Year 4 learn about Viking times

A very friendly female Viking arrived in school on Tuesday along with lots of interesting artefacts to help the children understand more about the life they led. At first, some of the children were quite surprised that they wouldn’t be spending the day fighting, looking at spears and shields. They soon discovered another side to daily life in Viking times; the daily slog to farm, fetch water, keep warm, grind corn and weave cloth. There were plenty of practical activities for the children to try and many of them wove bracelets, tried their hand at grinding corn (using the very heavy and laborious grindstone) and made clay pots to store food. After lunch the children took part in a ‘Viking First Aid’ day. It was interesting to see how the process of splinting a broken limb was very similar to the process we use today. Read the children’s thoughts below!

‘I liked the weaving.’ Caitlin

‘There were lots of fun activities and I learned a lot.’ Marcus H.

‘I was amazed by the Viking games.’ Harriet

‘It was a fantastic day, although I enjoyed the weaving the best.’ Imogen

‘I liked weaving because it was relaxing and calm.’ Ella

‘It was a brilliant,fun filled day.!’ Dom

‘I loved the games. I really think you should try out the game Nine Mens Morris. Did you know that Vikings thought that a stitch was elves shooting them with an arrow?’ Noah

‘It was a brilliant day. I never knew that Vikings thought runes were magic.’ Cameron

‘I liked weaving because it was tricky.’ Timo

‘I loved their way of making pots. It was called a coil pot’’ Ross

‘I was fascinated by how they made their clothes.’ Stephanie

‘I was amazed at how unsafe their first aid was.’ Oakley

‘It was amazing! All the Viking activities were hard to do but the games were easy..’ Josh

‘I liked doing first aid because at the same time we were acting.’ Marcus M.

‘Viking Day was amazing because it was actually like Viking England because we made so many things out of materials that we never use today.’ Ryan

I had an amazing day and learned so much about Viking life.’ Fran

OVER THE HOLIDAYS

Please practise the ESB poems, readings and talks with your children. They all need to work on something; pace, expression, volume. The exam is the second week