3rd Edition Plans for December 24: Christmas in Denmark!

Yay! It's Christmas Eve! This is our alternate Lesson for December 24th, all about Christmas in Denmark!

Christmas in Demark has Father Christmas/Santa Claus but he is named Julemanden in Danish which means "The Christmas Man", and he is assisted by a group of Nisse, a sort of naughty elf. Presents are brought for children by Julemanden and he arrives on December 24 to distribute them, typically one of the family (an uncle, dad or grandad) dressed up in traditional red robes and they enjoy a large Christmas eve feast! You may also want to open your wrapped books to celebrate your Icelandic Christmas tonight too!

Read: The Nisse of Christmas: A Danish Children's Christmas Story by Tammy O. Bullock

I was only able to find the preview of this book here.

Additional Reads:

  • The Nisse Book by Albert Jørgensen

  • The Christmas Nisse: A Family Christmas Tradition by Rikke Melgaard Liffiton

  • Christmas in Denmark by World Book

    Enjoy these videos to replace these book’s read aloud:

I wanted to included two other books about the Tomte, from Sweden, because they have more read alouds for you to enjoy. You can compare the different types of Nisse/Tomte from the different nordic countries.

The Yule Tomte and the Little Rabbits A Christmas Story for Advent by Ulf Stark (Swedish Tomte Story)

The Tomten by Astrid Lindgren



Paint: Nisse Coloring Pages, included in our 3rd Edition

Cook: Aebleskiver, Danish Pancake Balls, recipe included


More Danish Christmas Traditions explained:

Pair up with our HYGGE Christmas Special unit & our Finland Christmas Special too!

HYGGE Units