They rob, they pillage, they burn villages to the ground.  The mere sight of them would evacuate villages in an instant.  What is not to love about Vikings?  I got this book called black-line maps of American History.  Yes, it actually did lay in a corner untouched for about a year.  But...then I was looking for a blank map of the US—and found this book.  Flipping through it I thought ...hmmmm… this is an interesting, and easy way to talk about these Norsemen.  Being from Sweden, I have a soft spot for these guys...not to mention I love the arctic, I have a Newfoundland dog...well, anyhow, you get the point.  So, we found some stories on line about what these guys did, how they conquered and why they travelled and did this.  Naturally, they started in England because it was close...but, eventually travels led them over to what is currently Newfoundland (which Leif Ericson named Vinland meaning “land of grass”).  After reading, I had Spencer write a story about what it would be like to see the Viking ship coming to your village in England.  I think he did a pretty good job, so here you go: 

           I was sitting in my quarters and I heard someone yelling, so I took a look to see what was the matter.  As I did, I saw a large sail with blue and red stripes out of the corner of my eye.  I immediately knew what it was: “A VIKING SHIP!” I yelled as I ran downstairs to my wife.

           We started gathering our items and out baby girl started to cry as we picked her up.  I run and grab my pouch of coins.  I feel that we will need them.  My wife and I run from our house as fast as we can and head to the country to escape!  As we are running we look back to see the village on fire and screaming in the air all around us.  That was the last thing I saw of my house and village.

                                                                                                                         -Spencer, age 11

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While walking through the woods I have several times come across trash piles.   They always seem to have hub caps in them...and I always think about what I could do with them.  While learning about Vikings—it came to me!  Shields!  These were great fun for the kids—and turned out really cool~!

(sorry Beth—maybe next time I will do Greek shields)

The kids used tape to mark off their Viking design after a little internet research.  Generally, the shields were simple.

We used the ‘hammered’ look spray paint from Rustoleum.  It seemed to work like a charm.  The kids had a really fun time, it dried quickly and soon everyone was ready for battle!

It may seem odd that Spencer the Viking is wearing a middle eastern headdress.  There is a reason for that.  I am just not exactly sure what.  Below, is my new favorite History book by DK.  I also used this blackline map book I had come across.  In the DK book we read the size of a Viking longboat.  We decided to mark one out in our front yard. 

Below in the orange tape you can see the size.  Can you believe they would carry these over land?  It is about 70’ long, and 17’ wide.  Like I said, what’s not to like about Vikings?