Viking Runestones For Kids!

Summer holidays are upon us and I’m sure parents and grandparents have their hands full on trying to keep the youngsters occupied with minimum expense.  So we bring you an idea that is not only cheap but   won’t be abandoned after half an hour.  Kids will love the idea of Vikings, stones and painting so you could stretch it out for some time!  If you do give this ago, please email us your pics, we would love to see them.  Of course if you don’t have children, it might be a nice idea to make your own runes too.. you don’t have to sing the Viking songs .

The Vikings came from Northern Europe, an area that is now Norway, Sweden and Denmark. The Viking alphabet, known as the Futhark, is composed of 16 sound symbols known as runes. Each rune is composed of combinations of straight lines that made them relatively easy to carve into wood or stone. The visual simplicity of runes and their association with myth and magic make them popular with children of all ages.

First let’s look at how to make them and how much fun that can be in itself and then some ideas  of games to play.

If you are lucky enough to live by a beach, collect 26 smooth stones or pebbles, making sure they are flat(ish) on one side, it really doesn’t matter what colour they are. If there isn’t a beach in site, you can purchase pebbles cheaply enough online for example around £3 on Amazon or you can use aquarium peoples from a local pet store. 

Take a small paintbrush and an acrylic paint color of your choice (white or black works well.) Paint a symbol on a smooth surface of each stone. Allow to dry thoroughly.

There is a chart below to show you the symbols and their meanings but you can also look online for further resources if needed.

Once dry, take all the runes to a well-ventilated area and spray with a clear paint sealer or varnish to seal the painted image onto the stone. Allow to dry.

Place the runes in the sun for 12 hours or under a full moon to charge them

Create an easy pouch or bag to store your runes in when not in use. Treat the runes with respect and place in an area of respect and honor.

So now all the hard, but fun work is done, it’s time to play!  If you have multiple children to look after, split them into teams and give one group 16 runes and their meanings and ask the other team to draw pictures of the meanings, i.e. maybe a man holding a bow near water, or a god riding across ice.  Then all join in to match the runes to the pictures.

Throw a handful of runes down and make up stories that relate the runes meanings, you could come up with some great Viking adventures.

Create a treasure hunt, with the clues relating to the runes hiding place.  Of course if you don’t have children, this can still apply to you.  Create your own runes and learn to read the meanings.  If you would like to understand more about this, you will see a selection of readers on asktheanswer specialize in rune readings and they will be more than happy to provide you with a reading to see how it works!