What to give little Danish kids
 

What's a good inexpensive thing to bring from the US for a hand-out to little kids when we visit Denmark. I can always bring candy but I would appreciate other ideas you can offer.

How about some picture books or T-shirts? Some character goods are unique to US and my kids liked things with Dora or Sesame Street characters. Age would be also helpful. As a parent of young children, I'm soooo against candies as gifts for small kids.

Hi H,

I also would recommend against candy.

Little gifts with Sesame Street characters, etc would be very nice.

Also little books for kids in English.

((I))
My first run in with a Danish child was at a house party. A tiny thing came up to me and asked, "Wad heller du?".

I said, "I'm sorry, but I don't speak Danish. I'm sure that you don't understand me either".

To which she replied, "Oh, yes I do. I was asking you your name".

My experience is that most European kids go crazy for American things so, candy (why not!)pens, pencils, colored paper notebooks, etc. How about postcards from your hometown,state etc.

I'm curious who these little kids are. Are they the offspring of family you will be visiting. I could be way off base here, but surely you aren't caught up in the idea from old movies of wandering around offering things to the native children?

Last year when I was in Scotland I brought back colored notebook paper and cute pencils from the Sainsbury's to give my little neices and nephews in the US! I also brought some little handmade wooden toys and puzzles. Cute socks are another idea - lightweight, nonbreakable.

I am curious, too. The post specifies this is a "hand-out", not really charcaterized as "a gift". I would advice against "hand-outs"; kinda of hokey.

If this is a gift, how old are the children?

Uh, that'd be "nieces" in my post...

I think this is the idea of noblesse oblige -- wandering around bestowing the poor local street urchins with trinkets and candy. I don't think anyone should be giving children they don't know very well anything on the street or elswhere, particular something to be ingested. Giving any children gifts and candy you don't know is completely inappropriate, and well-trained children won't accept gifts from strangers. I hate it whenever I see those photos in the paper of the military wandering around giving candy to children in lands where they have invaded and killed people.

Neopolitan ... I kind of got that image in my head as well!!!

My son(10) was at a birthday party yesterday and some of the things in his party bag that were a big hit:
-Poppers [ you pull a string on a little barrel and confetti comes out as well as making a loud POP.
-Little man with parachutes to throw out window , etc,..
- Unusual pencils
- key chains { you could buy american ones, ie Statue of Liberty or whereever you are from. Or just a good luck charm like a rabbits foot!

I guess it depends on your budget.

Go the The dollar store ot your local Party Store and grab hand fulls of STUFF,.

Hokeypokey: <b>Please clarify</b> what the heck you mean. If it is for things to give to a host family or relatives that is one thing.

But if you mean handouts to &quot;cute little Danish kids&quot; you run into along the way - <b>What</b> are you thinking!?! A very, very bad idea.

Do you take little trinkets to give the natives when you visits New York or Seattle????

Totally agree with janisj. Denmark has one of the highest standards of living in the world. Random little kids in the street certainly don;t need to collect junk from passing Americans - and I'm sure have been warned against strangers offering gifts (as are little kids everywhere).

Here's an idea. Instead of giving them something, why not entertain them instead? You could put your right foot in, then your right foot out, then your right foot in and . . .

...brought tears to my eyes, that is so funny, Neopolitan!

HokeyPokey...if what I think you mean in your post is true (handing out little goodies to the poor native tykes) I'm appalled.
......only because I sure missed a bet during my childhood (7 decades ago)...in my hometown of Quincy, Massachusetts, we had many foreign visitors taking in the Adams Mansion and the birthplace salt-box homes of both John Adams and John Quincy Adams, all very cloe to where I lived.

Dang! I could have hung out there and gone home with pockets full of &quot;loot&quot; all summer long!!!

By the way, how come we haven't had a response from you, Hokey???

Stu T.

...still laughing here. Sorry.

hokeypokey, please don't put little children in the position of taking gifts from a stranger. This may not be your intent, but it would be helpful if you could clarify.

