This week you will learn:
• Who the Vikings were and where they lived
• How their amazing longships worked
• How Vikings found their way across the sea
• The Viking words and ideas we still use today
Over a thousand years ago, in the cold lands of the north called Scandinavia, lived the Vikings. Today those lands are the countries of Norway, Sweden, and Denmark.
The Vikings were farmers, traders, and amazing sailors. Their homeland had long winters and rocky soil, so many Vikings sailed away to trade, explore, and sometimes raid other lands.
Vikings were some of the greatest explorers the world has ever seen. They sailed to England, France, and Russia. They even crossed the huge Atlantic Ocean and reached North America — about 500 years before Columbus! This week, we will sail with the Vikings.
1. Where did the Vikings come from?
2. Name two jobs Vikings had besides sailing.
3. Why did many Vikings sail away from home?
4. What big ocean did the Vikings cross?
Write what each word means in your own words.
Write T for true or F for false in each circle.
Draw a Viking sailor standing by the sea in the cold north. Add mountains, snow, and a ship in the water.
1. The lived in the cold north over a thousand years ago.
2. Their homeland was called .
3. Viking lands had long, cold .
4. Many Vikings sailed away to and explore.
5. Vikings were great who found new lands.
6. They crossed the Atlantic to reach North America.
1. Would you have sailed away with the Vikings or stayed home to farm? Why?
2. What would be the scariest part of sailing across a huge ocean long ago?
Tomorrow we will climb aboard a Viking longship and find out how these amazing boats could sail across oceans AND up shallow rivers!