Discovery Museum of Tampere

Last chance to see........ Mega Science Show

2010-08-18T12:10:00.000-07:00

This weekend marks our final science show at the Discovery Museum of Tampere - No glum faces - not us!!! - instead we've decided to go out in fine style with a Mega science show, with all of our favourite experiments from previous shows, and a few more besides, everything from Balloon Fun, High Flying Rockets, Cool fun with Dry-Ice, Hair-raising Static Electricity - Oh and watch out for the Giant fizzy drink Geyser fountains - you have been warned!!

Keittiötiedettä!

2010-08-12T05:56:00.000-07:00

Tänä viikonloppuna Tiedemuseossa tehdään tieteellisiä kokeita ruoka-aineilla jotka löytyvät jokaisen keittiöstä. Paistamme väriään muuttavia kananmunia, paikallaan leijuvia kuplia, kirjoitamme näkymättömällä musteella, teemme juustoa ja muuta hubaa.Tämä on viimeisiä tiede-esityksiä joten älä missaa vaan... tuu messiin!

Don't play with your food.....experiment!!! - Kitchen science this weekend at the Discovery Museum of Tampere

2010-08-12T00:24:00.000-07:00

This weekend we'll be doing all kinds of fun experiments with food and cooking ingredients that you can find in your own kitchen at home -

We'll be showing amazing colour changing eggs, floating bubbles, secret invisible spy ink, how to make your own cheese, and much more!

This is one you really won't want to miss, so come on down and join the fun!!!!

hold on to your hats - prepare for take off

2010-07-23T05:55:00.000-07:00

This weekend we will have our aerodynamics science show here at the Discovery Museum of Tampere. We will be exploring the four main forces in aerodynamics with experiments and demonstrations for each. We're going to have a lot of fun, so get your helmet and goggles on and fly on down for the show!!!!

After the main show, everyone will get a chance to make different kinds of paper aeroplanes, and fly them in our great aeroplane competition. Thanks to Alex at paperairplanes.co.uk we have lots of designs for you to try from easy to challenging! - check his website there are many more!

Paperairplanes.co.uk - Helpoja, hauskoja lennokkeja.

Lennokkitempaus Pyynikin näköalatornilla!

2010-07-20T04:13:00.000-07:00

Pyynikin näköalatornista lentää Tiedemuseon pääsylippuja!

Järjestämme perjantaina 23.7. klo 14.00 tempauksen, jossa heitämme Pyynikin näköalatornista paperiliidokkeja ja helikoptereita. Lennokit sisältää rahanarvoisen yllätyksen; joko alennetun tai ilmaisen pääsylipun Leilahdessa sijaitsevaan Tiedemuseoon.

Tule Pyynikin näköalatornille ajoissa ja nappaa ilmasta omasi!

Blast Off... Again!!!

2010-07-01T01:20:00.000-07:00

Hi, hopefully everyone had a great midsummer - Two weeks ago we had so much fun with rocket science, that we've decided to run the same show again this week - so if you missed it then, because of midsummer preparations - don't miss out a second time - Countdown 10...9...8...7........

2010-06-22T00:53:00.000-07:00

HAUSKA DINOSAURUS TYÖPAJA

3-7-vuotiaille pikkupaleontologeille. Teemme kipsistä dinosauksen jalanjäljen jonka voi viedä kotiin, dinosaurus-käsitöitä, leikimme dinoleikkejä ja kerromme tarinoita. Dinosauruksen esiinkaivaminen, jossa jokainen lapsi pääsee kaivamaan esiin pienoismallidinon luita ja liimaamaan niitä yhteen kotiinvietäväksi. Sekä aidon 500 miljoonaa vuotta vanhan fossiilin!
Dinoaiheinen lounas.

