Travel to Sweden from home {Travel the World from Home Series}
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We have had such a great time on our travel to Sweden from home! We have visited Sweden in real life too, but thought we would enjoy a little refresher. Sweden was such a surprisingly fascinating destination and it was fun to do a deeper delve into it from home.
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A little bit 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 which makes it smooth and 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
There were quite a few movies that had Thailand featured in them. We watched 3-4 of them this week! These were our two favorites.
“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.
The many Pippi Longstocking stories were written by Astrid Lindgren and may be Sweden’s most popular export ever!
There are a number of version 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.
What to read about Sweden
Guys, books for kids about Sweden are almost non existent 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!
How else can you travel to Sweden from home?
This weeks 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 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:
- Fimo clay or a clay that will harden
- craft paint in and 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 really bad!)
We then used our fingers, piece 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 and put them in a 220 degree over (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 a number of years and it was fun for me to hear some songs I knew.
Where are we visiting next?
France
Here is the recipe for Chicken Reisling (a weeknight take on Coq au Vin)
Our craft from France is going to be Matisse inspired. Here are the things that you will need:
- QUALITY MATTERS: Pack includes 48 sheets of heavy weight (216 gsm/80 lb cover), smooth, solid core cardstock in various primary. All AC Cardstock is made of...
- BEST CARDSTOCK FOR DIE CUTTING: The paper fibers in AC Cardstock are designed to give fantastic results in die cutting machines – get the detail you want...
- CRAFTER’S STAPLE: AC Cardstock is the best addition to any crafter’s paper collection.
- Quantity: 180 sheets wrapping tissue paper bulk in 36 assorted colors, each color has 5 sheets gift tissue paper.
- Size: Art tissue paper measure appr. 20*26". Material: Paper. This lightweight tissue paper is easy to tear and cut, making it the perfect material for surfaces...
- Color: 36 colors in golden,silvery,scarlet, strong red, rose red, opera mauve, shell pink, pink,light pink,vermilion, orange, chrome yellow, lemon yellow, light...
- Multipurpose, all-in-one sealant, glue, and finish. Gloss finish
- Quick-drying for multiple coat build up. Dries clear
- Apply with brush or sponge applicator
glue sticks
Where have we already visited?
Here are the countries we have already visited and you will love them as much as Thailand.
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 13th 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 18thcentury 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.
More of Travel the World from Home
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Last update on 2020-06-03 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
I love all the activities you are proposing for the kids! And so great to have created a whole series with different destinations!
Lots of fantastic ideas! Swedish meatballs? Yum!