Viking Day at Home: Fun Viking Activities for Kids
Learn, Create, Explore and Play Like a Viking!
Step back in time and spend a day exploring the fascinating world of the Vikings!
With a little imagination, you can transform your home into a Viking village and enjoy a day filled with history, Norse mythology, crafts, games, challenges and plenty of Viking activities for kids.
From making your own shield and rune stones to completing the Viking Trials and battling legendary characters from Norse mythology, there is something for every young Viking explorer.
You can follow the activities in order for a full Viking-themed day, or simply choose the ideas that work best for your family.
Welcome to the Viking Age
Before your Viking adventure begins, set the scene!
You don’t need elaborate decorations. A few simple touches can make the day feel much more special.
You could:
- Make Viking flags from paper.
- Create a Viking village using blankets and cushions.
- Play some gentle Nordic-inspired instrumental music.
- Dress up in homemade Viking costumes.
- Make a sign welcoming everyone to your Viking village.
You could even give everyone a Viking name for the day.
How about:
- Astrid the Brave
- Erik the Wise
- Freya the Fearless
- Bjorn the Bold
- Leif the Swift
Now your Viking adventure can begin!
Morning: Discover Everyday Viking Life
Before becoming warriors and explorers, most Vikings spent their lives doing many of the same things people do today: working, caring for their families and producing the food and objects they needed.
Viking society included:
🌾 Farmers who grew crops and cared for animals.
🎣 Fishermen who caught fish and other food from the sea and rivers.
🔨 Craftspeople who made tools, clothing, jewellery and other useful objects.
🛶 Traders who travelled to exchange goods.
⛵ Explorers who sailed across rivers and seas to discover new lands.
Of course, Viking life was very different from our lives today. Most people lived in small settlements and worked hard to produce or make many of the things they needed.
Children also had responsibilities and would learn practical skills from the adults around them.
Try a Viking Chore Challenge
Give your young Vikings a few simple tasks to complete.
Could they:
- Carry a small bucket of water?
- Help prepare some food?
- Sort or organise supplies?
- Collect sticks or leaves?
- Build a shelter from blankets?
You could explain that children in Viking settlements would have helped with everyday tasks appropriate to their age.
Story Time: A Norse Myth
No Viking-themed day would be complete without a story from Norse mythology and the story of Thor and the Stolen Hammer is one of the most famous ones out there.
Thor and the Stolen Hammer
One morning, Thor woke up to discover something terrible. His magical hammer, Mjölnir, was missing! Without his hammer, Thor could not protect the gods and Asgard from danger. The hammer had been stolen by the giant Thrym. Thrym agreed to return it, but only if the goddess Freyja would marry him. The gods came up with a plan. Instead of Freyja, Thor would disguise himself as the bride! Loki would accompany him, disguised as a bridesmaid. At the wedding feast, Thor ate an enormous amount of food. The giants were surprised, but Loki quickly explained that the bride had been so excited about the wedding that she had not eaten for eight days. Eventually, Thrym brought out Mjölnir and placed it in the bride’s lap as part of the wedding ceremony.
Thor grabbed his hammer, threw off his disguise and defeated the giants!
Talk About the Story
Ask your young Vikings:
- Why was Mjölnir important to Thor?
- Why did Loki’s clever plan work?
- Would you have recognised Thor in disguise?
- Which character would you most like to meet?
You could even ask children to act out their favourite part of the story.
Craft Your Viking Equipment
Now it is time to make some equipment for your Viking adventure!
🛡️ Make a Viking Shield
Create your own cardboard Viking shield and decorate it with a bold pattern, animal, symbol or family design.
Once your shield is complete, you can use it during the Viking Trials later in the day.
⚔️ Make a Cardboard Viking Sword
Create a safe cardboard sword for imaginative play.
You could give your sword a name and design a symbol for it.
Remember that a cardboard sword should only be used for pretend play and should never be used to hit people, animals or objects.
🪨 Make Your Own Viking Rune Stones
Discover the Viking runes by creating your own set of rune stones using pebbles, salt dough or paper.
👉 How to Make Viking Rune Stones + Fun Rune Games
Once your rune stones are ready, you can use them for decoding games and the Trial of Wisdom.
Lunch: Enjoy a Viking Feast
Viking food was based on the ingredients available to people at the time.
For your own Viking feast, you could serve:
- Homemade bread
- Cheese
- Apples
- Berries
- Root vegetables
- Fish
- Chicken
- Vegetable soup
- Honey
For something simple, try making a flatbread using flour, water and salt.
You could serve it with butter or honey.
You could also make the meal part of the experience by serving food on a large shared platter and eating together like a Viking household.
Afternoon: Complete the Viking Trials
Now it is time to prove your Viking skills!
