Viking History Co-op. Week 6: Warriors

Week 6: We made Viking shields.

Not all Vikings were brutal fighters. Some were peaceful farmers, blacksmits, wives and mothers. And, they didn't wear hats with horns? That style of dress was originally used to portray Vikings in a play in much more recent history.

On the other hand, some Vikings were fierce warriors. Their ships were lined with men rowing oars seated next to round shields. Most of their attacks took their enemies by surprise and they loved to attack religious establishments as they contained many treasures, but were not well guarded.

Dying in battle was respected, honorable and desired by Vikings. Those lucky enough to die fighting went to Valhalla where they fought all day and feasted all night.

In conjunction with learning about Viking warriors, we created Viking shields. Viking shields were round and constructed from metal with raised designs. Our shields were constructed from round pieces of cardboard found in pizza boxes.

They were adorned with glue droppings, lids from food containers and buttons to create raised areas.

Then they were painted.

Here are links to other hands-on history activities.
Celts
Vikings
Scythians
Ancient China