Keskiviikkona 14.7. klo 10-15. Hinta: 60€

DINOSAURUS KESÄLEIRI

Kaksipäiväinen leiri vanhemmille dinofaneille (7-12). Opimme fossiilien esiinkaivamisen tekniikoita ja paneudumme syvemmälle hauskoihin dinofaktoihin ja paleontologiaan. Miten fossiilit muodostuvat ja miten voimme määrittää niiden iän? Mitä dinojen nimet tarkoittavat? Jokainen lapsi pääsee kaivamaan esiin pienoismallidinon luita ja liimaamaan niitä yhteen kotiinvietäväksi.
Kaivauksessa lapsi löytää myös oikean, jopa 500 miljoonaa vuotta vanhan fossiilin, jonka saa kotiin.

Yllämainitun lisäksi syömme dino-aiheisen lounaan ja jokainen saa yllätyspussin
Jossa on dino-tarroja, tatuointeja, rintamerkki ja ilmainen sisäänpääsylippu tulevaa
museokäyntiä varten (arvoltaan 12e).

Torstai ja perjantai 15.-16.7. klo 10-15. Hinta: 100€

Paikkoja on rajoitetusti joten ilmoittaudu etukäteen joko sähkopostilla info@tiedemuseo.com tai soita numeroon 044-255 5495 (Richard Raja-aho)
Ilmoitathan mahdollista lapsesi ruoka-allergioista.

Attention Dino Fans

2010-06-17T04:08:00.000-07:00

We Proudly announce the arrival of our Dinosaur Workshop and Summer camp

In the Dinosaur workshop younger palaeontologists (3-7 years) will get the chance to learn all about dinosaurs, having lots of fun on the way. The workshop includes stories, fun and facts, games, craft activities, and will end up with a dinosaur excavation, wherin everyone will get the chance to dig up the bones of a model dinosaur to assemble and take home as well as a real fossil around 500 million years old!!!

the workshop will take place on

Wednesday the 14th july from 10am-3pm -

Price 60€

The dinosaur summer camp is a longer (2 day) event, designed for older Dinosaur enthusiasts (7-10 years). As well as lots of fun, facts, games, crafts etc. we will look at palaeontology in more depth, including how fossils form and how we can date them, different excavation techniques, what the dinosaurs' names mean and much more. The children will also get the opportunity to dig up the bones of a model dinosaur to assemble and take home as well as a real fossil around 500 million years old!!!

The price also includes a dino themed lunch, a goody bag and a free child ticket, so your child can visit the museum again (worth 12€)

The summer camp takes place over two days,

Thursday the 15th and Friday the 16th of July, from 10am-3pm

Price 100€

places are limited, so please book in advance either by email info@tiedemuseo.com or call Richard on 044 2555495 (Tues-Sat 8am-4pm)

Please also let us know in advance of any allergies your child has

Calling young rocket scientists - lets get moving!!!

2010-06-15T22:46:00.000-07:00

This weekend we'll be taking an interesting look at the principles of propulsion - how to get things moving - starting with simple rubber band power, and moving on up to rocket science. we'll be launching a few rockets using different methods - we'll even show you how to make a working origami jet engine! It promises to be a really fun show, so jump on board and we'll reach for the stars - To Boldly Go........

Radio tulee museoon!

2010-06-10T05:53:00.000-07:00

Viikonloppuna (12.-13.6.) Tiedemuseossa tutustutaan radiolähetyksen saloihin. Miten radio toimii ja miten se keksittiin. Miten voit rakentaa itse radion helpoista materiaaleista? Saammeko yhteyden muihin radioamatööreihin? Tule mukaan! Esitys klo 14.00.

Shokkihoitoa!

2010-06-03T01:44:00.000-07:00

Tulevana viikonloppuna temme Tiedemuseossa hiuksia nostattavia kokeiluja sähkollä. Kokeilemme minkälaisen tärskyn saa 50 000 voltilla, opit tekemään elektromagneetin kotoa loytyvistä tarvikkeista, teemme kondensaattorin muovimukista ja foliosta jne. Tule pitämään hauskaa kanssamme!

electricity science show this weekend

2010-06-02T12:02:00.000-07:00

This weekend we'll be zapping into the exciting world of electricity!
Amongst lots of other hair raising fun and facts, we'll learn how to store electricity in a plastic cup, how to turn vegetables into batteries and how to make an electromagnet from household items we just had lying around!

