Viking Art - The Complete Series (6 lessons)

Help your class learn more about Viking art and design in this Viking Art KS2 scheme of work for Year 5 and Year 6. Full of fun activities, with a focus on improving drawing and shading techniques, this series of six lessons will not only help your class become more immersed in their Viking topic but also help them improve their art knowledge, understanding and skills.

Six complete KS2 Viking Art lessons (including lesson plans, presentations and printables, such as worksheets, picture cards and step-by-step guides) give you everything you need to teach your class about Viking art and get them enthusiastically drawing Viking knots, sketching fierce warriors, creating their own Viking jewellery and much more. All you need to do is provide the pencils and paper!

An Introduction

The first lesson in this series introduces your class to the world of Viking art by giving a very brief introduction to the Vikings themselves before showing examples of Viking art from existing artefacts. They will learn about the six main styles of Viking art and how these developed throughout the Viking period. They can then study these examples more for themselves and sketch sections that they find interesting, or carry out their own research into Viking art.

Knots and Patterns

Your Year 5 or Year 6 children will learn the addictive art of drawing Viking knots and other Viking patterns in this fun Art lesson!

They will start by taking a look at the use of knots in Viking art, observing the similarities between Viking and Celtic artwork. They will then be taken through some simple step-by-step processes for drawing Viking knots and patterns on their own. They will have time to practise these and consider how the basics could be extended to create more intricate pieces of art.

Lesson 3

Animal Art

In this lesson, children will look at some examples of Viking animal art through Viking artefacts, noting common features and popular animals that the Vikings used as their subjects.

The provided slideshow presentation then guides your class through some easy-to-follow steps for drawing their own animal heads in the Viking style, and how to incorporate these with the knots they created in the previous lesson to create their own Viking animal art. During their independent tasks, they will then have the opportunity to do this for themselves, using the handy templates and guides as a support if necessary.

Lesson 4

Dragon Art

This Viking Dragon Art lesson looks at the dragons that headed Viking ‘drakkars’ or dragon ships. The slides for the teaching input allow your class to look at some recreations of these dragon heads, noting the colours, styles and patterns that have been used, before demonstrating how to use sketching and shading techniques to create their own Viking dragon artwork.

During their independent activities, there are opportunities to practise these shading techniques whilst drawing a dragon head.

Lesson 5

Viking Warriors

Use this Viking Warriors KS2 Art lesson to help your Year 5 or Year 6 class with their portrait drawing skills! In this detailed lesson, children will find out how to use a grid to help them accurately copy a picture, namely a Viking warrior portrait. The slides go through some tips for how to create a proportionally accurate portrait using a grid, as well as how to include shading to give depth to a sketch.

During their independent activities, your children can then have a go at this for themselves, using the pre-prepared Viking warrior portraits and grids provided. Alternatively, they can follow some step-by-step instructions for how to draw a Viking warrior freehand.

Lesson 6

Making Viking Jewellery

This Making Viking Jewellery KS2 lesson is the final lesson in this series and gives your class the chance to create their own piece of Viking jewellery - either a pendant made from clay or a woven bracelet.

The clay pendant will give them the chance to incorporate what they have learnt about Viking art, or they can use runes to ‘engrave’ a coin for their bracelet. Either way, they will end up with a piece of Viking jewellery to be proud of!