Viking Unit Study Ideas
When my kid were asking and begging to learn about the Vikings last year I was so excited! Finally they WANTED to learn about world history. They were anxious to delve into some books, art projects, and really study the Viking culture.
I had no idea how hard it was going to be to find appropriate materials with which to teach them. Most everything I found about Vikings was geared more towards adults and focused a lot on pillaging, war, raping, and the like.
We talked about Viking ships, Vikings, where Norway is located.
We read about the climate of Norway, the traditions of the people there and we talked about/compared it all to our Disney trip to EPCOT and the Norway pavilion.
My boys have even eaten some of the food from that country when we had dinner at that pavilion. We have photos of the boys with a Viking statue and I reminded them of some of the houses and ships we saw.
The unit was great fun and I was happy with all that we covered. I have since found a few more books and the boys have read them here and there as they were interested in it.
1. Odd and the Frost Giants-- It's about a Viking/Norwegian boy who has to go to the land of Asgard and defeat the frost giants.
2. Felix Travels Back In Time-- This adorable travelling bunny ends up travelling back in time during this book and visits different time periods; the viking time included.
3. Who Were the Vikings?-- Why did they have horns on their hats? What do we know about them... this book has answers.
4. Eric the Red; The Viking Adventurer-- This book tells the story of one famous viking; Eric the Red.
5. Leif the Lucky-- Son of Eric The Red, this story tells about Leif. My boys enjoyed this biography tremendously.
6. How to Be a Viking-- This fictional tale was written to go along with the How to Train your Dragon series it's so funny.
7. How to Train Your Dragon-- We listened to all of these books on CD and while we knew they were not true we loved reading about Hiccups adventures and all his mishaps.
8. Yo Vikings-- While learning about viking explorers, one little girl's imagination runs wild. This fun book allows readers to join her on her adventures.
9. Viking Ship at Sunrise-- Jack and Annie travel back to the time of the Vikings.
10. Viking Fact Tracker-- The non-fiction book to accompany Viking Ship at Sunrise.
11. Voyage with the Vikings-- Cousins Beth and Patrick join Eric the Red and Leif the Lucky on their voyage to America in this Imagination Station novel.
12. You Wouldn't Want to be a Viking Explorer-- Find out what life was like back then and learn why you wouldn't want to be a viking explorer.
13. Life as a Viking-- A choose your way adventure! My boys love these; they are our new favorite series to read! This one tells about heroic viking adventures and it's no surprise that most choices lead to death.
14. The Last Viking-- In this book a timid little boy imagines himself as Knut, a fearless viking.
15. National Geographic Kids Everything Viking-- Everything you've ever wanted to know about Vikings!
1. We made Viking ships-- Here are some other great printable ship ideas.
2. We made and decorated Viking Shields-- a wonderful set of instructions can be found here; though we just cut colored foam board into circles and used tape and markers to decorate ours.
3. We made Viking Masks-- Using this printable color and cut paper.
4. We were going to make Viking Bread-- You can find the recipe here.
5. There are all sorts of printable papers and activities here to go along with the book The Last Viking.
6. How to Draw a Viking Long ship.
7. These are great instructions for making a Viking broach.
8. We wrote using runes and made up stories of Viking voyages.
9. We looked at maps and talked about the various routes they might have traveled.
10. We bought Viking helmets-- but you can make them! Here is great idea making Viking helmets using cereal boxes!
11. Make this Viking Village-- a great book filled with all sorts of paper crafts to make a realistic looking Viking village.
12. We found this beautiful stained glass coloring book about Vikings--
13. We used some activity pages from our Felix Activity Book
14. There is this Viking craft book; Crafts from the Past.
15. We also liked this Viking color book
I had no idea how hard it was going to be to find appropriate materials with which to teach them. Most everything I found about Vikings was geared more towards adults and focused a lot on pillaging, war, raping, and the like.
We were finally able to piece a unit together using a blend of fiction and non- fiction books, some fun craft projects, and ended up combining it with a study of Norway.
We talked about Viking ships, Vikings, where Norway is located.
We read about the climate of Norway, the traditions of the people there and we talked about/compared it all to our Disney trip to EPCOT and the Norway pavilion.
My boys have even eaten some of the food from that country when we had dinner at that pavilion. We have photos of the boys with a Viking statue and I reminded them of some of the houses and ships we saw.
The unit was great fun and I was happy with all that we covered. I have since found a few more books and the boys have read them here and there as they were interested in it.
Here are the books we've enjoyed reading about Norway and the Vikings:
1. Odd and the Frost Giants-- It's about a Viking/Norwegian boy who has to go to the land of Asgard and defeat the frost giants.
4. Eric the Red; The Viking Adventurer-- This book tells the story of one famous viking; Eric the Red.
7. How to Train Your Dragon-- We listened to all of these books on CD and while we knew they were not true we loved reading about Hiccups adventures and all his mishaps.
8. Yo Vikings-- While learning about viking explorers, one little girl's imagination runs wild. This fun book allows readers to join her on her adventures.
9. Viking Ship at Sunrise-- Jack and Annie travel back to the time of the Vikings.
12. You Wouldn't Want to be a Viking Explorer-- Find out what life was like back then and learn why you wouldn't want to be a viking explorer.
13. Life as a Viking-- A choose your way adventure! My boys love these; they are our new favorite series to read! This one tells about heroic viking adventures and it's no surprise that most choices lead to death.
14. The Last Viking-- In this book a timid little boy imagines himself as Knut, a fearless viking.
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Here are some of the Craft and hands on Projects we enjoyed or thought about using:
1. We made Viking ships-- Here are some other great printable ship ideas.
3. We made Viking Masks-- Using this printable color and cut paper.
4. We were going to make Viking Bread-- You can find the recipe here.
5. There are all sorts of printable papers and activities here to go along with the book The Last Viking.
6. How to Draw a Viking Long ship.
7. These are great instructions for making a Viking broach.
8. We wrote using runes and made up stories of Viking voyages.
9. We looked at maps and talked about the various routes they might have traveled.
10. We bought Viking helmets-- but you can make them! Here is great idea making Viking helmets using cereal boxes!
11. Make this Viking Village-- a great book filled with all sorts of paper crafts to make a realistic looking Viking village.
12. We found this beautiful stained glass coloring book about Vikings--
We will be studying the Vikings next month. I also had a little bit of a harder time trying to come up with age appropriate books. I think I will add some of your suggestions to our plans for next month. They kids are really looking forward to making swords and shields. Thanks for the information
ReplyDeleteOh great, glad I could help! Enjoy your unit; it's so much fun!
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