Marco Polo and Leif Erikson Lesson Plan for Elementary

Sep 1, 2025

Creating a Viking Boat using boxes and cardboard

Creating a Marco Polo map

This is part 1 of a 5 part hands-on unit on Explorers. Walk the route of Marco Polo (through the house) and collect the items he came across while in Asia. Make Viking bread, Viking helmets, shields, and swords and “sail” to Vineland (America) as Leif Erikson and his crew. And more! My lessons are geared toward 2nd-3rd grade level children and their siblings. These are lessons I created to do with a weekly homeschool co-op group. We meet each week for 2 1/2 hours and have 14 children between the ages of 0-11. Use these fun lessons with your classroom, family, camp, after school program, or co-op!

Introduction & Continents

It’s a Big Big World by Brierly

1) Introduction: Pray & discuss Matthew 6:33.

2) Review continents and oceans and sing continent song (sung to tune of “Love & Marriage” 2x). I used the world map from the book It’s a Big Big World by Brierly and pointed at each of the continents and oceans as we sang the song.

North America, South America, Europe, Asia, Africa
Don’t Forget Antarctica
Or way down under in Australia

Atlantic Ocean, Pacific Ocean, Indian, Arctic, Southern Oceans
North Pole, South Pole, Equator
I know all about maps and globes.

YOU WILL NEED:

• a world map

Leif Erikson

3) Discuss Leif Erikson and Vikings showing pictures from books such as Leif the Lucky by Ingri d’Aulaire, which has great illustrations. It is a bit too long to read as a read aloud to a group, but you could read parts of it. I showed the illustrations while I quickly summarized what each pages said.

YOU WILL NEED:

• Leif the Lucky by Ingri d’Aulaire or other book on Leif Erikson or Vikings

Leif Erikson

Viking Bread

4) Make Viking Bread. Group children into groups of 3-5. Each group will make 1 loaf.

Recipe for 1 loaf (so we will need to triple everything):

• 4 c. flour (can sub part whole wheat, oat, barley or rye flour)
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 1/2 c. buttermilk (or use 1 1/2 c. milk mixed with 1 1/2 Tbsp. lemon juice or vinegar)

Mix flour, baking powder and salt. Slowly stir in buttermilk. Mixture will become difficult to stir. Knead until mixture becomes stiff. Form into a circle on a greased cookie sheet. Slash a 1/2-inch deep “X” into the top of the dough with a small, sharp knife. Bake at 425 degrees F for about 45 minutes, or until the top is golden.

YOU WILL NEED per group:

• 1 large mixing bowl, 1 mixing spoon, 1 liquid measuring cup, 1 set of measuring spoons, 1 cup measuring cup, 1 baking sheet, flour, baking soda, whole wheat flour, salt, buttermilk

Viking Shields & Swords

Making Viking shields & swords

5) Using a book, look at & discuss pictures of a Viking ship. Now we need Vikings!

YOU WILL NEED:

• pictures of a Viking ship

6) Make Viking sword: tape handle to sword piece of cardboard sword. Wrap sword with aluminum foil and tape it. Have your child write their name on the sword. Allow children to name their swords as was the Viking custom. Go around the room and have everyone say what they named their sword.

YOU WILL NEED PER CHILD:

• 1 piece of cardboard cut into 17x2inch rectangle with one end cut to a point for the sword, 2 pieces of cardboard cut into 6×2 inch rectangles for the sword handle, clear packing tape, scissors, aluminum foil, marker

7) Make Viking shield (Option A = more durable)

• Use pizza box -size circle from cardboard.
• Cover with gold foil/wrapping paper and tape to backside. Punch a hole through the middle.
• Put a quarter inch round head screw with a washer through the hole.
• On the back side attach a piece of sturdy fabric that has been looped together to make a handle to the screw. (Punch holes through fabric ahead of time).
• Add another washer and then a nut. This completes the handle.
• Cover a smaller circle of cardboard (or a CD) with gold foil/wrapping paper. Glue this in the middle of the front of the shield to cover the screw head.

