In Sweden they have this occasion called barnkalas, directly translated into English the word means kid’s birthday party. But it is still not the same thing. Here we make it out to be such a big deal. Every year we have to invite all the kids in the neighborhood and hire a clown to do entertain your kids.

A couple of years ago I did spend a lot of time in Sweden and then I visited some barnkalas with a friend of mine. Most of them where the same.

The usual barnkalas starts off with everyone giving a small gift to the birthday boy or girls and after that it is time for dinner. For dinner they usually serve something that most of the kids like to eat. Common food at a barnkalas is hamburgers, Swedish meatballs or hot dogs. Just something to get the kids satisfied.

After dinner it is time for dessert. For dessert they use to serve some kind of cake or ice cream. What kind of dessert that is served is mostly depending on what time of the year the barnkalas is taking place. Ice cream is for spring and summer and cake is mostly served during fall or winter.

After the dessert the kids are free to play for a while before it is time for them to get a surprise bag with candy. They usually hand it out at the end of the barnkalas in the form of a fiskdamm (fish pond). Where the kid’s bags are hooked on a stick behind a fabric sheet. The nice thing about this is the element of surprise. The kids are happy with whatever they get.

I like the arrangement of barnkalas. I hope we can use this arrangement with my kids in the future.