Our second Viking session focussed on religion. We began with a little role play. We said goodbye to the late Ragnar (our bravest warrior and much beloved leader). We gave him a suitably extravagent funeral. (Is it wrong that I enjoyed pretending to sacrifice my child?) I talked about other burial practices (and how we know about them) and the children then explored the various hands on activities. At each station there was information about a mythological character or religious practice.
Create a Stone Ship
They used wooden blocks to create a mini stone ship burial site.
Odin the Allfather
They sewed toy version's of Odin's ravens and played 'stick the eye patch on Odin'. Odin is my favourite Norse God because he sacrificed in order to gain knowledge. Wanting to aquire knowledge is something I can understand.
Discover the Norns
They found the weaving of the Norns, followed their thread and discovered their fate...
Fenrir the Great Wolf
Fenrir must be chained to prevent him swallowing everything! The children were given the challenge of designing a chain to hold him using only paper, glue, and sticky tape. We tested the strength of everyone's chain at the end of the session.
"Smelt" an amulet
I described the process the Vikings used to create an amulet. Since smelting metal is rather dangerous, they "smelted" chocolate and poured it into a mould to make an edible amulet.
Make a Yggdrasil and Thor's Hammer Amulet
They made an amulet of Yggdrasil. It wasn't a very Viking style Yggdrasil since they were more stylized, but something to remind them of the great tree nonetheless. They also made a clay Thor's Hammer amulet.
There were also lots of books on Norse Gods and Norse mythology for anyone who fancied reading the stories. At the end of the session I continued the saga, once again leaving them wanting more.
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