Education Programs
Children's Programs
Nordic Stories
The first Thursday of each month, 10:00 am - 11:00 am
Join us for our fifth year of Nordic Stories, geared toward preschool aged children
and their grown-ups. Held the 1st Thursday of each month from 10am to 11am, Nordic
Stories features children's stories from the Nordic countries, along with fun craft
projects. This is a free program, no reservations are necessary. Please note: This
program is not intended for large groups.
There will be no Nordic Stories in July.
Thursday, August 1: Brave Charlotte and the Wolves by Finnish-born author Anu Stohner
Heritage Camp: Norse Gods
Monday-Friday, June 24-28, 9:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.
Heritage Camp is open to boys and girls ages 7 through 11 and this year is filled with fun activities and crafts centered around the Norse Gods.
Cost: $135 Members; $150 non-Members; $85 members of Leif Erikson Lodge 2-001, thanks to a generous subsidy from the lodge.
Reservations required; contact Alison Church at 206.789.5707, ext. 19 or at
alisonc@nordicmuseum.org.
Workshop: Landscapes for Kids
Tuesday, July 30, 10:00 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. (ages 6-9) & noon - 1:30 p.m. (ages 10+)
Join us for a fun class led by local artist Liisa Mannery and Children’s Education Coordinator Alison Church. Drawing inspiration from the
visiting exhibition of landscape paintings by Norwegian artist Ørnulf Opdahl, children will get the opportunity to create their own
acrylic landscape paintings to take home. All supplies provided.
Two sessions: 10:00 a.m. - 11:30 a.m. for children ages 6-9; noon - 1:30 p.m., children 10 and older. Maximum of 10 students per class.
Classes may be combined if registration is low.
Cost: $10 per child for Members; $12 per child for non-Members.
Pre-registration is required.
Or call Alison Church at 206.789.5707, ext. 19.
Barneleikarringen of Greater Seattle
Two Sunday afternoons each month
Calling young dancers!
Barneleikarringen invites young people to learn Nordic dancing. Students and parents
learn fun folkdances from each of the five Nordic countries. Instructors emphasize
basic cultural aspects of these countries as well as music and dance steps. No prior
experience necessary—all dances are taught. Dances are geared for everyone age 4
and up. We love it when parents, grandparents, and friends dance with the kids.
Children also have the opportunity to take part in performances with the group at
various locations.
We meet at the Nordic Heritage Museum on two Sunday afternoons each month. Some practices
are at other locations when Museum space is unavailable.
For questions, please call 425. 954.5257 or email
Barneleikarringen@gmail.com.
Visit
the Barnleikarringen website for more information.
The group is sponsored in part by Leikarringen and Leif Erikson Lodge 2-001.
Teen Programs
Nordic Heritage Teen Council
The Nordic Heritage Teen Council (NHTC) is a small group of high school students who contribute to the exhibits, programs, and events at the Nordic
Heritage Museum. The council meets biweekly over a 10-week period to develop and implement projects for the Museum. They are also active in volunteering
with the various events at the Museum throughout the year.
Currently the NHTC has a display on view at the Museum titled
Sailing the Seas of our Heritage.
Learn more about the NHTC and their work around the museum on their blog.
Pictured right: Teens learn how an exhibition is created by curating their own. Here installation is in progress.
Adult Programs
Craft School: Nordic Woodcarving with Erik Holt
Saturdays, 9:00 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.
June 8, 15, 22, 29
Learn Baroque Acanthus, Rococo and Viking/Dragon styles in this class. Students will concentrate on the fundamental leaf formations of the
Acanthus style (see below), working up combinations of the Acanthus curl, or explore the Viking/Dragon style.
Woodcarvers at all levels, beginners to experienced, are welcome in the class. Tool sharpening and basic carving techniques will be covered
for beginners. Continuing students will develop their own projects. Class options of two to five classes per month.
Cost: $162.50 for 5 classes; $130 for 4 classes; $97.50 for 3 classes; $38 per day for one or two classes.
Pictured top right: Acanthus Baroque style ornament, a work in progress, by Conan Thornhill, who was a student in Erik Holt's class.
For more information or enroll, please contact Jeremy Ehrlich at 206-789-5707, ext. 21 or email jeremye@nordicmuseum.org.
Craft School: Rosemaling with Marilyn Hansen
Friday - Sunday July 12, 13, and 14
9:30 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.
Learn this traditional Norwegian form of decorative folk art, or simply brush up on your painting and design skills. Telemark, Hallingdal
and Gudbrandsdal are just some of the regional styles that may be taught in this class. Students paint on a variety of decorative and
useful objects. All levels of painters welcome.
Cost: $29 per day for Members; $31 per day for Non-Members.
Pictured right: Chest wtih rosemaling by Marilyn Hansen.
Register online using the link below. Note: You may sign up for all three days or just one; you will be asked which days you plan on attending upon Eventbrite checkout.
