The first thing I came to think of is an old classic from the 1970s. ”Fem myror är fler än fyra elefanter” (Five ants are more than four elephants). It started as a children’s state television show to educate kids in the basic skills of reading, writing, and counting. It got hugely popular and was re-run several times. They also made it into a television Christmas calendar in 1977. It has been voted the all-time-best children’s television show in Sweden.

The stars of the show are Magnus Härenstam, Brasse Brännström och Eva Remaeus. All three became Swedish superstars after “Fem fyror”, as it was called for short. Magnus plays the know-it-all, Brasse is the incurable charmer and Eva is the diplomat constantly trying to mediate between the two.

I’m not sure about the target age, likely from three or four and up. There is a lot of singing, costumes, color, and goofing around. The Christmas calendar is available to watch for free on the Swedish state-run television network, “Sveriges Television,” for anyone living in Sweden. 28 half-hour episodes. The rest of the show can be bought online on DVD (don’t forget to check the DVD region).

Say “fem myror” (five ants) to your dad, or anyone living in Sweden during the 70s, and see what they say. 🙂

» Fem myror är fler än fyra elefanter - julkalendern - Avsnitt 1 av 28: Bokstaven H | Öppet arkiv | oppetarkiv.se

» Fem Myror är fler än fyra Elefanter (4 disc) - Film - CDON.COM

Ohhh I didn’t think about dvd region, what does that mean? Thank you for the information!

The world has been divided into regions like Europe, Asia and America to make it hard to import DVDs cheaper from other regions. This means you need a DVD player with the same region as your DVD. Some DVD players can change region codes.

The alphabet parts of "Fem myror" seems to be available on Youtube:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLSD7Q9tgZvAZ72XfzXRY4qvu3Aw3JWekm

Hm okay seems like I won’t be able to buy DVDs for them then. That’s a bummer. I will send them the YouTube link 😊 thanks!

I ended up buying my niece some books with basic vocabulary in swedish! And I bought her the game, ”Var är lilla kaninen (Where is the little rabbit)?” 😊 She really loves the game!

And a puzzle mat it seems. We have a grey one.

# oh that just happened to be in the picture! I was in the store taking a photo in order to send to my Dad to ask if he had room in his suitcase to bring the gifts to the US 😊