Viking history co-op. Week 1: Glitter Maps

Week 1: We created glitter maps.

The sea fairing people of the the north gained a bad reputation by the way they introduced themselves to new people. Back at home, they lived fairly peaceful lives as fishermen and farmers. Known for their fierceness in battle and uniquely designed ships, the Vikings were an interesting people to study.

The Vikings lived in Northern Europe primarily in the countries today known as Norway, Sweden and Denmark. There explorations brought them to many surrounding lands. Between the 8th and 11th centuries when the Vikings thrived, they were successful in taking over parts of France and Britain. They settled in Iceland and Greenland and even sailed to Canada. Their boats were shallow enough for them to venture far inland on rivers and they made an impact in Russia.

Therefore, our Viking glitter maps showed Europe, part of Canada and Russia.

Beginning with a paper map, glue was spread over regions of water and sprinkled with blue glitter. Once the excess glitter was shaken off the process was repeated with other colors of glitter used to represent areas of land.

To read more about our hands-on history activities click on one of the cultures below.
Celts
Vikings
Scythians
Ancient China