Pintajännitystä!

2010-05-26T11:26:00.000-07:00

Tänä viikonloppuna Tiedemuseossa leikimme pintajännitteen kanssa, ilmiön jota esiintyy mm. saippuakuplissa muodostumisessa. Otamme selvää miten vesiastian voi kääntää ylösalaisin pään päällä ilman että kastuu (toivottavasti!). Pidämme myös uimakilpailun saippuan voimalla uivilla kaloilla ja muita kokeita!

Mahtava Magneetti Viikonloppu!

2010-05-18T05:39:00.000-07:00

Tulevana viikonloppuna (22.5.-23.5.) kaikkea siistiä magnetismista! Tiedämme että aamiaismurotkin sisältää rautaa mutta kuinka paljon sitä oikein popsimmekaan? Se ja monta muuta asiaa selviää magneettiviikonloppuna Tiedemuseossa - teemme sähkomoottorin, kompassin ja muuta hauskaa!

Surprise a loved one - Gift vouchers now available

2010-05-15T05:38:00.000-07:00

In response to a request from one of our customers, we now have gift vouchers available. They are available for any amount and can be redeemed against entry prices and gift shop purchases!

The joy of discovery is certainly the liveliest that the mind of man can ever feel.
Claude Bernard (1813-78)

Next weeks science show - Marvellous magnetism

2010-05-15T05:04:00.000-07:00

This coming weekend (22.5-23.5) is all about magnetism -

We all know that our breakfast cereal contains iron - but have you ever wondered just how much iron is really in there? this weekend we're going to use magnets to find out - as well as making a simple electric motor, finding how a compass works, and doing lots of other really cool stuff!

hope to see you there.....

One month old museum and people behind it

2010-05-12T11:57:00.000-07:00

I can't believe its been already more than a month since we opened!!. People who see the museum and ask me how this all started atleast get my side of the story... But all that vision and dreams wouldn't have become real if not for a few people. Marko who is basically the other side of me, Luova Tampere folks - especially Liina, people from Ensimetri, Nordea, designers and vendors from across the world to name a few helped make this dream real.

Apart from the ones mentioned above, there are two other people who not only played a key role in getting this place open, they also are the reason we can run the museum smoothly inspite of new things get thrown at us from time to time...These two are my team members Richard and Junnu. They are allrounders - they give awesome new science shows that even little children can relate to every weekend, give extra special attention and science demonstrations for field trips, maintain our exhibits to make sure they are all safe and fun, take care of customers as they come in, keep the museum well maintained (in other words clean as well), make birthday parties fun and special and still manage to bring out 1-2 new exhibits in a week or two!!! I would like to acknowledge their effort and thank them for deciding to come work with me at the museum..Richard with his "we have to make sure every exhibit is safe enough for even a 3 yr old no matter what the target audience actually is" and Junnu with his "if it helps the museum, lets do it no matter what the effort is", are the best team I can hope for. If only I could do a better job at marketing we will be on a roll haha:)

Tee tänä viikonloppuna matka pään sisään!

2010-05-10T22:02:00.000-07:00

Tervetuloa viikonloppuna tutustumaan neurotieteeseen - monenlaista jännää ja hauskaa aivoista. Tohtori Olga Kara PhD. Brain Fitness Centeristä auttaa meitä ymmärtämään mitä päämme sisällä oikein tapahtuu. Videoita, pelejä ja erilaisia aktiviteetteja tästä aiheesta koko viikonlopun! Olemme avoinna klo 10-17.