(*OPTION B = less durable: To make less durable shields, simply use yellow cardstock paper cut in a large circle. Either paste a second smaller circle in the center on the front or draw a smaller circle on the front of the shield. Then staple a strip of paper on the back for a handle.*)

YOU WILL NEED PER CHILD:

• 1 pizza-box size circles from cardboard (we got ours from a tractor store dumpster) with 2 holes punched through middle for handle, 2 quarter inch round screws with washers, 2 pieces of sturdy fabric cut (such as felt) into 1×6.5 inch strips with holes punched through each end, 1 CD-size cardboard pieces (or CD’s you no longer want), 2 pieces of aluminum foil or gold wrapping paper (Pre-cut them while we’re making bread) to fit both pieces of cardboard, scissors, scotch tape, glue

8) Have children put on their metal (mixing bowl) helmet and hold up their shields and swords. Take a picture in front of the Viking “ship” before heading out on your voyage.

YOU WILL NEED PER CHILD:

• 1 metal bowl that can be used as a helmet or 1 plastic bowl that has been wrapped in aluminum foil

Reenacting Leif Erikson Finding Vineland

9) (Video record): Head to the new world wearing the new Viking gear.

• Jump in the Viking ship (a large box decorated with a dragon’s head and tail or chairs grouped together).
• Use canoe oars (or plastic baseball bats or sticks) to “row” from Norway to Greenland to Vineland.
• Jump out of the ship. Eat grapes. Call the land “Vineland.”
• Get back into ship and “row” back to Greenland.

YOU WILL NEED:

• grapes, a large box, canoe oars and/or plastic baseball bats

Marco Polo

Map showing items we collected on our journey

10) Discuss Marco Polo. Show pictures from book. Find Venice & China on globe.

YOU WILL NEED:

• a book on Marco Polo’s route such as Marco Polo by Demi

11) Walk “silk route” through house & collect items as we go. I placed various items from Marco Polo’s journey around our house and we pretended to follow his journey as we walked through the rooms in our house. As we walked we collected items — some of which we later pasted to our map. The items we collected are in ALL CAPS. I used info I got from Marco Polo by Zachary Kent.

• We went to Acre and called out, “Will 100 Christians come with us to tell Cathay about Jesus?” We talked about how only two came but even they returned home because they were scared. That is so sad!!! What an opportunity they had to spread God’s word, and they ran in fear. God protects us and is always in charge. He can fight the battle. This reminds me a lot of the Israelites being too scared to take the Promised Land.
• Lesser Armenia/Turcomania (Turkey) – beautiful oriental carpets (YARN)
• Pretend to ride on horseback. Stop and look at the top of Mount Ararat and see Noah’s Ark (Noah’s Ark toy on our mantle)
• Rudbar Plain – Date trees (DRIED DATES), strange-looking oxen (zebu), and large 350 lb. sheep with 30 pound tails. Its tail weighs more than my son!
• Desert Kuhbanan – refill water (DRINK A CUP OF WATER)
• Mountaisn of Taican – (SALT)
• Badakhshan – pretend to ride horses – Rubies and sapphires (RED CRAFT JEWELS)
• Wait… — Marco Polo sick for 1 year so they stay there
• Oxus River to Pamirs – rams with 4 1/2 foot long curled horns. Shepherds carve horns into bowls or pile up to make fences
• Khotan – in China at last! – (JADE)
• TaklaMakan Desert – Gobi Desert for 30 days – Count to 30 (Count to 30 in Chinese if you can — or at least count to 10 in Chinese.)
• Kanchow – shaggy yaks – used wool for weaving (WOOL). Mongols & yurts. (Could let them taste a prepared Mongolian food item like boortsog or airag.)
• *Been on this journey for 3 years. Kublai Khan has heard of their arrival in China/Cathay and sends horsemen to welcome them. Travel next 40 days in luxury.
• Kublai Khan likes to go hunting with a cheetah on his saddle. The cheetah jumps off and grabs up the prey. Khan thinks Marco is very wise and inquisitive so sends him to other parts of Cathay to see what life is like there.
• Khanbalik – (SILK), large striped lions (really tigers – STUFFED TIGER), paper money
• Tibet – people very poor. Use salt rather than money. Scare away lions, bears, etc. at night by burning bamboo. When each section burns, it lets out a loud bang which scares away the animals.
• Karajang – use seashells rather than money (SEASHELLS), sees snakes with fierce jaws and feet (really crocodiles – TOY CROCODILE)
• Been in Cathay 17 years & want to go home. Princess Cocachin’s husband dies and she needs someone to take her to her new husband. Khan reluctantly agrees to let the Polos take her. They now go by ship.
• Champa (Vietnam) – many elephants (STUFFED ELEPHANT)
• Java – (BLACK PEPPER, NUTMEG, & CLOVES)
• Sumatra – Huge nuts with liquid inside (COCONUT), men with tails & dog faces (really monkeys – STUFFED MONKEY), & unicorns the size of elephants (really rhinoceroses)
• Ceylon (Sri Lanka) – Ruby, sapphire, topaz, amethyst (THOSE STONES – SOME REAL & SOME NOT)
• India near Ceylon – Pearls (PEARL NECKLACE & CRAFT PEARL BEADS), black lions (really panthers), and lots of parrots (COLORFUL FEATHERS)
• Drop off princess. Return to Venice. Family doesn’t recognize until they show off their jewels. Marco goes to war & is captured & put in jail. Tells his stories & one man writes them down. Many people think he’s making it all up but some people think it might be true. 200 years later Columbus reads his book. He thinks Marco Polo was telling the truth and he is inquisitive enough to try to find out the truth.

