Monthly Archives: September 2014
Konala Activity Park
We tried the new activity park (lähiliikuntapaikka) on Kolsarintie 13 in Konala, Helsinki, on the weekend. It is the cities answer to increase exercise among children, and with its climbing wall, rope and steel ladders, obstacle course, “Tarzan’s swing”, trampoline that could hold adults too even with shoes on, a yellow track on the ground […]
Acorn Fleet
We found loads of acorns on the way home from daycare today. Turns out acorns turn easily into a fleet for the Autumn puddles (I am sure there will be some soon…) with the help of tooth picks. Only Mum got excited by this horse over here, but maybe somebody else has a child who […]
Recycling a Shower Curtain
I hope the old canvas shower curtain will make a strong shopping bag: At least it was easy to sew (even for somebody who is not too fussed about sewing). To make a shopping bag that packs nicely, I used the idea of packing it as a strawberry that I saw in NZ two years ago. […]
Free Online Language Courses
The capital area libraries have a wide range of services they offer on top of lending books; most have boardgames, some lend sports equipment and Kohtaamispaikka in Lasipalatsi quite downtown offers even free digital services. Now they have also started to offer free language courses online for a number of language, including Finnish for foreigners. […]
Hobbies for Young Children in Helsinki
I’ve listed earlier a few of my favourite free hobbies for toddlers in Helsinki, and written about other low cost activities we like to spend our free time on, e.g. fun walks, reading, camping, theatre and crafts. As a family, we’ve mostly preferred activities where we can have fun together, we don’t invest a lot of money nor are we […]
Shop Fronts in London
On a child free weekend in London we didn’t need Jen’s fantastic ideas on free but fun things to do with children in London. To be honest, flying in for a night, going to an engagement and fancy dress party and staying in a hotel pretty centrally pretty much rules out the “free”. But it […]
Coasters of Ice Cream Sticks
One evening after work and daycare we sat down with a number of ice cream sticks. My son wanted to make a pirate ship but after a little thought we designed these unique (and impractical?) pot coasters: The only thing needed were ice cream sticks, glue and different things to decorate with. Other ideas for […]
Supermarket Souvenirs from Finland?
Thrifty Travel Mama had a while ago a great post on supermarket souvenirs from Scotland (and after that e.g. great posts about travelling in Switzerland. Awesome pictures and great tips for travelers). I meant to go to a supermarket with those “souvenir goggles” on but never got around to do it. But then Mel, a kiwi […]
Printing with a Bottle
We tried printing flowers on tea towels with 0,5l bottles because I saw an article I can’t find any more circulate on Facebook with a number of cool things to do with a bottle. The idea seemed so simple: you make the petals with the bottom of the bottle and print the centre with the […]
Rock Climbing, Sibelius and Cafe Regatta
Another part of Helsinki that is lovely on a sunny day is the area around the Sibelius monument in Töölö (not that far from Töölö Bay, also good for family walks). We first enjoyed a stroll along the shore, which has beautiful views, among others to Seurasaari, but it’s also good with kids because it’s […]
Free But Fun 