Glad Påsk! Easter Activity Book Swedish Easter Traditions Easter in Sweden is traditionally a family holiday. Many families will celebrate at their family cottage since this is the first long weekend of spring. That will often mean grandparents, cousins, aunts and uncles all getting together for a weekend of fun and laughter. Children in Sweden participate in a fun tradition. On the Thursday before Easter, they dress up in old clothes, paint their cheeks red, and become Easter Witches, or Påsk Kärringar! Once they are ready, they go around to the other houses in the area and hope they will be presented with sweets. Children also receive Easter eggs (sometimes made out of cardboard) filled with candy. They will also go on an Easter egg hunt looking for more candy filled eggs and other treasures. Dying eggs is another fun tradition. In America, people will often eat turkey or ham at Easter. In Sweden, you will often find a smörgåsbord, which is a table full of a variety of food like pickled herring, salmon, Jansson’s Tempation (a potato dish). They also enjoy food like roast lamb. Påskmust is a special soda that people like to drink at Easter. In Sweden, you will often see special decorations around Easter. Påskris are little Easter trees and they are used to decorate houses and businesses in Sweden. People collect branches and twigs and tie colorful feathers, ornaments and sometimes eggs to the branches. Often these are arranged in a vase or other container. We hope that you will incorporate one or more of these traditions (except the one about the large family gathering!) this year. Please enjoy the following pages that explore the above tradition a bit more. During Easter, children dress up as Easter witches (Påsk käringer). Legend has it that witches travel throughout the night on Maundy Thursday, the Thursday before Easter, looking for food and embers from local homes. Easter Witch Materials - Printed Template - Material for hair - Glue - Scissors - Exacto Knife - Coloring supplies - Yarn or string - Skewer or other small stick The template for the witch can be found on the next page. Print the template. There are a few extras on the page to share with others, or you can make a whole group of witches! Once you have your template, you can start coloring. With an exacto knife, or other sharp knife, cut along the two semicircles in the middle of the witch as the picture shows. Please only do this with adult supervision. Fold the half ring you have now. This becomes the witch’s arms. You can color these on the top. Draw hands in the middle of the ring and give the witch a face. You can make your witch’s face look however you’d like! Roll the back part and glue or tape together. Glue some yarn to the witch’s head Attach some yarn or small sticks to one end of the skewer. Then run the skewer up through the skirt out through the hands. Tie a piece of sewing thread in the top of the head and the witch is ready to fly. FEATHER TOPPED EASTER PENCILS http://www.willowday.com/2012/03/diy-easter-pencils.html SUPPLIES: Scissors Plain pencils Feathers Paper tape or regular tape 1. Place feathers on tape 2. Wrap tape, with feathers, around the top of the pencil 3. At a diagonal, wrap tape firmly around the pencil 4. Cover entire pencil. If you use paper tape, you can sharpen the pencil with the tape on. If you do not have paper tape, be sure to leave some room at the tip for sharpening. Be creative and decorate this egg using art supplies! Word Search A V V I D W T P J G K I I B R K K G Y H P K R U C X K R A F S M Ö R G Å S B O R D A G N E G S I R K S Å P I S N N Q O A F N Y O X S O O T C I O G M T B D I G G E X E H R D S J L H N P J R W N E E R O D J N A E P J Å O R W S Ä U I X M X S R Å W O S S E K L D K B F E H S S O I Q K K H W Y R B C R L J K X M T S M M A A H Z A T D R T F S Å C B U H R K Z S E H E I V P I Z H C S I U H Q U R E F A M I L Y Y D T U D N I M R Z M E K X X P E K G T R A U J BRANCHES PÅSKKÄRRINGAR EGG PÅSKMUST FAMILY PÅSKRIS FEATHERS SALMON HERRING SMÖRGÅSBORD HUNT SWEETS PÅSK WITCH .