YOU WILL NEED PER CHILD:

• 1 small strip of yarn, 1 piece of dried date, 1 cup for water, 1 tiny seashell, coconut (can be shredded), 1 piece of salt (sea salt or other larger pieces), 1 red craft jewel, 1 piece of wool (or cotton ball thread), 1 peppercorn, 1 whole clove, ground nutmeg, toy Noah’s ark (or picture of it) (only 1 Noah’s ark for the entire group is needed), jade, stuffed tiger, stuffed/toy crocodile, stuffed elephant, stuffed monkey, pearl necklace, 1 craft pearl bead PER CHILD, 1 colorful feather PER CHILD, & real or fake ruby, sapphire, topaz, amethyst (optional)

12) Trace route on The Marco Polo Route Map and paste what Marco Polo saw. We will paste on the items we collected on our walk. Glue construction paper to the back of the Marco Polo map.

YOU WILL NEED PER CHILD:

• Glue, 1 piece of construction paper, 1 copy of above map

13) Mention that other people wanted those same items and how they will try to find how to get there.

Viking Song

Leif Eriksson Discovers America by Hans Dahl (1849–1937)

14) (Optional) Sing The Viking Song by Kyle Hall (to the tune of “A Pirate’s Life for Me”)

1. We live in Scandinavia
   And sail o’er many seas;
   We raid and trade in many lands
   And sometimes settle in these!
   CHORUS: Yo – ho, yo – ho, a Viking’s life for me!
• We sail in ships with dragon heads;
  Longhouses are our homes;
  We make good armor and jewelry
  And use futhark to write poems!
  CHORUS: Yo – ho, yo – ho, a Viking’s life for me!
• Erik the Red found Greenland
  And named it to deceive;
  Leif, his son, found America
  Around 1,000 A.D.!
  CHORUS: Yo – ho, yo – ho, a Viking’s life for me!
  Yo – ho, yo – ho, a Viking’s life for me!
  Yo – ho, yo – ho, a Viking’s life for me!

Snack & Review

Baked Viking bread

15) Divide up Viking Bread for children. Let them taste some and drink some water. Divide up the remaining Viking Bread and let everyone take it home to try with their families.

YOU WILL NEED:

• Sandwich baggies and napkins

16) 5 Minute Review of what we learned.

Ready for the next lesson?