Or you may enroll by calling Jeremy Ehrlich at 206-789-5707, ext. 21.
Nordic Knit and Spin Cafe
First Sunday of every month, 1:00pm – 4:00pm
Both new and experienced knitters are encouraged to bring their knitting and spinning projects
and find kindred spirits at Nordic Knit and Spin Cafe.
You don’t have to be Nordic to knit Nordic!
Cost: free, donations welcome.
Scandinavian Language Institute
The Scandinavian Language Institute (SLI) has been providing Seattle-area adults their Nordic language education for more than 30 years.
Whether you are a true beginner, simply need a refresher course, or are looking to advance your language skills, SLI has options for you
in Danish, Icelandic, Norwegian, and Swedish. Most classes are held here at the Nordic Heritage Museum.
Stay tuned for more information on the Fall 2014 quarter. Tuition ranges from $85 to $110 depending on the class. Discounts and
partial scholarships are available. Registration takes place in class - just show up and you're in!
See the SLI website for the full schedule for beginning, intermediate, and advanced levels, as well as for information about the
SLI faculty and more.
Nordic American Voices Oral History Initiative
The Nordic American Voices Oral History Initiative is an ambitious effort to
collect, preserve, and share the life histories of Nordic immigrants and their descendants
in the Pacific Northwest.
Nordic American Voices builds upon the expertise gained in the 1999–2000 Vanishing
Generation Project, when 123 interviews were recorded by more than 40 volunteers.
In 2001 the Museum, together with project partners the Ballard Historical Society
and the Swedish Finn Historical Society, published the 289-page book
Voices of Ballard:
Immigrant Stories from the Vanishing Generation, which contained narrative renditions of
over 100 interview transcripts. The first edition sold out quickly and is currently
out of print. One early goal of the Nordic American Voices project was to publish
a new, expanded edition of the popular book.
Now the new book has been published and is available for purchase in the Museum Gift Shop.
Voices of Ballard and Beyond: Stories of Immigrants and Their Descendants in the Pacific Northwest
is the result of a three-year effort by volunteers for the Nordic American Voices Oral History Project. Since 2009, this group of volunteers has recorded
more than 230 interviews at the Museum and in locations throughout the Puget Sound region. Thirty-two stories gleaned from these
interviews are included in the new publication along with 97 stories that formed the 2001 book. This new publication follows the
release in 2011 of the video documentary,
Under the Clouds of War: Growing Up in Occupied Denmark and Norway,
also based on interviews conducted by project volunteers. The book has received two awards: the 2013 Virginia Marie Folkins Award for an “exemplary historical publication”
from the Association of King County Historical Organizations and a Washington Museum Association Award of Project Excellence.
Some excerpts from Voices of Ballard and Beyond:
"My father was like my big fat Greek wedding. He was that way about being Danish. He used to distribute a little blurb. I don’t know
where he found it, proving that George Washington was Danish. He was related to Gorm 'the Old,' and he took the whole chronology back
so that the United States is actually a kingdom of Denmark. He had a whole spiel." - Lori Larsen
"On the train across Canada my mother made a sort of hammock out of a blanket or a shawl and tied it to the baggage racks and so I
swung across Canada. And the other thing my mother always complained about was my dad’s sister, older sister, and his next youngest
brother. The older sister was to come along to help her and take care of her. But she was seasick the whole trip, and so my mother
had her also to take care of." - Olaf Kvamme
Read three sample chapters of the book here:
Copies of the book are available in the Museum Gift Shop for $19.95! Orders may also be placed by contacting
orders@nordicmuseum.org.
(Please include your name, address, and phone number in the email. Don't include credit card information, however; we'll call for those details upon receipt of your order.)
A $5 shipping and handling fee will apply for delivery in the U.S.; for multiple copies, additional shipping fees will apply. Please allow 7-10 days for delivery.
If you own retail business and are interested in selling the book at your store, please email
orders@nordicmuseum.org for information about wholesale options.
The book was made possible in part by funding from 
.
The scope of Nordic American Voices reaches beyond Ballard, capturing the life stories of individuals throughout the region,
from the farming communities of Snohomish and Skagit Counties to Scandinavian settlements in Eastern Washington. Another special
focus of the project is to identify and interview individuals living in the Pacific Northwest who can share their memories and
experiences of the Nordic countries during World War II, the occupation and the resistance movements, and the Winter War and
Continuation War in Finland.
YOU CAN HELP
The Nordic American Voices project will thrive with the assistance of many volunteers.
The Nordic American Voices Steering Committee also seeks the community’s assistance
in identifying interview participants and in conducting interviews. Please consider
becoming a project volunteer nominating a narrator by contacting Michael Ide at
(206) 789-5707 ext. 12, or
michaeli@nordicmuseum.org.
