Category Finland
We have School Children!
There are some big changes in our life: My eldest started school and youngest preschool! Fees: School is free in Finland but we still pay for the afternoon care of both, now at separate places (=no sibling discount). The afternoon care of the school child cost us 120e and of the preschool child 189e (Low […]
Water Park, Kotka
Worth a stop: pretty waterways, reasonable size for a descent little walk, pretty flowers and relatively real looking animal sculptures for kids to spot and rehearse their photographic skills on.
Sand sculptures in Lappeenranta
Lappeenranta, a city about 3 hours drive north east from Helsinki, builds every year huge sand sculptures by lake Saimaa. They call it a sand castle but I think it is more than that, showing a number of amazing and creative designs. We had a lovely morning walk in the area.
Väinölänniemi, Kuopio
Just a short walk away from the central market in Kuopio in Eastern Finland lies the green peninsula Väinölänniemi, that offers a lovely morning walk. By the shore one can see our hotel Scandic, not free for most but a lovely location and with a great range of glutenfree products.
Suomi 100v – Finland Turns 100 This Year
Seems that’s being celebrated everywhere. On the countryside:
Flowers Can Make a Difference
Sometimes picking flowers is a good way to change the mood of a grumpy kid around. Happy Mother’s Day!
Board walks in Torronsuo
We had a lovely day out yesterday: we drove about 1,5 hrs north west from Helsinki to Torronsuo, a swamp a little south of Forssa. There they have built lovely board walks around and across the swamp, which are fun to walk on even for kids. There is also 200 metres of board walk to […]
Healthy Baking
On the 1st of May we eat doughnuts and drink sima in Finland. And buy balloons and go for a picnic. And we get the day off, so I invited my kids to bake an easy alternative of the doughnuts with me. In that one we deepfry doughnut balls in oil and then roll them […]
Lights in Tampere
As it is getting dark around 4pm it is easy to entertain kids and adults these days: Go out to the city centre and see the beautiful Christmas lights! This time we enjoyed them in Tampere while catching up with cousins. We also enjoyed the city lights and the great view from the 25th floor […]
Preschool
I believe this is only the second year in Finland, when it is mandatory to attend preschool the year a child turns 6. Preschool here equals 20 hours a week of early childhood education here, and is supposed to prepare the children for “the real school” the next year when they turn 7. This means, […]
Free But Fun 