Activities

Free but fun activities that are not crafts, and not bound to a certain location (even though examples may from one), listing first suggestions for/with children, then following up with examples for all ages:

Exploring Animals, Nature, Seasons with Children

• About animals and children. And how a cat made the day
• Autumn fun
• Biology for toddlers
• Farm stays
• Feeding fish, chooks…
• Find the Plant
• Find a Bug
• Flower arrangements
• Flower Garlands
• Forests
• Eating (parts of) wild plants
• Exploring the spring or it’s changing weather
• Geography for toddlers
• Getting rid of energy on a rainy day
• Lightnings and Weather Forecasts
• Picking Forest Strawberries on a Straw
• Picking Berries, Picking Flowers
• Planting flowers, sowing Easter grass
• Playing with Pine Cones, Sticks and Water
• Pooh sticks: competing on a river
• Shearing sheep, watching sheep dogs

Games for and with Children

• Anatomy of time
• Board games and kids books, story telling in libraries.
• Board games at home and with 4-5 year old kids
• Christmas calendar with tasks – have fun together!
• Collecting post cards
• Collective trampoline
• Carelian pies; baking and cooking together
• Driving Games, Bamse’s Letter Game for Cars
• Drums
• Evening story
• Fancy dress parties
• Fashion Designs
• Flying kites
• Giant Drawing Paper
• Reblogged: Halloween activities
• Hobbies for Young Children in Helsinki
• Kids hammock
• Kids Packing 
• Maths, simple game for toddlers
• Maths tip of today; easy multiplication
• Massage and hairdressing and manicure game (especially for tired parent)
• Mixing Colours, Watercolours and wallpaper
• Playgrounds
• Playing with letters, here more
• The value of money, FB- fleemarkets
• Reading
• Raising Trilingual Children, update with kids aged 4 and 5
• Rainy day: Summer rain, in the Autumn
• Scavenger Hunt Memory
• Sensory Games – tactile sense, sense of smell, auditory sense, and the Sniffing Game – perfect to occupy toddlers in shops
• Skype: engaging small children
• Sleeping/ playing in a tent
• Spotting Airplanes, Reindeer, stars, signs of spring, birches (or edible leaves), squirrels and sparrows…
• Street chalks and fence painting, street chalks and colourful garden decorations – washable and easy entertainment
• Treasure hunt on a birthday
• Water and Science Games for Toddlers – easy and entertainment
• World of Colours

Music

• Free background music
• Music, song and play groups with kids
• Make an instrument yourself.

For All Ages (mainly outdoors)

Top 3 Long Lived Affordable Family Activities

• Baking or cooking, fun party food
• Camping
• Emailing, kids online
• Fishing
• Garden flowers  for the non gardening type
• Grilling sausage in the dark or making flamed salmon on real fire.
• Growing chives or other spices yourself
• Farmer’s market and planting flowers
• Free online language courses
• Hikes in the nature, nature parks or shorter strolls in old towns or other beautiful settings.
• Ice skating
• Jumping pics: above the horizon/ waterline or shadows crashing
• Little family trips in the neighborhood
• Olympics
• Picnics
• Picking sun flowers or apples or berries or mushrooms…
• Puzzles
• The forgotten forest
• Scooting
• Virtual Bootcamp

Swimming and sauna

• Swimming indoors
• Outdoor pools
• Refreshing morning swims
• Baby Swimming 
• Public saunas in Finland
• Swimming on a beach

Wellbeing 

• Charging the batteries
• Family time and Cooking
• Free yoga or exercise sessions outdoors
• Free pedometer
• Hiking in national park
• Mum and Physical Excersice
• Quotes, said by children – this will make you laugh!
• Parental Attention
• Relaxing, Slack Saturdays
• Romantic Getaways
• Slow mornings without tv
• Sofa Dates for relationship time for tired parents
• Time management and free cuddles – wellbeing for the whole family
• Time Alone
• Virtual boot camp
• Voluntary work
• Watching sunset and sunrises

Winter

• Blowing Ice Bubbles
• 2 cms of Snow and toddlers having fun
• Snow sculptures,  snow man
• Winter activities (in pics), in short
• Winter Animals
• Ice skating, ice slides
• Shovelling snow 
• Skiing for first timers (toddlers), cross country
• Ice skating classes
• Ice hole fishing
• Buying cross country skis
• Snow shoes
• Walking home
• Winter holidays at home