New Opportunity: Stories of Finland During WWII Subject of New Documentary
Nordic American Voices is producing a documentary on the Finnish experience in World War II. The film will be based on numerous video interviews conducted
since 2009 of Finnish Americans residing in the Northwest. Currently the volunteers are working on creating a script for the documentary that will be augmented
with images supplied by the narrators and from other sources. Vaun Raymond, local award-winning videographer, will create the final product using the script,
still images, and video footage. The documentary will include personal stories about the Winter War (1939-1940), the Continuation War (1941-1944), the evacuation
of Finnish children to Sweden and other safe havens, and the relocation and integration of Finns living in the territories ceded to the Soviet Union.
NAV volunteers have also identified interviews of Swedish-Americans, who lived in Sweden during the war, that contain stories of Swedish families accepting
some of the 63,000 Finnish children sent to Sweden.
Volunteers working on the documentary are seeking your help in identifying additional Swedish-Americans living locally who have personal stories of this
humanitarian effort by Sweden during WWII. Please contact NAV volunteers Gordon Strand at 206-783-6634 or Gary London at 206-734-8844 if you can help with
this project.
For Teachers
The Nordic Heritage Museum invites school groups to visit our exhibits, either on
guided or self-guided tours. Reservations are required for all group visits at least
two weeks in advance. Contact the Education Department at (206) 789-5707 ext.19
or email:
alisonc@nordicmuseum.org.
Museum Tours
Guided Tours
Guided tours take place in our Dream of America exhibit and include a curriculum
guide, a guide to Washington State EALRs addressed, and a scavenger hunt for students
to use on the 2nd and 3rd floors. Bring your class’s study of immigration, Nordic
culture, or Washington State history alive with this popular tour. Travel back to
the nineteenth-century Scandinavian countryside with your students to begin the
journey to America through the Dream of America’s life-like settings and period
artifacts. The voyage continues through captivating displays, as students board
a ship to cross the Atlantic, and disembark at Ellis Island. Moving through the
Midwest, the trek ends in the Pacific Northwest and Ballard, Seattle. Make the Nordic
immigrant experience universal with this dynamic tour using role-playing and illustrative
props! Minimum of ten students, maximum of 30 on guided tours. Larger groups can
schedule back-to-back tours. One chaperone is required for every six students.
- Appropriate for 1st through 12th grade
- Length: 45 minutes -1 hour
- Tuesday–Friday; 10:00 am, 11:00 am, and 12:00 pm
- Cost: $2.00 for students, $4.00 for adults
- FREE for Seattle Public School groups
Self-guided Tours
Teachers are also welcome to bring students on self-guided tours. Scavenger hunts
are available for all three floors of the museum.
- Tuesday–Friday; 10:00 am, 11:00 am, and 12:00 pm
- Cost: $2.00 for students, $4.00 for adults
- FREE for Seattle Public School groups
Outreach Trunks
- Outreach Trunks are available for up to two weeks for a rental fee of $10.00
- The trunks are appropriate for all ages
- Each trunk includes a guide to Washington State EALRs that are addressed by the
trunk
- Trunks cannot be mailed – they must be picked up at the museum
- To reserve an Outreach Trunk, contact the Education Department at (206) 789-5707
ext.19 or email: alisonc@nordicmuseum.org.
Immigrant Trunk
The Immigrant Trunk is full of hands-on artifacts that reflect common objects brought
by Nordic immigrants to America during the nineteenth century. Use the classroom
activities and teacher’s manual, personal belongings, and replicas of immigrant
documents from the Museum’s collection to bring history alive. Let the Immigrant
Trunk give your class a personal glimpse into the immigration period of the late
1800s.The Immigrant Trunk is a great complement to the Dream of America guided tour.
NEW! Nordic Folk Art Trunk
The newly completed Nordic Folk Art Trunk includes a wealth of folk art objects
from the Nordic region. Students can explore traditional art forms such as painting,
paper arts, textiles, and music. Books, music CDs, and a teacher's manual round
out this classroom resource.
Viking Trunk
The Viking Trunk contains faithful replicas of Viking Age artifacts for your students
to handle and try on, including clothing, armor, and jewelry. Slides depicting the
world of the Vikings, informative books, and a teacher’s manual filled with information
and activities for classroom use complete this fun outreach resource. Use the Viking
Trunk to discover with your students how the Vikings really lived.
Trolls and Norse Gods Trunk
The Trolls and Norse Gods Trunk is an excellent resource for classes studying folktales
or myths, or for those who just love trolls and Norse gods. This trunk contains
troll and Norse god costumes, music stories to read in class along with story writing
aids, and a teacher’s manual filled with information about trolls and Norse gods
and activities to use in your classroom.
Teachers Packets
Our Education Department has created packets especially for educators to use in their classrooms.
Current Teachers Packets Available in PDF:
Holidays in Scandinavia
Nordic Holiday Crafts
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