Montezuma’s Crowns and Conquistador Masks from Lesson 4: Ponce de Leon, Aztecs, Cortes, & Conquistadors Lesson

• Marco Polo and Leif Erikson Lesson – This is part 1 of a 5 part hands-on unit on Explorers. Walk the route of Marco Polo (through the house) and collect the items he came across while in Asia. Make Viking bread, Viking helmets, shields, and swords and “sail” to Vineland (America) as a Viking, and more!
• Christopher Columbus & Prince Henry the Navigator Lesson – This is part 2 of a 5 part hands-on unit study on Explorers. Go on a compass treasure hunt, eat sailor food, jump across the parts of a caravel ship, act out Columbus’ journey, and more!
• Da Gama, Vespucci, Balboa, & Magellan Lesson – This is part 3 of a 5 part hands-on unit study on Explorers. Make Da Gama Portuguese land markers, Vespucci parrot puppets, and Balboa hiding-in-a-barrel stick puppets. Search for the Pacific Ocean with Balboa (through your house). Eat “sawdust” and “leather” with Magellan and many more activities!
• Ponce de Leon, Aztecs, Cortes, & Conquistadors Lesson This is part 4 of a 5 part hands-on unit on Explorers. Create Montezuma’s headdress, act out the meeting between Cortes & Montezuma, go on a conquistador hunt for gold, and more!
• Cabot, Cartier, Drake, Hudson, and Astronomy Lesson – This is part 5 of a 5 part hands-on unit on Explorers. Bake constellation bar cookies, create star finders, act out Cartier’s expedition, and more!
• Explorer Unit Presentations and Field Trip Ideas – For the culminating project we following the 5 part hands-on unit on explorers, the children dressed as explorers, made presentations, and shared “authentic” food from their explorer’s country of origin. They also sang the songs from the unit. Also included are the field trips we took during this unit.
• My Fun, FREE Hands-on World History Lessons and Unit Studies for Kids – Fun, free hands-on World History unit studies and lessons on the Tabernacle, Medieval Period, Leonardo da Vinci, Protestant Reformation, Explorers, China, Russia, & Africa

Joke: How did Leif Erikson send secret messages?

By Norse code!

Our Favorite Books on Leif Erikson & on Marco Polo

Marco Polo by Demi

Overviews of Explorers:

• Picture History of Great Explorers has very colorful and engaging illustration. It includes maps of the routes each explorer took.
• Land Ho! Fifty Glorious Years in the Age of Exploration – We loved the illustrations in this book!
• Other great books include The World Made New: Why the Age of Exploration Happened and How It Changed the World (Timelines of American History) by Marc Aronson, The Great Atlas of Discovery by Neil Grant, and Explorers Who Got Lost by Diane Sansevere-Dreher.
• *Not recommend: Around the World in a Hundred Years: From Henry the Navigator to Magellan by Jean Fritz. While I enjoy many of her other books, in this book she is quite derogatory toward Christians.

Leif Erikson & the Vikings:

• Leif the Lucky has great illustrations. It is a bit too long to read as a read aloud to a group, but you could read parts of it. I showed the illustrations while I quickly summarized what each pages said.
• You Wouldn’t Want to Be a Viking Explorer!: Voyages You’d Rather Not Make (You Wouldn’t Want To) – My children love this series! It used humor to teach about historical events and periods. This one focuses on the Vikings. You could use it as a read aloud if you kept to the main text and did not read all the fun snippets also included on each page.
• Lords of the Sea: The Vikings Explore the North Atlantic (Graphic Library: Graphic History) by Lassieur – My children loved this book that is illustrated in graphic/comic-book style. It is also historically accurate and provides many details. The pictures are too small for it to be used for a group read aloud, but it is a great option if you are reading to your family or to a group of 10 or less children.
• Leif Eriksson (On My Own Biography) by Shannon Knudsen and the longer picture book.
• Brendan the Navigator by Jean Fritz is about Brendan, who is mentioned in some of the books on Leif Erikson.
• Good simply for photographs/pictures: American Archaeology Uncovers the Vikings by Lois Miner Huey, Vikings by Peter Chrisp, & Viking Longships by Andrea Hopkins
• Chapter Books: 1) The Story of Rolf and the Viking Bow (Living History Library) by Allen French – ideal for children with a 5th-9th grade reading level) – Christian historical fiction 2) The Vikings (Landmark Books) is the chapter book my older son read on the Vikings. It is 160 pages but has large font and occasional illustrations. It would be great for children who are on a 3rd-6th grade reading level, or you could use it as a family read aloud book. I also enjoyed that it includes how Leif became a Christian, and presents this in a favorable light.
• *Not recommend: Viking Adventure by Clyde Robert Bulla, which includes a murder that greatly disturbed my children.