The Viking Trials are a series of six challenges designed to test wisdom, courage, skill, exploration and more.
Children can complete each challenge and record their progress in a Viking Trial Passport.
👉 Complete the Six Viking Trials
The trials include:
🧠 The Trial of Wisdom
Decode runes and complete a Viking mystery.
🛡️ The Trial of Courage
Create a shield and complete a shield wall challenge.
🎯 The Trial of Skill
Test your aim with a safe beanbag or sock-tossing challenge.
🚢 The Trial of Exploration
Build and test your own Viking longship.
⚔️ The Trial of Legends
Battle legendary characters from Norse mythology.
👑 The Final Trial
Complete a Ragnarök-inspired obstacle course.
Download the free Viking Trial Passport, challenge cards and certificate to make the adventure even more exciting!
Build and Race a Viking Longship
The Viking longship craft makes a wonderful addition to your Viking Day.
Build your own boat using recycled materials, then test it in a water challenge.
👉 How to Make a Viking Longship and Race Your Boat
You could challenge your young shipbuilders to:
- Race their boats.
- Carry the most cargo.
- Survive a gentle storm.
- Improve their design.
This is also a fun way to introduce simple STEM ideas such as floating, sinking, balance and fair testing.
Battle Through the Nine Realms
Now it is time for the final Viking challenge!
Bring out Legends of the 9 Realms, your printable Norse mythology battle card game.
With 45 legendary characters from Norse mythology, players can battle with:
- The Æsir and Vanir
- Elves and allies
- Monsters
- Giants
- Tricksters
Each character has unique stats and a special ability inspired by their mythology.
👉 Discover Legends of the 9 Realms
Who will become the champion of the Nine Realms?
Bonus Game: Viking Dice Adventure
If your young Vikings still have energy left, finish the day with a Viking Dice Adventure!
Roll a die and draw a challenge card.
You might need to:
- Decode a rune.
- Complete a Viking fact challenge.
- Row your imaginary longship.
- Perform a Viking victory dance.
- Find hidden treasure.
- Complete a silly Viking challenge.
Sign up to our newsletter to download the free Viking Dice Adventure challenge cards and see who can complete the most challenges!
Finish with a Viking Feast and Treasure Hunt
End your adventure with a final Viking celebration.
Hide treasure around the house or garden.
You could use:
- Chocolate coins
- Plastic gems
- Coloured stones
- Small toys
- Rune stones
Create a simple treasure map or hide clues around your Viking village.
For an extra challenge, write the clues using runes!
Can your young Vikings find the hidden treasure?
Become an Official Viking Explorer
After completing your Viking adventure, it is time to celebrate!
Present each child with their Official Viking Explorer Certificate.
They can choose:
- Their Viking name
- Their favourite activity
- Their favourite Norse god or mythological creature
- The challenge they found the most difficult
Sign up to our newsletter for your FREE Viking Explorer Certificate
All the resources you need in one place
Below are links to all the resources and craft activities mentioned above in one place so that you can easily pick and choose the activities that work best for you.
🛡️ Make a Viking Shield
⚔️ Craft a Viking Sword
🪨 Create Viking Rune Stones
🚢 Build a Viking Longship
🏆 Complete the Viking Trials
🃏 Battle through the Nine Realms
You can choose one activity for a rainy afternoon or return to the Viking theme again and again to create a whole series of Viking adventures.
Want to Explore the Viking World Further?
If your children enjoyed spending the day learning about Viking life, there are plenty of ways to continue the adventure. Uncover History: The Vikings is a colourful, engaging introduction to Viking history, covering everything from everyday life and longships to trade, crafts and Norse gods. For children who are particularly fascinated by the mythology, A Child’s Introduction to Norse Mythology explores the gods, giants, dwarves and legendary stories of the Norse world in an accessible, illustrated format. Both are great ways to continue exploring the Viking world after your Viking Day activities.
Continue Your Viking Adventure!
If your children loved today’s Viking activities, why stop here?
Our 46-page Viking Unit Study is packed with even more hands-on learning, including:
✔ Viking history and daily life
✔ Norse mythology fact sheets
✔ Maps and exploration activities
✔ Creative design challenges
✔ Mazes, games and puzzles
✔ A printable Viking Explorer Certificate
Perfect for ages 7–11, homeschool, classrooms or simply learning through play.
👉 Take a look at the Viking Unit Study here.
For more history themed days
If you enjoy exploring ancient history in a hands-on way, you may also like these:
- Become an Olympian and explore Ancient Greece
- Learn how to make Jewellery inspired by Ancient Egypt
- Turn yourself into a Pharaoh for the day, build pyramids and explore life along the river nile with an Ancient Egypt day.
- If you want to travel back further in time, why not become a palaeontologist with a Dinosaur Discovery Day