Get inside your head this weekend at the Discovery Museum

2010-05-10T12:01:00.000-07:00

May is "mental health month", so to mark this, our weekend theme is neuroscience - everything to do with the brain and the nervous system.

Dr. Olga Kara PhD. from the Brain Fitness Center will be coming to help us all understand something about what goes on up there inside all our heads.

We'll have videos, games, and all kinds of brain related activities, so bring your brain along to join us in the fun this coming weekend!

Olemme helatorstaina avoinna!

2010-05-10T11:30:00.000-07:00

Museomme on helatorstaina normaalisti avoinna klo 10-17. Tiede-show, ja tekemistä koko perheelle.

Mahtava ääni - Tiedeshow sukeltaa äänen maailmaan. Super Science of Sound Show this weekend

2010-05-04T12:27:00.000-07:00

Hei kaikki! Koska me Tiedemuseossa rakastamme musiikkia, tänä viikonloppuna paneudumme äänen maailmaan - miten ääni syntyy, ja millä periaatteella soittimet toimivat. Teemme hauskoja kokeiluja ja lapset pääsevät kokeilemaan mikrofonilla miten monin tavoin omaa ääntä voi muuttaa. Puuhastelemme myos hauskat pikku soittimet, jonka vie viedä mukanaan kotiin.
Pidetään yhdessä kivaa ja tehdään meteliä!

Hi there - Since we all love music here at the discovery museum, this weekend we'll be getting into the science of sound - discovering what principles make musical instruments work, as well as playing with microphones and changing our voices in all sorts of interesting ways. We'll also have a workshop to make a simple musical instrument to take home with you and lots more fun besides! As with all our weekend science shows, the more the merrier, so come along and join the chorus!

Tieto museosta leviää Lielahtea kauemmaksi

2010-05-03T02:52:00.000-07:00

http://media.daum.net

http://english.people.com.cn

Space Surfers!

2010-04-29T00:45:00.000-07:00

Emme jaksaneet odottaa kesää ja aurinkoa, joten tuomme kesätunnelman museoon jo vappuna - jättimäisellä ilmapallolainelaudalla! Ja kun kerta vappu on, me tehdään paljon muitakin hauskoja kokeita, tietysti ilmapalloilla.
Joten, kesävaatteet ylle ja surffaamaan - Tiedemueson tyyliin!

We got tired of waiting for the sun, so we're bringing the summer feeling in early this weekend - with our giant balloon surfboard!
We have lots of other fun stuff with balloons. So put on your beachwear and surf with us to summer - our discovery way!

May Day Science Show - balloons balloons and more balloons!

2010-04-27T11:19:00.000-07:00

What better way to celebrate the finnish may day holiday Vappu than with balloons - we have lots of balloon experiments in store, including surfing on our giant balloon surf board! How many children can we manage to get on board before the balloons start to burst? - Well it's sure going to be fun finding out!!

2010-04-25T05:12:00.000-07:00

Kiitos kaikille jotka kyselitte synttäripakettia. Nyt meillä Tiedemuseossa on tarjolla useita synttäriteemoja limasynttäreistä koruntekojuhliin ja aina jäätelon tekoon nestemäisellä typellä!
Katso tarkemmin vaihtoehtoehdot ja hinnat nettisivultamme: http://www.tiedemuseo.com.

Kysy myos tulevista tyopajoista ja kesaleireistä!

Birthday Packages and Family membership info are online

2010-04-24T02:59:00.000-07:00

Thanks to all of you who called for information about birthday packages!!! We now have the information regarding various birthday packages online. You won't be disappointed with the variety of packages we are offering for a wide range of ages too!!!!

From slimy birthdays to making your own Liquid Nitrogen icecream...From making a fun transportation vehicle to making your own lipgloss, each package is filled with fun stuff to do. Further more, Each child will receive a goody bag with one FREE admission ticket so they can visit and play again!!!

We started offering the Family membership last weekend in the museum and now we have that information online as well. Ofcourse members will get 10% off in gift shop, birthday packages and other events...

