These Fantastic Finland Crafts for Kids will take us on a journey to Finland, an amazing Scandinavian country with himmelis, Haltija gnomes & more!

What’s common between Nokia, Angry Birds and Santa Claus?

They all have a common home – Finland!

Yes, the famous cell phone company and the popular game are well-known Finnish companies. And Santa doesn’t live at the North Pole; his home is in Lapland in Finland!

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Where is Finland?

Finland is one of the Scandinavian countries, with Sweden in the West, Norway in the North, the Baltic Sea to the South and Russia in the East. With a long shared border with Russia, it’s not surprising that Finland was once part of the Russian empire, till it became independent in 1917.

Fun Facts about Finland

Finns call Finland ‘Suomi’
The Whooper swan is the national bird of Finland
Finland’s national animal is the brown bear
75% of Finland is covered with forests
With 187,888 lakes, Finland is also known as the ‘Land of a thousand Lakes’
The Finnish passport is the third most powerful passport in the world

With 28th February being Finnish Culture Day (Kalevala Day), we think it’s the perfect time to celebrate this amazing nation with some fantastic Finland crafts for kids!

10 Fantastic Finland Crafts for Kids

1. Northern Lights With Watercolors

Watching the Northern Lights is a must-do on the bucket lists of every travel enthusiast. Since Finland is among the northernmost countries in the world, and it’s so close to the Arctic circle, it’s the perfect place to watch these beautiful dancing lights! The Pinterested Parent shows us how to recreate a bit of that magic using watercolors.

2. Finland Fact Book

Finland has an excellent education system and has been ranked among the top 5 countries for the best education in the world. Now you can also educate yourself with some fun facts about the country, with this little printable mini fact book for kids!

3. Tape and Roller Finnish Flag

When we’re talking about Finland crafts for kids, we can’t ignore the Finnish flag, can we? Taidekoti brings us a project that uses an interesting tape and roller technique to create the flag. The blue in the flag refers to the many thousands of lakes in Finland, and the white refers to the snow that blankets the country in winter.

4. Coffee Weaving Craft

Did you know that the Finns love their coffee? In fact, they consume the most coffee than any other country in the world, with an average Finn consuming a whopping 12 kg of coffee per year! It’s no wonder then that they end up with loads of coffee bags, which they put to good use by weaving into baskets and bags. Check out Ruutupunontaa for the different techniques used to weave these bags.

5. Finnish Haltija Paper Gnomes

Finnish mythology features haltijas, which are gnomes whose job is to guard or protect. They’re of many types, like water haltijas or forest haltijas. We’ve got a couple of cute little gnomes who could certainly pass off as some haltijas from the woods!

6. Aurora Borealis Craft

The famous Northern Lights are also known as Aurora Borealis – a term coined by the famous Italian astronomer Galileo. The name refers to ‘Aurora’, the Roman goddess of dawn and ‘Boreas’, the Greek god of the north wind. Learn more about this amazing natural phenomenon with this art project from Abeka.

7. DIY Scatter-Molkky Game

The Finnish take their leisure time quite seriously, and they have some fun games like crab ball tag, ketsju and Mölkky, which is also referred to as Finnish skittles. It’s a fun outdoor game using pins made of sticks. You can create your own version with this tutorial from Her Tool Belt.

8. Finnish Paper Stars

At the beginning of this list of Finland crafts for kids, we mentioned that Finland is Santa Claus’ real home. It’s only natural then that Christmas is a big deal in this country. The celebration is called ‘Christmas Peace’ and lasts for 12 days, including celebrations like mass at church, going to a sauna and visiting the graves of loved ones. Paper Blog shows us how to make a traditional Finnish Christmas star out of paper.

9. Pipe Cleaner Himmeli Ornaments

The Finnish have special decorations they make for Christmas, and the himmeli is one of them. It is a hanging ornament made from straw, and which is hung over the table to welcome luck in the new year. You can also make your own himmeli using pipe cleaners, with this tutorial from Remodelaholic.

10. Needle Felted Moomintroll Brooch

We know that Angry Birds originated in Finland, but there’s another set of popular animated characters who call Finland home – Moomins! Moomins are so popular that there is now a Moomin World theme park in the island of Kailo, featuring a cute Moomin House. Coffee & Vanilla shows us how to make our own cute little Moomin out of felt.

I’m sure you’ve learned many fun things about Finland while making these Finland crafts for kids! Another interesting bit of trivia is that Finland is considered the happiest country in the world. Yes, the Finnish people are really nice people, and that’s probably whey they’re so happy all the time! There’s a lot more to learn about these amazing people and their culture, and we hope these crafts act as starting point for it.