This History video explores how the Vikings used trade to obtain goods they could not make themselves and how trade helped them travel, learn and grow as a society. Key stage 2 pupils discover that the Vikings traded goods such as timber, furs and amber for items like spices, wine and silver and used their impressive longboats to sail across the seas along important trading routes.

The video explains the five key Viking trade routes, from the North Atlantic to the Baltic and Black Seas, and shows which goods were exchanged and which regions were involved. Pupils learn that these journeys not only helped the Vikings become wealthy but also facilitated cultural exchange. They picked up new ideas, built relationships with foreign communities, and even established settlements in new lands, all through the power of trade.

This video is part of Kapow Primary’s History Year 5 and 6 videos, which enable teachers and pupils to explore the past and understand how it has shaped the world today.

See more of our Key stage 2 History scheme of work.

• History, Year 5: British history 4: Were the Vikings raiders, traders or something else? Lesson 3: Where did the Vikings go? How did they get there?
• History, Year 5: British history 4: Were the Vikings raiders, traders or something else?
• History, Y5/6 (A): British history 4: Were the Vikings raiders, traders or something else? Lesson 3: Where did the Vikings go? How did they get there?
• History, Y5/6 (A): British history 4: Were the Vikings raiders, traders or something else?