Danish Canadian Museum Advent Calendar - December 17th 2020

​Danish Canadian Museum Advent Calendar - December 17th 2020
 
The Danish star, is honestly one of my favorite ornaments they are beautiful and delicate, for myself the meditative state that you achieve in the action of creating them is balancing. You have to focus on what you are doing, each fold needs to be exact, or the star will show you,  how present you are. I have messed up many a star learning how to create them. I found it fascinating that these were taught to children in kindergarten. Even more fascinating is the philosophy behind it.

"Play is the highest expression of human development in childhood for it alone is the free expression of what is in a child's soul." Friedrich Frobel - 1840

This year we all could use a healthy dose of Frobel's Kindergarten philosophy especially at Christmas time.

1. Creative play 
2. Singing and Dancing (I'd say the Danes have this under control don't you?)
3. Observation and nurturing, and living things (i.e. plants) for stimulating awareness of the natural world. 

The Froebel's Kindergarten philosophy has played and still plays a huge role in the Denmark's educational practices. That's enough of this for this season, we will be creating a new program in the new year with these philosophy's in mind. 

A Froebel star (German: Fröbelstern) is a Christmas decoration made of paper, common in Germany. In English it does not have a commonly recognized name; it can be referred to as Advent star, Danish star, German star, Nordic star, Pennsylvanian star, Polish star, Swedish star, Christmas star, or Froebel star. It is also sometimes called a Moravian star, though the Moravian star is a general category of geometrical shapes and the sixteen tipped piece of origami is specifically called the Froebel star.
 
The Froebel star carries the name of the German educationist Friedrich Fröbel (1782–1852), founder of the Kindergarten concept. He encouraged the use of paper folding in pre–primary education with the aim of conveying simple mathematical concepts to children. It is, however, likely that Froebel did not invent this item and that it had already been within the realm of general knowledge for a long time. Froebel did encourage paper folding as an activity for young children and he popularized discourse about children's activities, which is how his name and the folding instructions might have become related.
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Descriptions of how to fold a Froebel star date back to at least the 19th century. In Germany the name Fröbelstern has been the common name for this paper decoration since the 1960's. It is used as an ornament on Christmas trees and wreaths, and to make garlands and mobiles. Froebel stars are very common in Denmark, although few people know how to make them.

This is one of the best YouTube video's I have found on how to make the Danish Star.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Z08JvM4Tx4&feature=youtu.be

Flodeboller are classic Danish treats, they are commonly served for all kinds of holidays, gatherings, and birthdays. I remember the first time I had seen them, and tried them with our beloved Bestemor. I will tell you, I love everything marshmallow, but these, well they are more than a common marshmallow treat!! That soft fluffy filling is so much better than my chewy sugary marshmallow rival (of which I still love) given the choice I will always choose Flodeboller. 

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www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Z08JvM4Tx4&feature=youtu.be