Children’s Culture Card - Things to do with your child

What you need:

• A small, lightweight ball and your window curtains.

Grab the hem of a long curtain and slide a ball down. Do it again and again. This gets more fun the more you do it. Bring friends, add more balls and wider smiles if available.

A baby's first paint-job feels silky and smells of berries. This activity is appropriate when your child has begun to grab things and eat purées.  

Paint recipe:

• 1 dl water
• 0.5 dl sugar-free, unsweetened berry juice  
• 0.5 dl rice flour
• Mix in a pot

You don’t need exact amounts. What’s more important is a nice-feeling paint and berries that your child likes. Cook slowly while mixing. Continue until the paint thickens.

Cool well.

Attach a large sheet of paper to a table and let your child put their hands in the paint. Make the paint with clean tools to make it safe to taste.  

You can use the paint to make footprints, if it is thick enough. Explore and feel through what you can make together. Untouched paint keeps two days in the refrigerator. Let it warm up to room temperature before the next use.  

A crumpled baking sheet is an odd and interesting instrument. Once your child has learned to sit up, you can hand them a crumpled baking sheet. You can show them all the kinds of sounds it makes in your hands and on the table. Choose a rhythmic background music. Look over your child as they play with this instrument and when they’re done, put it away for next time.  

Share your child's joy and show it! These are the first steps to a love of culture.

Espoo’s own Children’s Cultural Centre features cultural experiences in all kinds of art and culture, from performing arts to art workshops and exhibitions. Aurora provides baby and toddler programmes all year round. Colour workshops for babies and the Toddlers’ Ministudio introduce visual arts to the little tykes. Participatory stage performances will delight every child. Read about the events at Aurora here.

The Art House at the Children’s Cultural Centre has an open playroom that you can set up a play date with a baby friend.  
The room includes high chairs, a microwave oven, a nappy changing station, and a quiet corner for breastfeeding.

I am Bertta, a sheep that grazed on the meadows of Pentala Archipelago Museum in summer 2025 with four other sheep. This is me, resting and smelling the grass. I am an important animal, as I make wool that you can make warm clothes out of.

• What does the sheep say?
• Do you have any woollen clothes at home? Try and touch wool to see what it feels like!

Visit the Glims Farmstead Museum and Pentala Archipelago Museum in summer. They keep sheep. During your visit, you can visit the animals when they’re grazing: get to know the sheep from up close and pet their soft, woollen fur.