Lucia with children is on 13 December, and what matters most is that your child has the right clothes, knows the songs and knows they can sit in your lap if it all gets too much. The förskola (municipal preschool, from age one) usually holds its luciatåg, the Lucia procession, in the morning with the parents as the audience. The costumes can be borrowed or sewn in an evening, the candles are battery-powered and you practise the songs at home the week before.
Seven o'clock on a December morning at a förskola in Sundbyberg: twenty children in white gowns, red elf hats and brown gingerbread outfits, a four-year-old crying because the tinsel band is sitting wrong, and thirty parents trying to film with a coffee in the other hand. Lucia is the celebration in the preschool year that produces the most memories and the most tears, for the children and for the parents. Here is how to prepare, what your child should wear and which songs to practise in the car.
How the Lucia procession works at förskola
Most förskolor in Stockholm celebrate Lucia on the morning of 13 December, or the nearest weekday. Parents are invited for a set time, often between seven and nine, the children process in, sing four to six songs and process out. Then there is fika with lussebullar (saffron buns) and gingerbread biscuits, sometimes candles, sometimes not. The whole programme takes half an hour. The children usually choose for themselves what they want to be, and it is common for one group to have five Lucias and three handmaidens, because nobody is counting. From förskoleklass (the preschool year before year 1), the school often does a procession in the assembly hall, sometimes with a Lucia voted for by the older classes, and then it isn't a given that parents are invited.
Ask your förskola in November: which day, what time, which roles, which songs and whether they have costumes to lend. Many have a box of gowns and hats passed down over the years, and it runs out in the first week of December.
The costumes, role by role
| Role | Costume | What you need | Tip |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lucia | White gown, red ribbon around the waist, crown of candles | Crown with battery candles, often the förskola's own | The gown should be long enough not to trip over but short enough not to tread on on the stairs |
| Tärna, the handmaiden | White gown, tinsel band in the hair, a candle in hand | Battery candle | Pin the tinsel band with hair grips, otherwise it slides down over the eyes during the first song |
| Stjärngosse, the star boy | White gown, cone hat with stars, a star on a stick | Cardboard cone hat | The cone needs elastic under the chin, otherwise children take it off |
| Tomte, the Christmas elf | Red or grey, elf hat, sometimes a beard | The hat | The easiest choice. The tomtar sing and are allowed to be a bit boisterous |
| Pepparkaksgubbe, the gingerbread man | Brown, with white ribbons or chalk lines as icing | Brown top and trousers | The most popular with three- and four-year-olds, because the clothes are soft |
The songs to practise at home
The förskola usually sends home a list of the songs at the end of November. If not, ask. The most common ones in Stockholm's förskolor are Sankta Lucia, which always opens, followed by Staffan var en stalledräng, Tre pepparkaksgubbar, Goder afton and a tomte song such as Tomtarnas julnatt or Nu tändas tusen juleljus. Sing them in the car, while brushing teeth and at bedtime for a week beforehand. Your child doesn't need to know the words, they need to recognise the tune so they dare to open their mouth. A child who hears the songs for the first time at the dress rehearsal stands silent. One who has heard them twenty times at home sings loudest of all. You will find more songs with lyrics in Swedish children's songs with lyrics.
The child who doesn't want to
Every year there are children who don't want to take part, who want a different role from the one they chose in November, or who panic when they see all the parents. That is normal, and you handle it in three ways. Before: talk about the procession as something ordinary, not something big. Watch a video of a Lucia procession together so your child knows what it looks like. During: if your child cries, lift them out, sit in the audience with them in your lap, let them watch. After: say it was lovely, regardless. A child who feels they failed won't want to take part next year either. A child who got to watch from your lap and had a lussebulle afterwards has had Lucia.
Lucia at home
- Lussebullar the day before. The dough is easy, children from three can roll the spirals. Saffron is expensive but a small sachet is enough for one batch. Our Baking with kids has a sweet bread dough that works.
- Breakfast by candlelight. Battery candles on the table, gingerbread biscuits, lussebullar, hot chocolate. Ten minutes before you rush off to förskola.
- The children wake you. From about six, children can put together a Lucia breakfast in bed on their own, if you have set everything out the night before and all they have to do is pour. There will be spills. It is worth it.
- A procession of your own. Siblings and cousins, a gown each, one lap of the living room singing Sankta Lucia. Nothing more is needed.
- The evening. Lucia falls in the middle of the week and the middle of Advent, and the children are tired from the early morning and all the impressions. Put them to bed on time, even if the gingerbread is tempting.
Candles, hair and things that go wrong
Real candles have no place on children. Battery candles in the crown, battery candles in the hands, and only adults lighting anything real on the fika table. Tinsel bands and crowns are fixed with hair grips and a little hairspray if needed, because otherwise they slide down. Gowns that are too long get cut, not folded up, because folds come undone on the stairs. Bring an extra pair of socks, because white gowns work best in stockinged feet and the floor is often cold. And charge your phone the night before, because this is the morning you will want film of.
How we do it with our families
Doaa has a family in Vällingby with a five-year-old and a two-year-old, and last December she practised the Lucia songs with the five-year-old in the afternoons for two weeks, mostly Sankta Lucia and Tre pepparkaksgubbar, while the two-year-old drummed on a saucepan. The day before Lucia she laid out the gingerbread man's brown clothes on the chair, with the white ribbon already sewn on, and wrote on the note to the parents that the procession started at 7.30 and that the five-year-old wanted Mum to stand where he could see her. On Lucia morning itself she wasn't there, but she got a video that afternoon.
Would you like a nanny who comes on the same days every week and whom the children know? Book a free first meeting with the nanny in your home, and we will work out a quote for your hours.
Read more: Advent calendar for kids · Christmas with children · Swedish children's songs with lyrics · FAQ
Frequently asked questions
What date is Lucia?
13 December, every year. Förskolor and schools in Stockholm often celebrate on the nearest weekday if the date falls on a weekend, and many förskolor celebrate in the morning with parents invited. Ask in good time which day and time apply at yours.
Does my child have to be Lucia, a handmaiden or a tomte?
No. At most förskolor the children choose for themselves, and many choose gingerbread man or tomte because the costumes are more fun. A child who doesn't want to take part at all can sit in the audience. There will be more Lucia processions to come.
Are real candles allowed?
No, not on children. Battery candles in the crown and in the hands. Real candles on the table are fine when adults are sitting right there, but in a Lucia procession with four-year-olds it is battery only, and that is how the förskolor do it.
Which songs are usually sung?
Sankta Lucia is the one everyone starts with, then often Staffan var en stalledräng, Tre pepparkaksgubbar, Goder afton and a tomte song. The förskola usually sends home a list. Sing them at home a few times the week before, so your child dares to join in.
What do you do if your child panics in the procession?
You lift them out and sit with them in your lap among the parents. It happens every year at every förskola and nobody thinks anything of it. Let your child watch the rest of the procession from there, and talk about it at home in a light way. Next year it usually goes better.