors with supervision or tear along the shield outline, color the sections with crayons or colored pencils instead of markers when you trace and color the shield, and glue your cut-out shield onto cardboard from a cereal box rather than a poster.

What should we do if the paper tears while cutting or the colors smear when tracing over pencil lines?

If the paper tears while you carefully cut out the shield, reinforce it first by gluing the drawing onto cardboard or using clear tape along the cut line, and if marker smears when you trace over pencil, let each inked line dry or switch to colored pencils for the final outlines.

How can I change this activity to suit different ages?

For younger children, pre-draw the large shield and divide the sections and give stickers for symbols and help write the motto on the banner, while older kids can add extra quarters, intricate marker details, patterns like dots or stripes, and photograph the finished coat of arms to upload to DIY.org.

How can we extend or personalize the finished coat of arms beyond the basic instructions?

To enhance your design, glue on fabric scraps, ribbon, or small craft gems around the shield border, use metallic or gel markers for final flourishes, or mount and laminate the glued poster before taking the photo to share on DIY.org.