Marco Polo:

• Marco Polo by Demi has gorgeous illustrations and plenty of information.
• You Wouldn’t Want to Explore with Marco Polo! (You Wouldn’t Want to…: History of the World) by Jacqueline Morley is a funny series that also includes lots of historical information in a fun format. My children think it is hilarious and also learn quite a bit from it.
• The Adventures of Marco Polo (Graphic History) is the absolute favorite one of my sons! It’s comic-book style and is historically accurate.
• A World Explorer: Marco Polo (World Explorer Books) is the chapter book we read. After each chapter my sons either write 1-2 sentences on what happened in that story or they draw a picture of the main event of that chapter.
• Also look for “Marco Polo for Kids: His Marvelous Journey to China, 21 Activities” by Janis Herbert, “Animals Marco Polo Saw” by Sandra Markle, “The Silk Route: 7,000 Miles of History” by John S. Major, “Adventures of Marco Polo” by Russell Freedman, and “The Silk Road: 20 Projects Explore the World’s Most Famous Trade Route (Build It Yourself series)” by Kathryn Ceceri.

Great Activity Books for Explorers

• History Pockets: Explorers of North America, Grades 4-6+ involves lots of writing and is similar to a Lapbook.
• “Spanish Explorers and Conquistadors Unit” by Amy Headley is good if you are in need of some great worksheets to use with your classroom or homeschool.

Need More Activity Ideas for Leif Erikson?

• Viking recipes
  Viking recipes
• Viking Activities
  Child-friendly activities sponsered by BBC related to Vikings – not specifically exploration
• Analyzing the Vineland Map
  Analyzing the Vineland Map – Is it real or not? This is a good exercise in taking information and coming up with your own conclusion.

Need More Activity Ideas for Marco Polo?

• 10 minute on-line video from National Geographic
  10 minute on-line video from National Geographic
• Marco Polo worksheets
  Worksheets, map work, and activity ideas as you trace Marco Polo’s journey

Good Video Clip on the Vikings

YouTube Clips We Found Helpful on Marco Polo

KONOS Curriculum

KONOS Volume II

Would you like to teach this way every day?

I use KONOS Curriculum as a springboard from which to plan my lessons. It’s a wonderful curriculum and was created by moms with active boys!

© 2010 Shannon

Would You Rather Travel with Marco Polo or Leif Erikson? – Or just leave me a note. I love getting feedback from you!

Shannon (author) from Florida on September 02, 2013:

@anonymous: Thank you!

anonymous on September 01, 2013:

it is so fun exploring marco polo with u

Shannon (author) from Florida on October 05, 2012:

@JoyfulPamela2: Thank you!

JoyfulPamela2 from Pennsylvania, USA on October 05, 2012:

It is so much fun to “explore” with you in your lessons! I’m submitting this for the “World Teacher Day” quest.

julieannbrady on March 08, 2012:

You know, I’d want to seriously travel back in time to enjoy both of their travels. Such interesting journeys.

Herman IV on February 26, 2012:

Kids love Vikings! Thanks for a great lens!

Indigo Janson from UK on February 06, 2012:

I think Marco Polo because I’d see some fantastic sights and amazing animals on the Silk Route. Great fun!

KarenCookieJar on October 21, 2011:

I love the name “Leif Erikson” so I choose him.

HeatherTodd1 on May 13, 2011:

Nice article

eclecticeducati1 on December 30, 2010:

I’m going to have to try some of these activities! Thanks! Great lens. Blessed by a Squid Angel.

Evelyn Saenz from Royalton on December 08, 2010:

This reminds me of the way I used to teach Spanish class to homeschoolers. Hands-on and active. I love the way you travel around the house, Marco Polo style, finding information along the silk route.

Fantastic lens.

Jeanette from Australia on December 06, 2010:

What great ideas. We would have loved these years ago when my children were younger.