Are you looking for fun resources to teach your kids about the Vikings? There are all sorts of wonderful crafts, printables, lesson plans and more — free for the taking!
Crafts and costumes:
- Bug, Boo and Bean has instructions to make your own cardboard Viking helmets and swords and shields.
- Relentlessly Fun, Deceptively Educational has another great DIY Viking shield.
- Hellokids.com has a printable Viking face mask.
- Loolido shows how to make a Viking ship from items from the recycling bin.
- Crayola offers another plan to make a Viking ship.
- House Manticore has detailed plans on how to make a Viking era tunic.
- Hurtswic has lots of photos of authentic looking Viking era clothing.
Lesson plans:
- Discovery Education offers a lesson plan that involves using egg cartons to make Viking longships, among other activities.
- Viking Network Ireland offers many lesson plans to teach kids about Vikings.
- CoreKnowledge.org offers The Vikings: Marauders or Explorers? (PDF file), The Vikings of Scandinavia (PDF file), Leif Ericsson (Leif “the Lucky”) an Unsung Discoverer (PDF file), Vikings: Vicious or Victorious? (PDF file), and Vikings: A Misunderstood People (PDF file).
Teacher resources:
- BBC offers lots of Vikings resources such as videos, worksheets, pictures and activities.
Online interactives:
- PBS’s The Vikings site offers a vast amount of information, including a video model Viking town and how to write your name as a rune.
- BBC offers a primary site all about the Vikings and Viking Quest.
Free downloads:
- The Smithsonian Institution’s Vikings Exhibit includes free PDF downloads for families and educators.
- www.bayeuxtapestry.org.uk offers a printable Norman ship to color and assemble.
Further information:
- The Amazing Vikings offers in-depth information from Time magazine.
- A Book in Time offers books on the Vikings.
Just for fun:
- BBC offers a Horrible Histories online game for kids to play about the Vikings.
- Check out the GORM Olde Proverb Maker!
Have fun!
