We had such a great time on our travel to Sweden from home! We have visited Sweden in real life too, but we thought we would enjoy a little refresher. Sweden was such a surprisingly fascinating destination and it was fun to do deeper delve into it from home.

 

A Few Facts About Sweden

• Sweden is in Northwestern Europe.
• Sweden is one of the largest countries in Europe.
• Stockholm is the capital of Sweden and is made up of lots of tiny islands and bridges connecticting them.
• Ancient Swedes were Vikings and explored all over Europe.
• Swedish money is called Krona.
• If you go to the Northern part of Sweden in the summer the daytime lasts for 20 hours!
• Sweden has a king and queen.
• If you are in Sweden in the winter you can see the aurora borealis or “The Northern Lights”.
• If you love meatballs, crayfish and other brined seafood you will love visiting Sweden.

What to make for your Swedish food from home

Let’s play some word association! I say Swedish…what was the first thing that came to your mind? If it wasn’t meatball, I can’t imagine what it was. The humble Swedish meatball can be elevated to a place of pure deliciousness just by adding a few key ingredients. That is why I love this recipe!

Traditional Swedish Meatballs

The secret to really tasty meatballs is the addition of ground port plus some unexpected seasonings.

The gravy is fortified with sour cream, making it smooth, tangy, and perfect.

 

Whenever I make these meatballs I double or triple the recipe so that I can freeze some for later. I brown the meatballs before I freeze them because I find they hold their shape better when I thaw them. When I want to eat them, I pull them from the freezer and pop them in a 350 degree for about 20 minutes until they are cooked through.

Otherwise follow the recipe as written (omitting the brown sugar as suggested). It’s super fun for your kids to help with the mixing as it is gooey, slime fun. Just have them wash their hands before and after!

What to watch for your movie about Sweden

Sweden has an active film culture and there are tons of movies to watch. We watched quite a few movies that had Sweden featured in them, but most of them were not kid-appropriate or child friendly.

Luckily there is this gem of a movie that the whole family will enjoy!

 

“Pippi Longstocking”

Pippi Longstocking is Sweden’s best love story about an orphan girl who lives with her monkey and her horse and befriend the children next door. She goes on wild adventures and gets into all kinds of mischief.

Astrid Lindgren wrote the many Pippi Longstocking stories and may be Sweden’s most popular export ever!

There are a number of versions of Pippi Longstocking movies, cartoons, and books, but this is my personal favorite. I watched it at least once a week when I was little and had to go on a big search to find it!! It is dubbed in English over the original Swedish which makes it really funny for adults to watch. I hope you love it as much as our family does.

Watch it on Amazon Prime here.

Appropriate for all ages!

 

 

What to read about Sweden

Guys, books for kids about Sweden are almost nonexistent and the few that we ordered were not fun or engaging at all. If you have read my post about Sweden you will find that I felt the same way about travel guides. So grab a Pippi Longstocking collection and read that to your kids, or skip the book this time in favor of something else you love to do!

If you have older kids or want to read a Swedish book, I highly recommend “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.” This book series by Stieg Larsson is one of the most acclaimed Swedish literature. (I wouldn’t recommend letting younger readers read this until you have as there is some disturbing content.)

How else can you travel to Sweden from home?

Virtually visit the Vasa Museum and learn all about the famous ship that sank just after departing on its maiden voyage. This was one of our favorite stops in Stockholm and the virtual tour is really great.

 

Learn how to play Minecraft

This Swedish-created game has taken the world by storm! It’s a game about building and/or competition. In my house, my boys play it every day so I decided to learn how to play it with them.

If your kids aren’t already Minecraft enthusiasts, let them log on here. You can learn to play as a family!

If your kids are already huge enthusiasts, let them teach you a thing or two!

Swedish Videos and Music

This week’s supplemental Swedish video is in honor of my 4-year-old nephew, who loves all vehicles and would be fluent in Swedish if they made enough of these!! This is a short video that teaches Swedish words for trains, planes, bikes, trucks and more!

National Geographic has a fabulous series called “Are we there yet?” is so amazing for kids. There are multiple videos for Sweden. This one has the kids visiting the Vasa Museum which was among the highlights of Stockholm when we visited.

What to Craft from Sweden

Clay Dala Horses

The Data horse is a symbol of Sweden and small carved horses are one of the most popular souvenirs from Sweden. The horse figures come from Dalarna, in central Sweden. They gained worldwide popularity during the Paris Exposition of 1937 and are now a symbol of Sweden. They are traditionally painted red and have a harness with colors that represent the region of the horse.

 

We decided to make some Dala for our Christmas tree. To make them, you need the following:

• Fimo clay or clay that will harden
• craft paint in an orangey red
• Craft paints for the harness
• Paint brushes
• Twine or ribbon

There were a number of similar crafts on Pinterest, but we ended up just making it up as we went along. We used the fimo we had left over from the New Zealand craft and picked red and blue as they are the traditional colors of Dala Horses in Sweden.

We rolled the clay out to a little under an inch thick and cut out our best horse shapes. (They were awful!)

We then used our fingers, pieces of remaining clay, and a little bit of time to form decent-shaped 2 dimensional Dala Horses.

I put a hole in the top of one that my son wanted to hang on our Christmas tree.

We put them on a cookie sheet in a 220-degree oven (F) for 25 minutes.

The next day we painted them based on traditional painted designs.

 

They turned out way better than I had anticipated and we all said it was one of our favorite crafts we have done!

 

Here is how the traditional Dala horses are made:

Music from Sweden

We try to listen to music from each country while we do our craft projects. The kids said all the music from Sweden sounded like Christmas music. I don’t know what they were listening to!

I directed a Swedish women’s choir for several years and it was fun for me to hear some songs I knew.

 

Do you want to visit Sweden with your family now?

Here are some of my favorite family travel bloggers and their experiences in Sweden!

First, is my post about traveling to Sweden with my family a few years ago!

Exploring Gamla Stan in Stockholm

The old parts of cities are always my favorites! I love a cobblestone street and a statue or two.

Gamla stan is its own island that dates back to the 13^th century. The large square in the middle of the island is Stortorget, and it is a wonderful place to get a drink and people watch. If your kids like to feed (or realistically chase) pigeons, this is the place to stop for a while.

While in Gamla stan you can visit the Nobel Museum, the Stockholm Cathedral, and the 18^thcentury palace for the royal family. None will be very interesting for your younger children, but you could do as we did and have one parent go in a museum while the other took the kids to chase pigeons.

I would plan 2-4 hours to explore the winding streets, grab a bite, and window shop. However, if you plan on visiting any of the museums you will have to plan more time.

 

For more fun kids facts and activities, check out my posts:

Fun Facts about Greece