Denmark

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A literature-based Denmark unit study
Updated October 2026

Nyhavn, one of the canals of Copenhagen, Denmark

I made a beeline for The Little Book of Hygge to figure out why Denmark is the second happiest country in the world (they used to be the first). Denmark is also the land of Hans Christian Andersen and Lego. To visit “Lego House” in Denmark is now on the kids’ bucket list! UPDATE: We visited Lego House and Legoland in Billund, Denmark, in 2026 and it exceeded all expectations!

Navigate this page: Missions, Book lists, Cooking, Composer Study, Folk Dance/Music, Art Project, Game, Movie, Videos

Mapping it out

Missions Spotlight

  • Prayercast.com/Denmark: Prayer Points, Summary, Quick Facts
    **parents should preview the short prayercast.com video for sensitive topics that may not be age appropriate.

Book Lists

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Introduction to Denmark (These series have been kid approved)

Our Favorite Books

The following are my favorite books for different age groups and categories:

Cooking Danish Food with kids

The kids helped me make Danish meatballs, called Frikadeller. I was making them by myself, but as soon as one wanted to help, they all came over. Assembly line style, they started turning them out much faster than I could by myself! (There are more recipe links and pictures in Recipes by Country: Denmark.)

Composer Study

Denmark’s beloved composer is Carl Nielsen (1865-1931). His main instrument was the violin and he is famous for six symphonies, three concertos, and a comic opera, as well as chamber music. Here is my YouTube playlist highlighting his most famous works across a variety of genres. For ideas of how you can incorporate Composer Study, visit my page: “Art and Music.”

Folk Dance and Music of Denmark

Art/Handicraft

Hans Christian Andersen was the first to make these woven heart decorations in 1860. These are special–they are 3D, woven in a special way that creates a basket! We made them out of construction paper. I was surprised that my 5 year old was able to make two with minimal help. The 3.5 year old surprised me with an improvement in his cutting ability and then he ran off to play, so I wove his basket for him.

To make it easier for younger kids, you could make as few as 3 straight fringed pieces to weave (as in the video below). An even easier way would be to just to weave the loose ends into a flat, two-dimensional heart that does not open up into a basket and use tape to secure the bottom edges. The bigger your overall stencil, the easier it will be for little fingers!

How the patterns turned out! Top one has a basket handle
How the patterns turned out! Top one has a basket handle

Game

I taught the kids how to play the board game, Ticket to Ride: Europe. If you already know how to play “Ticket to Ride,” there are only a few additional rules, such as the use of train stations to use someone else’s route, tunnels, and having one super long train tickets per person at the beginning. We will probably play this game for the duration of our European countries.

There is also a Nordic version of Ticket to Ride that includes the countries of Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Denmark!

Movie!

We watched “Hans Christian Andersen,” starring Danny Kaye and ballerina Zizi Jeanmaire. It is a fantastic, old-timey movie with singing and even a mini-ballet of “The Little Mermaid.” It is not biographical, however, and portrays the ballerina as a love interest that inspires Andersen to write “The Little Mermaid.” Kids may be bored by the unrequited love, but find the rest of the movie fun and engaging.

YouTube Videos

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