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Geography Fair

Last Wednesday, our homeschool group held a geography fair.  My kids and I did "Sweden."  My husband’s ancestors came from Sweden; therefore, we have a special interest in learning more about his heritage.  I personally love geography; I love to learn about different cultures, people, land, nature, places, historical aspects, arts & crafts, etc.  I had so much fun helping my kids research about Sweden.  We read several books about Sweden, watched videos about Sweden, searched the internet about Sweden, and baked Swedish butter cookies.  I also made a Dala horse (symbol of Sweden) out of felt, yarn, and laces.  My daughter liked it so much that she asked me to give it to her for a Christmas present :) .

Have you ever heard of the Ice Hotel in Jukkasjarvi, Sweden?  Every winter they build a new hotel using ice from the Torne River.  Every summer the hotel melts away.  It is open for only 4 months from December to March.  Everything there… ( the walls, floors, beds, furnitures, etc.) is made of ice.  Isn’t that so cool (or cold rather)?  My kids got curious about ice toilets; they wondered if a person’s bottom could get stuck to the toilet seat when he/she tries to get up (just like you can get your tongue stuck on a very cold popsicle!).  In any case, ice toilet seats just cannot be that comfortable :) . 

We learned about the Vikings.  My 5 yo son colored a Viking boy and his outfit.  So cute :) .  We even watched Veggie Tales’ Lyle the Kindly Viking for an extra bonus :) .

In addition, we learned about some famous Swedes such as Alfred Nobel (the guy who invented dynamite and didn’t want to be remembered as someone who invented things that blew up and killed people so he established the "Nobel Prize"), Carolus Linnaeus (Father of Botany who came up with a classification system for plants and animals using genus name followed by species name), Anders Celsius (the scientist who invented the Celsius thermometer), and Astrid Lingren (the author of Pippi Longstocking).

Did you know Volvo and Saab are made in Sweden?  Do you remember that song sung by Templeton the Rat in Charlotte’s Web?  Smorgasbord… smorgasbord…smorgasbord!  Sweden started it :) .  They sure know how to feast :) .

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