Kids & Families
For reservations, call 212.847.9740 or email event_reservation@amscan.org.
No reservations are necessary for Saturday Morning Storytelling.
Scandinavia House will be closed completely (including Smörgås Chef Restaurant and the Shop @ Scandinavia House) on Sunday, September 5 and Monday, September 6, for the Labor Day holiday. The Restaurant and Shop will be open this week through Saturday, September 4.
The Children’s Center is currently closed and will reopen on Tuesday, September 7. The galleries are closed until the next exhibition opens in October.
Scandinavian Sing-Along
Saturdays @ 1 pm, September 18, October 16, November 20, & December 11
$7 ($5 ASF members), ages 1 – 7
Scandinavia holds a treasure-trove of children's songs and games. Danish musicians Anne Mette Iversen and Vibe Normann will introduce children to English versions of a selection of these songs, play musical games, and also perform some songs in modern, jazzy arrangements. Come prepared to move, dance, imagine, and sing your heart out!
Anne Mette Iversen and Vibe Normann are Danish musicians living in New York. Iversen's background is in jazz, while Normann's is in classical and Danish folk music. They share a special love for the Danish children's songs they grew up with, and have performed together on several occasions in both New York and Washington, D.C.
Saturday Morning Storytelling with the Hans Christian Andersen Storytellers
Saturdays @ 11 am, October 9, November 13, December 11, & January 8
FREE, ages 5+
Some of New York’s most famous storytellers bring to life exciting tales of mythical creatures and fantastic adventures from Scandinavia and the far North.
October 9:
Stories of Hans Christian Andersen — Told by Kristen Pedermonti and Rolf Stang
November 13:
Stories from Norway — Told by Bill Gordh
December 11:
The Legend of the Christmas Rose — Told by Kaye Lindauer
January 8, 2011:
Stories from Sweden — Told by Regina Ress
H.C. Andersen Storytellers Artistic Director: Diane Wolkstein. Saturday Morning Storytelling at Scandinavia House is made possible by support from DeWitt Stern Group, Inc. and DeWitt Stern Imperatore.
Blocks/Kloss
Teater Tr3
Saturday, October 23, 2 performances – 11 am & 1 pm
$10 ($7 ASF Members), ages 3+
Which is more fun? Building up or knocking down? Filled with slap-stick humor and a touch of seriousness, Blocks is a happy story about three characters trying to organize their world. Blue overalls inspire choreography that freely mixes the concepts of work and play.
Teater Tre is one of the most active and beloved theater groups in Sweden, performing over 300 shows every year all over Sweden and on their home stage in Stockholm. During the last year the group has been invited to many international theater festivals including Finland, Lithuania, Serbia, France, Italy, Japan, Cameroon, Egypt, Germany, and Australia. Formed in 1979, Teater Tre began as mime-based, visual theater that included text, movement and music, and consisted of students graduating in mime from the Academy of Theater in Stockholm.
Swedish Christmas Children’s Workshop
Saturday, December 4, 1 pm
$7 ($5 ASF members), ages 5 – 10
Scandinavia House invites young children to experience how Swedes prepare for Christmas in this customary julpysseldag (Christmas craft day). Kids will learn the secrets of making traditional holiday crafts like woven hearts, yarn tomtar and paper angels.
This program is made possible by generous support from the MacCormick family and from SVEA/New York in honor of Monica MacCormick.
A Child’s Adventure in the Swedish Countryside: A Storybook Installation
Saturday, 12 – 5 pm, $5 per child (FREE for ASF members), admission includes access to both spaces
Open to ASF Family Associate and above members, Tuesday – Friday, 12 – 5 pm; ages toddler+
Leave New York City to discover the magical lives of some of Sweden’s most popular classic and contemporary children’s storybook characters! The sixth installation of The American Scandinavian Foundation’s popular Annual Celebration of Children’s Literature at Scandinavia House spotlights Sweden.
A Child’s Adventure in the Swedish Countryside is an interactive playscape that takes children on a magical journey from New York City across the ocean to Sweden where they can explore, hear stories, and read while surrounded by vibrant and imaginative murals evocative of the bucolic Swedish landscape. Kids will encounter a fantasy city skyline, inspired by simple, bright building blocks. A mini-balcony suggests a penthouse roof where they can build their own block buildings. Following a whimsically-stylized road, they will leave behind the big city, meeting along the way some of the country’s most beloved storybook characters, like Stefan Casta's Mister Raf, Gunilla Bergstrom’s Alfons, and Maria Jonsson’s Astrid the Fly. Children can read and listen to stories in the giant blueberry basket “sofa” and other woodland-inspired cushions that litter the forest, go camping in a tent with Findus the Cat or play in Elsa Beskow’s capricious hat house. The storybook installation is designed by renowned set designer and artist Sarah Edkins.
Both classic and contemporary literatures are embraced in this installation as much of today’s literature evokes popular themes of the past. Many of the contemporary authors and illustrators continue in tradition of the classic “Elsa Beskow style,” where they imagine fanciful play lands that blend together the natural and human world.
Support for A Child’s Adventure in the Swedish Countryside: A Storybook Installation is provided by Christina Lang Assael, The Assael Foundation; The Hon. Charles and Monika A. Heimbold, The Heimbold Foundation; the Honorary Consulate General of Sweden, New York; SWEA, New Jersey Chapter; Dr. Rose-Marie G. Oster; Edwin & Kathy Ordonez; John L. and Solveig Andersen; Michael E. Gochman & Bettina Schriver Gochman; and Sara Roy Summers.
Heimbold Family Children’s Center
Scandinavia House features regular programs for children and families in the Heimbold Family Children's Center, a colorful, welcoming environment where children and their caregivers can learn about the history and culture of Scandinavia through books, toys, workshops, and storytelling.
Open to ASF members only Tuesday-Friday, 12-5 pm. FREE
Open to the public Saturday, 12-5 pm. $5 per child (FREE to ASF members) includes admission to both the Heimbold Family Children's Center and A Child’s Adventure in the Swedish Countryside: A Storybook Installation.