Medieval imaginative play isn’t just fun—it helps boost creativity, problem-solving, and social skills!

This post is packed with fun, toddler-friendly books, activities, and media all about castles, kings, queens, and dragons. You’ll find easy ideas like making crowns, building castles, and encouraging your little one to dive into imaginative play as royalty or knights. Plus, everything you need is right here in one spot—books, music, videos, and activities—making it super convenient to create a magical learning experience for your child.

Castle, Kings & Queens (and Dragons!) Theme Book List for Toddlers

Reading books on theme helps create background knowledge for children. I have compiled my favorite castle themed picture books to read with your toddlers. Use this list at the library or click the icons to read a review on goodreads or purchase on Amazon.

Castle, Kings & Queens (and Dragons!) Theme Activities for Toddlers

Here are easy and quick Castle and Dragon themed toddler activities for busy moms and dads. You’ll find enough activity ideas to help you through a full week of Medieval and Dragon play.

Castle Dress-Up and Role Play

• Crowns (see how to make your own below)
• Simple costumes (capes, shields, dresses),
• Toy swords or wands

Encourage your kids to dress up as kings/princes, queens/princesses, or knights. Have them role-play by acting out stories of defending the castle, battling the dragon, ruling the kingdom, or attending royal balls. See why dressing up is important to your child’s development in this blog post: Toddlers and Tutus: The Benefits of Dress Up Play

For a Cone Shaped Princess Crown:

• flexible Poster board (found at Dollar Tree)
• Stickers, markers, crayons or adhesive gems for decorating
• Scissors
• Ribbons or streamers
• Tape or glue
• String

If your paper is rectangular, you’ll first need to make a large half circle. To do this, cut a string half the length of the long side of the poster board. Tie a pen or pencil to one end of the string. hold the other end at the center of the long side of the paper. pull the string taught and draw a half circle from one corner on the paper to the other. Cut out the half circle. Roll the half circle into a cone shape. (Hint- as you begin to roll the paper into a cone, hold the paper straight edge up. the point of the cone will be formed along that edge.)

Adjust the size until the cone sits comfortably on your (or your child’s) head. Use tape or glue along the seam to secure the cone in place. To make the hat more magical, tape or glue a long piece of ribbon, thin fabric, or tissue paper inside the tip of the cone, so it flows down from the top. This will give the hat a beautiful, flowing tail. Decorate with crayons, markers, jewel stickers, glitter  or gems. Punch two small holes near the base of the cone and thread a ribbon or string through to tie under the chin, keeping the hat secure.

For a King or Queen’s Crown:

• Heavy paper like cardstock
• Stickers, markers, crayons or adhesive gems for decorating
• Scissors
• Tape or glue

Lay the paper flat and draw a straight line along one long edge (this will be the bottom of the crown). Along the top edge, draw a series of zigzag triangles or rounded arches to form the points of the crown. You can make these points tall and narrow or short and wide, depending on your design. Use scissors to carefully cut along the zigzag or arch line at the top. (Too confusing? Search for a free Kings crown template online). Decorate with crayons, markers, jewel stickers, glitter  or gems. If the paper is not long enough to wrap around the head in one piece, cut an extra strip of paper and glue or tape it to the ends of the crown to extend it. Alternatively, you can staple it to the correct size but then cover the staples with tape so no one gets hurt!

Musical Royal Parade

• Musical instruments (bells, tambourines) or pots and pans
• Ribbons or streamers
• Royal or parade music
• Hobby horses to ride in the parade or
• A wagon made up to looklike a royal carriage

Have toddlers march around like royalty, playing instruments in a “royal parade.” They can pretend they’re knights or princesses heading to the castle.

Treasure Hunt in the Castle

• Small toys or treasures, a crown or treasure chest.

Hide “treasures” around the house or backyard and let the children go on a royal quest to find them. You can give simple clues or let them explore freely.

Build a Castle and Dragons Den

• Building blocks or Lego Duplo.
• Recycled containers
• Blue fabric or paper for mote
• Medium size cardbord box
• Brown paper
• Plush or plastic dragon

Using blocks or recycled boxes and tubes, build a castle. Include blue fabric or paper for water for the mote. Don’t forget to include turrets, a moat and a drawbridge! Add in royalty or knight action figures and even a alligator for the moat!

For the dragon’s den use a medium size brown box to create a cave like den for the dragon. Cut a hole in the side of the box so it resembles a cave. Use brown paper crumbled into balls to look like rocks to decorate the outside. Use a plush or plastic dragon to live in the den.

Dragon Eggs

• Large bin to play in
• Kinetic sand (see recipe below)
• or Cloud dough (see recipe below)
• plastic eggs
• small bowl (optional)
• gems (optional)

Fill your sensory bin with Kinetic sand or cloud dough. Add a few plastic eggs for your child to mold the sand in. show them how to fill the egg with sand to create a sand dragons egg. Add a few plastic dragons and a small bowl to be used as a nest. You could even add in some gems that have been stolen from the castle!

Don’t have kinetic sand? You can use playdough or damp sand or try this recipe:

Homemade Kinetic Sand:

• 5 parts sand (Play sand, craft sand or a fine beach sand will work)
• 3 parts cornstarch or flour
• 1 part oil

Mix the dry ingredients well. Then add in oil. Mix until an even consistency is achieved. No sand available? Use cloud dough instead.

Cloud Dough

• Use 8 parts flour to
• 1 part oil.

Mix all ingredients well.

Castles, Kings & Queens (and Dragons!) Theme Media Links for Toddlers

Here are some toddler friendly links to YouTube videos about castles and dragons. I know we all hesitate to purposefully put our toddlers in front of a screen, but it does happen. So, you might as well have some quality links to head to.

• WHEN A DRAGON MOVES IN by Jodi Moore and Howard McWilliam – A read aloud
• Blippi Explores A Castle And Learns History– Hosted children’s show
• Mike The Knight Special | The Journey to Dragon Mountain – Cartoon episode
• Dragon Tales: Sand Castle Hassle/A Friend In Need – Cartoon episode
• Meekah’s Medieval Playground – Hosted children’s show
• Castle Song for Kids – Music Learning and Puppet Show -Song
• PAW Patrol- Rescue Knights Pups Save the Princess – Cartoon episode
• We Love Peppa Pig The Castle #1 -Cartoon episode

---

I hope this castle-themed book list, quick and easy toddler activities and quality media links bring lots of fun, creativity, and learning to your little one’s day! Imaginative play is such a great way to help toddlers grow, and with everything you need right here, all in one place, it’s easy to dive right in. So, grab a crown, build a castle, and let the royal adventures begin—happy playing!

Toddlers and Tutus: 8 Developmental Benefits of Toddler Dress Up Play