Villa Elfvik’s service offering for schools and early childhood education

The main exhibition room, describing the best features of nature in Espoo, is divided into three sections: herb-rich forests, aquatic wildlife and forests. An auxiliary room displaying nature in wetlands allows visitors to study the birds and the underwater world of the Laajalahti Nature Reserve. From there, you can also get to a balcony with nests.

Read more about Long live Espoo exhibition.

The Badger’s Forest is a playground in the foyer on the second floor. You can dress up as a creature of the forest, play with animal hand puppets or crawl into the badger’s den.

The foyer also features a butterfly collection, reference books on nature and the environment, story books and poetry books. At the table you can draw or play games. 

A guide leads groups of children on nature trips near Villa Elfvik on weekdays during May and September. The active excursions are designed for children from 5 to 10 years of age. There are different excursions lasting approximately two hours. 

Reservations can be made from March onwards for the May excursions and from mid-August onwards for the September excursions.  

Nature House Villa Elfvik and its surrounding areas are a great hiking destination all year round. The nature trails provide information about the nature and history of the area for people of all ages.  

• Tracing the Hare winter trail allows children to enter the world of the hare. Stories and games introduce children to the nightly adventures of the hare.  Children find out why this nocturnal jumper eats its own droppings, how it misleads a fox and why it sleeps all day.    The trail is suitable for children under the age of 8 supervised by an adult and using a guidebook. 
• The Väinö the Crow nature trail describes the life of Väinö the Crow in the nature around Villa Elfvik. Stories, games and sensory activities introduce children to the life of crows and the nature in the reserve.  The trail is suitable for children under the age of 8 supervised by an adult and using a guidebook. 

• You can borrow the Out and about - nature trail materials from the nature house. 

• Check out the materials on website of  Suomen Latu - The Outdoor Association of Finland.(external link)

Uikunpesä (Grebe’s nest) is a club facility in the outbuilding of the Nature House, including a mud room, toilet and small classroom with kitchen equipment. The club facility lockers also contain equipment and books for studying nature. Outside, there is a large table with benches. 

Uikunpesä is intended for environmental activities for daycare and school groups, city administration and Espoo-based associations. 

Read more about Uikunpesä and book it in advance for your group.

Sustainable development programme provides a framework for sustainable development education in schools and daycare centres. The programme records the school’s or daycare centre’s objectives for the promotion of sustainable development in the play and learning environment as well as teaching and everyday life. 

The programme states the agreed measures, responsibilities, timetables, resources and follow-up to ensure that things actually get done. The actions are evaluated, and the programme is updated once a year.  

Nature House Villa Elfvik is a regional Eco-School promoter in Espoo. 

• You can ask the Nature House planning officer to visit the school or daycare centre to help with the implementation of the environmental programme. 

• If you have a school or daycare centre staff development day at Villa Elfvik, you can include an orientation on the implementation of the sustainable development programme lasting approx. one hour in the programme. 

• Villa Elfvik is involved in organising annual peer support meetings in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area for teachers in the autumn and for school environmental panels in the spring. 

Read more about Eco-Schools in Finland(external link).