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Things to do

Autumn Holiday 2021: Falling over yourself to please

Ben Hamilton
October 16th, 2021


This article is more than 3 years old.

Children’s Autumn Holiday – Oct 15-24; various venues in Copenhagen and beyond

(photo: Pixabay)

Adults readily assume they know what children will like. 

Take us, for example. Here’s a supplement full of children’s activities for the autumn holiday.

We’ve made a selection based on what we think they might like best. But did we consult any children? No ….

So see how quickly they thumb their way through it (who are we kidding: kids don’t read newspapers, but you get the point). 

Supersized and sweet
I’m sure there’s a science to what children like. Size, for example: that must be a safe bet. When you’re tiny, large things are enormous. Combine with animals, another safe bet, and you’ve hit the jackpot.

Stock up on cake, chocolate, crisps/chips and cola and they’ll be putty in your hands. Just make sure you have an activity lined up that will stay ahead of the sugar rush. 

But often, we’re mind-blowingly off-track. Last year’s must-have has become this year’s pariah, particularly if last year’s Disney queen has become this year’s mean teen. 

The biggest mistake is probably assuming all children like childish things. Many of them don’t. What they like are children’s versions of adult things. 

So if you can’t see the appeal, then they probably won’t be able to either.

Classic combos
The Hermès in the Making exhibition (page 3) is a good example, as it combines things that both adults and children will enjoy doing together – a little like a Pixar film, it’s a different experience depending on the perspective. 

A trip to Louisiana (page 4) is the same, although you’ll be in different rooms. The theme will be the same, though: while the grown-ups visit the exhibition, the youngsters get to make art inspired by it. Sounds like a win-win.

The National History Museum similarly offers up its ‘King of Dinosaurs’ exhibition (for Dad most probably) and the ‘Dino Lab’ workshop (pages 5 and 9), while Culture Night (page 9) has a wide array of events suitable for all ages.

If that sounds like a risk, we have some old favourites: from Tivoli, Bakken and Copenhill to Experimentarium, Blue Planet and Copenhagen Zoo, they’re all destinations that have solid track records in entertaining the entire family (pages 6-8).

And there are plenty of options outside the city: from the Mountain Tower and the Hidden Giants to Knuthenborg Safaripark and Kronborg Castle (page 10-11).

Ah yes, the castle: if they don’t like it, you can always lock them up in the dungeon.


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Moreover, 21 percent of those surveyed admitted to medicating their kids with paracetamol, such as Panodil, before sending them to school.

The FOLA parents’ organisation is shocked by the findings.

“I think it is absolutely crazy. It simply cannot be that a child goes to school sick and plays with lots of other children. Then we are faced with the fact that they will infect the whole institution,” said FOLA chair Signe Nielsen.

Pill pushers
At the Børnehuset daycare institution in Silkeborg a meeting was called where parents were implored not to bring their sick children to school.

At Børnehuset there are fears that parents prefer to pack their kids off with a pill without informing teachers.

“We occasionally have children who that they have had a pill for breakfast,” said headteacher Susanne Bødker. “You might think that it is a Panodil more than a vitamin pill, if it is a child who has just been sick, for example.”

Parents sick and tired
Parents, when confronted, often cite pressure at work as a reason for not being able to stay at home with their children.

Many declare that they simply cannot take another day off, as they are afraid of being fired.

Allan Randrup Thomsen, a professor of virology at KU, has heavily criticised the parents’ actions, describing the current situation as a “vicious circle”.

“It promotes the spread of viruses, and it adds momentum to a cycle where parents are pressured by high levels of sick-leave. If they then choose to send the children to daycare while they are still recovering, they keep the epidemic going in daycares, and this in turn puts a greater burden on the parents.”