Adventures in Scandinavia: Hygge Christmas Special

Enjoy the magic of Scandinavia this Christmas with our read paint lesson packs! This adventure is a companion to our Adventures in Scandinavia; Denmark, Norway and Sweden Art + Baking Unit Study, that is in the works and on it’s way. Begin your adventures there this holiday season! Pair this tea time guide up with our World Adventures Advent Calendar and learn more about other country’s Christmas Traditions!

Books to Read + Read Alouds

Christmas in Denmark (Around the World) by World Book Staff

Lapland Friends An Adventures in Sweden by Disney's Small World Library

Christmas in Noisy Village by Astrid Lindgren (review on YT only)

The Yule Tomte and the Little Rabbits by Ulf Stark

Lucia Morning in Sweden by Ewa Rydaker (we found this read aloud from a teacher, do not mind the assignment she mentions of course, find inspiration from this, if you are unable to find this book at your library) If you would like to learn more about baking the recipe of buns in this book, find it in our learning pack. They are mainly meant to be eaten on December 13th, Saint Lucia Day. Many different countries make different recipes for this day. It’s meant to bring light to a dark time of year.

The Tomten Tales: The Tomten and The Tomten and the Fox by Lindgren

The Wild Christmas Reindeer by Jan Brett

Per and the Dala Horse by Rebecca Hickox

D is for Dala Horse: A Nordic Countries Alphabet by Kathy-jo Wargin

Nordic Tales: Folktales from Norway, Sweden, Finland, Iceland, and Denmark by Chronicle Books

The Mitten by Jan Brett

Animals in Winter by Henrietta Bancroft

Reindeer Christmas by Mark Moulton

The Little Reindeer by Caroline Repchuk

Reindeer Christmas by Moe Price

How the Reindeer Got Their Antlers by Geraldine McCaughrean

New Book title Addition after release: Imogene’s Antlers by David Small

Dasher: How a Brave Little Doe Changed Christmas Forever by Matt Tavares

That's Not My Reindeer by Fiona Watt

While learning about Reindeer, and what they eat, such as Lichen, this is a great book to read along side learning about what they eat:

Plants That Never Bloom by Ruth Heller

Little Moss Big Tree by M. Yap-Stewart (Start this read aloud at 4:55, as I could'n’t seem to get my link to embed at that starting point. She goes through opening the package in the first 4 minutes)

Mossy by Jan Brett

The Snow Queen by Hans Christian Andersen - Read a version online here.

Frozen Northern Lights Let it Glow by Suzanne Francis

A New Reindeer Friend (Disney Frozen) (Little Golden Book) by Jessica Julius

The Adventures of Lily Huckleberry in Scandinavia by Audry Smith and Jackie Knapp

Educational Videos about Scandinavia:

Learn the History of the Nordic Countries:

SCANDINAVIAN CHRISTMAS CRAFTS

I found so many fun crafts for you to choose from, and I have included as many video tutorials below for you too. I have included crafts from all three countries, Sweden, Norway and Denmark.

Art Project: Needle Felting Norwegian Christmas Gnome

Supplies:

• Red felt

• Grey Felt

• In the tutorial below, the lady uses washed, raw wool however I found this to be a tricky supply to source, so I would simply use whatever color blend of felt you have. I was able to find these Felt Wool Locks on Etsy and then on Amazon this product has lots of color options.

• Round, wooden bead, needle and thread

• Felting Needles, foam padding, finger protectors, and scissors if needed.

• If you want to learn how to make your own needle felting surface, watch this video here.

STEPS:

• Create a ball, with grey felt.

• Create a cone, with red felt. This will be the hat. Be cure to create an indent for the head.

• Connect the ball and the hat together, and felt them into place.

• Create the grey beard using the small curly stripes of raw wool. Use the felting needles to felt them around the face of the gnome, around the edge of the hat. You can use a range of colors and make this a thick beard with layers of hair.

What this tutorial on one way you can make your own Felted Christmas Gnomes, plus learn some great traditions at Christmas in Norway!

