Vikings

The kids studied Vikings in the Spring and I'm finally getting around to posting about their activities. 

(I'm going to work harder at posting faster and more frequently when school starts up in the Fall, if for no other reason than it will keep me from forgetting details.)

The kids used the Usborne Starting Point History, Who Were The Vikings? and Eyewitness Books Viking as ongoing resources as they learned about the various aspects of Viking life.

 

 

 In addition, George read Time Warp Trio - Viking It and Liking It and How To Train Your Dragon, while Vicki read a easy reader version of How to Train Your Dragon, the Magic Tree House Viking Ships at Sunrise and Jen read from You Wouldn't Want T Be a Viking Explorer.  They've both seen the How to Train Your Dragon movie repeatedly, as well as the cartoon series on television so they knew all about Viking life already. ;-)

They started by learning general information about the Vikings - who they were, when they lived and where they came from.    The first activity was making Viking helmets out of cardboard and foil.  Both kids decided to make single horn helmets instead of the stereotypical double horn.

 

They learned about life in Viking days, the daily activities of Viking life, about Viking homes, the Longhouse, and Viking Settlements.

Using the Usborne Cut-Out Model - Make This Viking Settlement, they put together a miniature Viking village of their own.

 

 

They learned more about the daily life of a Viking, their roles as farmers, fishers and hunters, and about their meals.  They made Viking bread from wheat flour, white flour, oats, baking soda and salt.  It was a very.......dense bread, traditionally eaten with honey.  It was definitely not as sweet as modern breads.   This bread seemed like it would travel very well in the bottom of a pack (it was really solid bread). 

They learned more about the Viking people - the Kings and Freemen, Women and Children, and the Viking Warriors and their weapons.  They decorated their own Viking shields and made swords out of cardboard and foil.

Vicki wasn't feel well one day and fell asleep cuddling with her Viking sword.  Ahhh, the joys of homeschooling.  :-D


 

They learned about the sea journeys of the Vikings, about the Viking Warships and Longships.

They made their own longships using milk cartons, cardboard, toothpicks, straws, skewers and tape. 

 

 

They learned about the Viking raids, their roles as traders, explorers, settlers and merchants.  Using air-drying clay they made coins and die stamps.  

They learned about the Vikings discovery of North American and made a map of the Vikings journey to America using Scholastic Interactive 3-D Maps: American History.

 

They learned about Viking writing and picture stories and wrote their names in runes (unfortunately Vikings got a little spill on it).

 

They learned about Viking past-times - their craftsmanship and made braided bracelets from air-drying clay, their music and made pan pipes from straws and tape.

They learned about the gods and legends of the Vikings and their famous heroes.

Using lapbook components originally from Dynamic2Moms but later moved to Tinas Dynamic Homeschool Plus, they learned about Viking vocabulary and important dates in Viking history.

In the midst of all the Viking fun, the kids had the opportunity to participate in a Homeschool Geography Fair.   Jennifer did a great job setting up a display showing many of the things they had learned about during their studies.

 

 

The activity for their display was making Viking shields and swords, which of course led to lots of battles throughout the evening.

 

 

 

 

The kids enjoyed learning about other countries and cultures on display, and doing the many fun activities.  Vicki enjoyed getting to try Swedish Fish.  :-)