We were so excited to be invited on a press trip to the Secret Princess Trail by Go Tale Formby. As two of the princesses (and one ice queen) we were going to meet were straight from the stories of Hans Christian Andersen we decided to give the whole weekend a fairy tale Danish theme with our kids!
Fairytale adventures
To say that Freddie was excited to visit the Princesses was an understatement! Elsa is his absolute hero and he insisted on wearing Penny’s Elsa dress to meet her. Before he saw Elsa however there were other princesses to meet – including one straight from a Hans Christian Anderson story – The Little Mermaid. Penny has reached an age where just meeting a princess could be a bit boring so it was great that each of the princesses they met set them a challenge which they all loved (though I have to say that I have never seen a slower egg and spoon race!)
But of course the true excitement was meeting the Elsa herself. Based on the story of the Snow Queen, Frozen II is Freddie’s most favourite movie of all time and he couldn’t talk for an hour when he got home he was so overwhelmed. It is good to see that there is still lots of magic in the world.
Danish butter cookies
I think everyone has a tin of Danish Butter Cookies at Christmas but I have never tried to bake them before. They are very easy and really good (however I didn’t have a piping bag so ours looked more like blobs).
You can find a good recipe here or watch this video to learn how to make your own – I recommend buying a piping bag first (mine did not look good!) although it didn’t affect the lovely buttery taste.
lego
My kids love Lego and it’s actually a toy from Denmark as we found out the first time we visited. You could have an extra Danish theme if you have a Lego Snow Queen Castle like the one below! So far I have resisted the urge to buy one. Playing Lego at the weekend might be one of the easiest crafting projects we have ever done.
movies and Hygge
There are so many movie choices for a pretend visit to fairy tale Denmark. There are the Disney adaptations of Hans Christian Andersen classics like the Little Mermaid and the Ice Queen (Frozen). But as a family we love the old musical Danny Kaye movie which tells a semi fictionalised account of the life of Hans Christian Andersen and has a wonderful Hollywood style Danish theme to it. I recommend it heartily!!
In the event, Freddie fell sleep cuddling me and watching the film. He was captivated by it and he drifted off to sleep watching ballet dancing mermaids. I hope he had sweet dreams.
Football
There’s no doubt that Denmark has been making headlines in the Euros. Not just because of the collapse of their player Christian Eriksen, but also because of their dignified and humane behaviour during the crisis. I think we can all be very grateful that the story has a happy ending and we decided to cheer for Denmark to have a fairy tale ending in the Euros.
Freddie wasn’t awake for their game against Russia today but his football club are having a celebration of the Euros on Saturday with everyone aged three dressing up in Danish colours.
Bedtime stories
We were spoilt for choice for bedtime stories! Penny chose the Little Match Girl, which is such a sad story and Freddie wanted the Snow Queen (of course). The stories of Hans Christian Andersen are really the only way to finish fairy tale theme trip to Denmark with kids.
Recently I have been reflecting on pretend visits we have made to Sweden, Belgium and The Netherlands – you can read about them here.
Thanks for the recipe!