From the Ames, Arkansas News-Press, January 11, 1986:

&quot;This week the world lost a beloved figure. Arnold Twickham, the composer of the beloved HokeyPokey song died of natural causes at the age of 91. His life was celebrated in a beautiful memorial service attended by thousands of fans. Unfortunately there was a bit of confusion when they tried to close the coffin. It seems they'd put his right in. . .&quot;

darn. Sorry for the misquote. That should be &quot;they'd put his right FOOT in. . .&quot;

Speaking of candy, we have Danish friends and their idea of candy and our idea of candy are world's apart. They seem to prefer a very strong licorice, an overwhelming stuff that tastes vile to us. Also, Danes seem to like marzipan far more than we do.

American parents teach their kids to never take candy from strangers. I've never been to Denmark but I'd be willing to bet it would be the same there.

it would help hokeypokey if you gave some clarification to everyone.

at first glance you sound like you served during the liberation of Denmark and havent been back to europe since.

i think the gifts are for his relatives.i also think he is asking not because he thinks the danish have not developed their candy making infrastucture, but because modern danish culture might be more health conscious and frown on candy.

useful suggestion:
cards full of shiny little stickers of american flags that they can stick on their books or bike etc

What do Danish tourists give small children as they walk round your town?

Then that's what you should take.

Thanks to you that were positive and helpful. Stickers, books &amp; character pencils are a good idea, as it can cover a variety of ages that we will be meeting. I was not intending to walk up to kids on the street &amp; offer them candy, so pull in your daggers.

That's good, hokeypokey. And since I had a laugh at your expense, I will help you out (sorry, by the way)...

Oriental Trading has such items at bulk prices.

http://tinyurl.com/qh2r5

Wedll,at last, Hokey Pokey! Thank you for clearing up the matter. Most of us thought the worst and wrote accordingly (Although, I tried to temper my response with a bit of humor). All would have been academic had you explained this in your initial post, of course.
Good luck in your travels to
Denmark...you will certainly enjoy this delightful country.
Stu T.

LOL - we seasoned Fodorites do tend to get into a self propelled cycle of high dudgeon, don't we? Thank goodness that for the most part the really valuable insights outweigh the occasional &quot;side trips&quot;. (Is that period supposed to appear prior to the closing quotation mark, or after?)
hokeypokey, thanks for taking our banter with a grain of salt. And while I can't speak to Danish children specifically, in other parts of the world kids seemed to really enjoy pens and pencils as well as pocket size notebooks.

Truth is Hokey's orignal post was not very clear and I quote &quot;What's a good inexpensive thing to bring from the US for a hand-out to little kids when we visit Denmark.&quot; I think she got what she asked for.

Well, I read it as a request for things to give children hokeypokey knew, and responded accordingly. There is such a thing as the benefit of the doubt, and maybe the first (or second) request for clarification was enough...

If you read my first post you'll see that I was merely asking for clarification and even included the &quot;maybe I'm way off base here&quot; showing that I was indeed giving HokeyPokey the benefit of the doubt.

Guess some of us just like to &quot;shake it all about&quot;.

Looks as if HokeyPokey isn't the one doing a little tap dancing right now after all.

Huh, Dukey? What part of my post do you not understand or agree with? Tap dancing?

Step shuffle ball change step shuffle ball change step one two step one two :-)

Let's face it..... It is way too Hot to tap dance!!! My thermometer is approaching 1000!

1000? Wow, that's pretty darn hot! :D

My daughter lived in Copenhagen last year for 6 months. The standard of living is very high but also EVERYTHING is VERY EXPENSIVE.

I asked her what she thought and she suggested things from Disney. The children watch Disney movies but all the stuff that we get over here; pencils, notepads, coloring books, rulers, etc are VERY expensive in Denmark.

The other thing she mentioned is kind of funny. She suggested chocolate chip cookies. They don't seem to have chocolate chips in Denmark- at least she nor any of her friends could find them. All the people she met in Europe LOVED chocolate chip cookies. In fact she often had me mail her chocolate chips so she could bake them. Guess you could take boxed cookies along or if staying with friends you could bake them there.