Lindsborg, Kansas (Little Sweden) and Horses, Lots of Dala Horses
Lindsborg, Kansas was settled by Swedish immigrants. The downtown area has dala horses decorated in themes that represent the business they are in front of. The dala horse is a toy horse that was commonly made in Sweden. The dala horse gained popularity when it represented Sweden at the 1939 World’s Fair in New York. Dala Horses
Not too far from the Lindsborg downtown area is the 1904 World’s Fair Swedish Pavilion (seen below) and across the street is a historic flour mill.
Books/Websites
Swedish Culture
D is for Dala Horse: A Nordic Countries Alphabet by Kathy-jo Wargin- I got this book at the dala horse store at the end of the street with the large red dala horse in front.
National Geographic Kids- Sweden
Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren- Fun fact, Pippi Longstocking was written by a Swedish gentleman named Astrid Lindgren. If you were a child of the 80s or 90s, you might remember the show/movie about Pippi Longstocking- Pippi Longstocking Trailer and if you were a fan of Gilmore Girls, you might remember movie night with them watching Pippi Longstocking- Gilmore Girls Singing Pippi Longstocking. I was always a fan of Pippi.
World’s Fair
Students today are not going to have a frame of reference for a world’s fair, because it has been decades since there has been a world’s fair in North America. A good place to start to give students an understanding of the excitement surrounding a world’s fair is by showing students the musical Meet Me in St. Louis. Now, I really enjoy musicals, but some kids are going to act like you are torturing them if you make them watch a musical. For those kids, you can encourage them to do their own research on the world’s fair. Some of the following videos or websites might be helpful:
Photos of the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair
world’s fair | History, Instances, & Facts | Britannica
Fun Activity
For kids who are artistically inclined, after seeing all the dala horses around town, parents or teachers can print out a blank dala horse coloring sheet and have the student color it in a theme that interests them.
Some kids have big ideas and enjoy the idea of dreaming and planning, and kids might really enjoy planning their own world’s fair. Kids can think about what are the most important things in the world today in terms of technology, food, engineering, transportation, medicine…After researching the most important things in the world today, kids can design a world’s fair and they can think through how they would design their world’s fair.
A tip from someone who has been there.
Coronado Heights Castle is about 10 minutes from Lindsborg. The Work Progress Administration (WPA) built the castle as a sort of tribute to the stories that say that the Spanish explorer Coronado made it to that spot in Kansas. There are enough places to visit in and around Lindsborg to fill up the day. Families or classes could visit the Swedish World Fair Pavilion, the Historic Flour Mill, and a few other historic buildings from the area that are in the same area as the pavilion. Then, the family/class could walk down main street and see the dala horses. On the way out of town, the family/class could stop by Coronado Heights. The video below is of me walking down the Lindsborg main street.