I found another tutorial video that could help give you some inspiration too, and she also sells a needle felting kit for gnomes! Skip ahead a bit to watch her techniques.

Art Project: Swedish Christmas Dala Horse Ornaments (2 Ways!)

Supplies Needed:

• Print out of Dala Horse as a template, or a Dala Shaped Cookie Cutter (which would also make lovely cookies!)

• Cardboard

• Paint + brushes

• Ribbon, strong or twine

• Glue

• OR: Felt, embroidery thread and needles!

Method:

1. Use the free printable of a Dala horse here.

2. Cut it out, and trace it onto cardboard.

3. Paint your cardboard Dala’s as many different solid colors are you want.

4. Draw and paint on your pretty patterns, then attach some ribbon, string or twine to the back in a loop, and hang up on the tree!

5. OR use felt, and cut out the Dala horse,

Other Dala Art Projects you may like to check out and try:

DIY Dala Felt Ornaments | from the home steady
DIY Dala HorseBoxes | from willow day

Learn how to draw a Swedish Dala Horse:

Learn about how they make Dala Horses in Sweden:

Art Project: Danish Christmas Craft: Woven Danish Hearts Christmas Ornaments

Printable included. I wanted to include a video that can help you see the way to weave these types of hearts. Our printable has multiple colors for you to simply print out, and weave.

We have included Felted Balls as an optional activity, if you wanted. There are a few different ways to make felted balls, and I wanted to include a few videos for you to get started with. You can start with needle felting, then finish with wet felting, or simply felt felt them, or use the needle completely for the whole process (which is the method we have included in our pack)

Wet Felting Balls:

Needle + Wet Felting Beads:

I am also in the process of creating hand-made felted learning materials into the shop, paired with printed and laminated counting cards and more. Stay tuned for that exciting new addition to our shop!

Another, optional Craft I couldn’t resit including for you to check out: The Danish Star Christmas Ornament:

Recipes to Cook:

We found a wonderful selection of Hygge-Inspired Scandinavian Christmas Recipes for you to choose from for your tea time today, from all three countries! I found some extra recipes too, and tried to included as many YouTube Tutorials as I could.

Christmas Cookie from Norway: Serinakaker - Norwegian Almond Butter Cookies (recipe included in Unit)

Christmas Cookie from Denmark: Danish Butter Cookies - 3 Ways (recipe included in Unit)

Additional Danish Recipe: Danish Christmas Risalamande Rice Dessert (this is the dessert that the people of Sweden would put out for the Christmas Gnomes to thank them for taking care of the animals in the barn)

Christmas Dessert from Sweden: Kanelbular - Swedish Cinnamon Rolls (Recipe included in Unit.)

Lussebullar - Swedish Saffron Buns for Saint Lucia Day - find a similar recipe in the learning pack, watch this video to learn the steps:

And because I couldn’t help myself, here are two more optional recipes you may like to check out:
Pumpkin Soup with Orange and Parmigiano-Reggiano

Rosette Cookies - These require a special tool, and look amazing! I just ordered the tools needed, to give this one a try this season! :) Wish me luck.

Additional Learning

Included in this learning pack are illustrated counters, flash cards and tracing cards for a variety of topics, items and animals from Scandinavia. I wanted to include the research I found for you.

Reindeer in the Arctic Circle, Lapland: We are featuring reindeer in this pack, and I found some educational videos for you.

These Reindeer are in Finland, which is not far from Sweden.

Lapland is the northern province in Sweden, but also, Finland has a Lapland province as well.

Documentary on the People Under the Northern Lights in Norway: Note, put on closed captioning.

Nordic Goat: I found this beautiful Viking Music made with the horns of the goats:

Please Tag us with your Hygge Christmas in Scandinavia Masterpieces on Instagram! I cannot wait to see them!

Ps- Stay tuned, I am writing our Adventures in Scandinavia Read, Paint, Cook Unit Study as we speak, and they are coming soon!

While diving into this Adventure, you may enjoy these additional Christmas Packs: