Happy holidays

Happy holidays every one.  Its been quite a busy and happy week and share the news here as soon as possible.

Tomorrow we will be in Ideapark (http://www.ideapark.fi) with a few more new exhibits including a bernoulli blower.  Just putting the last pieces together for it.  We are not sure if we can put the bubble exhibit there as its in the central square and no matter how careful one is, a little soap water always spills out. 

Will post pictures after the event and if you miss us tomorrow at Ideapark, we will be back in PiiPoo (ideapark) on tuesday...

Sheela

space for the museum

We have been actively looking for space for the museum for a couple of months now. From others experiences we figured its better to give it ample time especially if we really really want to open it in April. We found a couple of places that are very promising and started talking to the owners. I met the owners for one of them yesterday. Its family owned property and I met with the young couple who are running the business now. Very nice couple, very helpful and willing to help us and negotiate.

I know its not done till contract is signed and everything so not going to say where exactly it is but looks very promising so we are very very excited....yay!!

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Olemme etsineet paikkaa museolle jo parin kuukauden ajan. Vastaavanlaisia museoita avanneilla on ollut usein ongelmana tilan läytäminen. Etsinnän aikana on tullut vastaan lupaavia kohteita, ja tänään on neuvoteltu erään omistajan kanssa. Omistajapariskunta on ollut hyvin auttavainen, ja ymmärtänyt meidän ongelmamme aloittamisen kanssa.

Nimiä ei ole vielä paperissa, mutta lupaavalta näyttää. Toivottavasti tästä löytyi koti.

First event for the museum successful

Our first event at the International Early Education Center was quite a successful one.  The age range of the children was 3-6yrs.  Each age group came seperately starting with 3yr olds and ending with 6 yr olds.  We set up 6 exhibits for most of them and had the Funflystick (electrostatic exhibit) for 6yr olds 
The train exhibit, Magnetic gear exhibit was more favored by 3-5yr olds. 
The Earth quake shake table had different reactions from different groups.  Younger kids just liked to build the houses/buildings without any worries about earthquakes:)
The magnetic drop activity showed more potential than I initially thought it would
The Tornado bottles were a huge hit.  Not so much from 3yr olds but starting from 4yr olds, it never stayed idle:)
But the biggest hit of all is the bubble exhibit.  While we will have a rope that the kid (or adult) can pull to get a bubble around themselves for the museum, as a travellign exhibit we just found a small ball pool, a hoolahoop and Marko attached two handles and we wrapped nylon all around to retain soap solution better.  Both children and teachers loved to stand and get a bubble around them.  We even got the director of the school to try it out although that picture is one of the teachers cameras or else it would be in this blog:)

And the fun fly stick turned out to be a fun activity too with kids lining up and waiting for their turn to play with it.

Here a few pics...

Promotional Opportunities for the museum

We have at least 4 events planned for just this month where we will be taking a few small exhibits for children to play thus introducing the museum. We are very excited about all the opportunities and can't thank enough to everyone who is showing such strong support and encouragement.

Next week Wednesday, we will be visiting International Early Education Center for a few hours with a few exhibits including a train table, gear table, hopefully bubble center, earthquake shake table and a few others.

Saturday Dec12, we will be in ABC Lahdesjarvi and participate in their 5th anniversary celebrations with a few of the above exhibits.

While local mall in Tampere wanted to charge us to let us bring a few exhibits to promote the museum, Ideapark, a huge mall in Lempaala (close to Tampere) offered us promotional space for free in their Central park which is right in the center of the mall. We will be there on 28th of December. They also offered us the same space during Ski weekend in February. We are very excited about this opportunity as the mall is really busy especially weekends. Thank you Anna:)

After hearing about the gig in Ideapark, another entrepreneur who opened a center for children which has a lot of thoughtful opportunities for special needs children offered us two more promotional opportunities. Just talking to Pilvi Kuitu, CEO of PiiPoo was an inspiring experience and we realized that the ideals behind both her PiiPoo center and our museum are very similar. We will be in PiiPoo on Dec 29 and again during the Ski weekend in Feb.

We will try to post pictures of the events as they come...


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Meillä on nyt 4 tapahtumaa suunnitelmissa. Tarkoitus on laittaa esille
muutamia pieniä museoon tulevia laitteita, ja täten levittää tietoa
museon avaamisesta. Olemme hyvin innostuneita näistä, ja haluamme kiittää
tukijoita kannatuksesta.

Keskiviikkona vierailemme International Early Education Center:issä.
Mukana on junarata ja hammasrataspöydät, mahdollisesti saippuakuplat,
maanjäristyssimulaattori ja muita.

Joulukuun 12 olemme ABC Lahdesjärvellä mukana juhlistamassa heidän
5-vuotis synttäreitä.

Ideapark, iso ostoskeskus Lempäälästä, tarjosi meille tilaa ilmaiseksi
keskusaukiolta. Olemme siellä 28. joulukuuta, kuten myös helmikuussa
hiihtolomaviikonloppuna. Kiitokset Anna! Tämä on huomattavasti parempi
kuin nimeltä mainitsematon keskus Tampereella, joka halusi
rahastaa tästä.

Kuultuaan meidän vierailusta Ideaparkkiin, paikallinen yrittäjä
päätti auttaa meitä tarjoamalla lisää edustusmahdollisuuksia.
Hän avasi aikaisemmin lapsille tarkoitetun keskuksen, jossa on
otettu hyvin huomioon erityistä apua tarvitsevat lapset.
Pilvi Kuitu, Piipoon toimitusjohtaja, on hyvin inspiroiva henkilö.
Huomasimme pian että toiminta-ajatus on hyvin samanlainen sekä Piipoolla
että meidän museolla. Tulemme vierailulle Piipooseen 29 joulukuuta,
ja hiihtoloma viikonloppuna helmikuussa.

Yritämme laittaa blogiin mukaan kuvia kun niitä saamme.

Tampere English Playschool and Discovery Museum

More than a decade ago, Shawn Rizzo started an English Playschool in Tampere when there were none.  She was the pioneer in introducing English education to 3+yr olds with "playing" as the main motive behind teaching.  Her International Early Education Center is a fun place for children while getting exposed to not just English language but different cultures and stories and innovative play techniques. 

I had the opportunity to meet her earlier this year and it so happens she is also from California but settled here for a while:).  Later since I mentioned to her about the museum, she has been giving not just moral support but also practical advice when it comes to business and share contacts. 

Last week while we were talking about the progress of the museum and sponsorships, she gracefully offered to sponsor a great exhibit for the children.  The exhibit's main audience is 1-6yr old children and suits our mutual belief of mixing "play and learn".  Thank you Shawn for your generosity. 

Ofcourse we will post more details as the exhibit gets designed and built....stay tuned...