Deepening knowledge of Viking raiders – a Viking workshop
As part of their Connected Curriculum topic studying the Vikings, Year 4 were extremely excited to meet Bjorn a Viking raider, who explained to the children everything they needed to know about how to become a successful Viking.
Bjorn arrived in school dressed in typical Viking armour, including his helmet, chain mail armour and shield, which were all incredibly heavy. Bjorn taught the children about what Viking life was like for a raider and even showed his weapons including sword and axe. The children got a chance to use “training” weapons to wield swords, protect themselves behind shields and even throw an axe like a real Viking – luckily, no-one was injured and Bjorn was very impressed with the children’s war cries and fighting skills!
The Vikings were great story tellers and later in the workshop, the children learned a Viking myth about Thor’s wedding. They then had the opportunity to do some role play, which linked really well with the Viking myths the children had recently written in their English lessons.
History workshops such as this are a fantastic way to learn about the lives of historical people and to understand more about how they lived. The are invaluable in deepening the children’s knowledge of a period of history in an engaging way and make powerful memories. Who wouldn’t remember the day a Viking came to school?
