Vikings on Tour

Viking and Saxon history brought to life
43 Croft Road, Yardley, Birmingham, B26 1SQ 
Tel: 0121 784 6408

 Vikings on Tour The background

Based in Birmingham "Vikings on tour" was formed in 1991 (originally as "The Viking Experience") to provide educational services to schools and museums in the Midlands area of England. The director Mrs. Roz Sheard is a specialist in Arts and Crafts for Special Needs people, a Member of "The VIKINGS ", is Licentiate of City and Guilds and written for  'Focus Educational Magazine.'

The Service provides in depth specialist talks, documentation and craft workshops for the Anglo-Saxon/Viking period.

School visits by a "VIKING" in authentic costume, along with a travelling museum of artefacts has proved extremely attractive especially when compared with the cost of taking children to visit external museums and specialist centres. As well as the cost incentive, communication and enquiry skills can develop better when pupils can talk with a ``Real Viking,'' as well as touch and handle clothing and other artefacts, often with elements of role-play included to emphasise a point.

Special needs children:  Slow learners and other special needs children often seem to respond, well to the practical nature of a visit. The full day option includes a choice of practical skill bases where children can make their own reproduction artefacts in ...

Jewellery, - Pottery,  - Leather work,  - Runic writing,  - Weaving etc.

Cross Curriculum Links   School visits wherever possible attention in given to Cross Curriculum Links with Dark Age History, and a few examples are given below.

Mathematics: Weaving, money, shipbuilding & navigation.

Science: Cloth dyeing, leather curing & tanning, metallurgy, pottery, food.

Geography: Trade routes, battle sites, artefact finds.

English: Effects of invasions on place names, links to words in current English Vocabulary.

The arts: Viking music, development of Viking and Celtic art through the period.

Design and technology: Metallurgy in arms and armour, weaving and clothing design, Jewellery making, pottery and ceramics development,

Religion: Norse and Anglo Saxon Gods, Odin Thor etc, links to Christianity.

  Crafts for the Junior Viking A project book developed as an extension to the "Scholastic" article is available at £5.00 plus 75p postage from Mrs. R Sheard, 43 Croft Road, Yardley, Birmingham, B26 1SQ, England. Further details about the project book or visits can be obtained by stamped addressed envelope to the above address or Email to jhsheard@yahoo.com

R.B.Sheard "Vikings on tour"  Tel: 0121 784 6408