Let’s Get Creative with Pippi Longstocking
Created by Astrid Lindgren in 1945, Pippi Longstocking, the endearing Swedish fictional character, had a belated 75th birthday celebration on Wednesday, 27 April 2022 at St. Andrew School Hall, Bandra with students and teachers from 35 Mumbai schools. This was a collaborative effort between the Consulate General of Sweden in Mumbai, Swedish Institute and ANDIE.
The children had an action-packed morning as they got to know Pippi and her friends. It was wonderful to note that quite a few children dressed up as Pippi herself with mismatched socks, pigtails sticking out and even freckles painted on.
St. Andrew’s Centre for Philosophy and Performing Arts (SAPP) put up a superb storytelling session which brought out Pippi’s creative, whacky and fun side. The Guest of Honour, Ms. Nalini Sorensen, encouraged the children to be as fearless and creative as Pippi… to reach for the stars and make an impact in the world.
The schools were then divided into four teams named after Pippi’s friends for a round of games, music and dancing. While the guests had a fun time with the competitive Dress Up Pippi game, they also learnt about Zero Out Carbon through the action songs led by the compere, Ms. Suzie D’Silva. The party wound up with Pippi’s fantastic birthday treat – a Pippi-themed birthday cake and a Pippi-inspired menu of pancakes, cinnamon buns and more.
As a remembrance of the morning, each guest left with arms full of goodies – a cupcake, ginger biscuits from IKEA, a Pippi storybook with a bookmark created by SAPP, and a ZOC! sling bag with a ZOC2070 brochure, a leaf (to start the Tree of Promises), a pencil with seeds on the tip (to grow their own plants) and a foldable reusable shopping bag.