Check them out...

www.tiedemuseo.com

Shaping The Earth - Learn about rock formation, using candy and other yummy stuff!!!

2010-04-21T12:14:00.000-07:00

Hi, this Thursday marks the 40th anniversary of Earth Day - a great opportunity to think about the planet we all share, and how we can try to take better care of it. To mark this we have a very special science show this weekend - we will learn about the rocks that form the earth- different types of rock, how they are made, how they behave - and to make it more appetising, we are going to make the rocks out of candy! - I'm really looking forward to this one!!!
We are also going to demonstrate some of the forces of nature, and take a look at some of the effects that human beings have made during our short stay on this planet.

Hope to see you all there.

make your own dragon illusion this weekend...

2010-04-16T05:35:00.000-07:00

Right after our science shows at 11am and 2pm (both saturday and sunday), we will help you make your own dragon illusion and take it home!!! And during the show, you get to play with even more illusions!!!

science shows and weekend

2010-04-13T12:13:00.000-07:00

Starting this weekend, we will have science shows on both saturday and sunday at 11am and 2pm. This weekend is all about Optical illusions. Is what you see is really what it is or is it something your brain is telling you? Come check it out.

Starting today, we have our Animated Butterfly exhibit up and running. From now, everyday, children (or adults) can cut out their own butterfly and color it just the way they want and watch it take life and flutter in the wind. Ofcourse they can take their beautiful creation home to show off to others.

Starting May, we will have science demonstrations everyday!!

Stay tuned for information about family memberships and birthday party packages later this week...

TV footage

2010-04-11T03:21:00.000-07:00

Here's a longer TV footage of the opening on friday from YLE...

http://areena.yle.fi/video/889079

We are officially open

2010-04-09T12:27:00.000-07:00

Yay!!! After years of planning and months of working and weeks of sleepless nights in building and setting up, we finally opened doors today welcoming 120 children. It was awesome seeing so many kids playing and excited about the exhibits. Forgot the camera in the museum so can't post pictures tonight but...we had radio and tv coverage today!! Here's the coverage in regional news on TV2 http://areena.yle.fi/ohjelma/8a4caa9219c22062a77247b4ecf069b3 It starts about 5 minutes into the news.

And here's nice article on YLE/tampere website http://yle.fi/alueet/tampere/2010/04/lapsille_oma_tiedekeskus_tampereelle_1594542.html with pictures of some of the exhibits.

Although in the afternoon, we had much smaller group, we started the Science show. Richard showed fun experiments with Dry Ice, balloons and much more tying each experiment with the previous...Can't give out too much as we are going to have one tomorrow at 11:30am as well!!

We have a few kinks to clear up and hoping the credit card machine will work tomorrow but other than that...we have a great day planned for tomorrow with Flying Circus coming in. We dont' have a full fledged cafeteria but we will have some sandwiches, pullas, coffee, tea and juice to purchase.

more tomorrow...

Flying Circus coming to Discovery Museum opening!!

2010-04-01T12:53:00.000-07:00

Have you seen remote control airplanes flying to music? That's what Flying Circus team does best! And they are coming to our opening.

We will have three shows on Saturday April 10 at 11am, noon and 2pm.

We are very excited to bring a show that combines art and science together.. Stay tuned for more info on the weekend plans.

Our first field trip booked for Opening Day!!!

2010-03-27T00:02:00.000-07:00

The museum will open officially with 120 children entering the museum!. The whole International Playschool in Pynikki with children ranging between 3-6yr olds are going to come as our first field trip group. What better way to open a childrens museum than welcoming 120 kids?

Our guest of the day for the opening ceremony is Irene Roivainen from Tampere city and UTA, Lasse Paananen from Luova Tampere and others.

We will post the details of the opening weekend and the activities we are planning for that weekend soon...Stay tuned!!!

Matikkamanse

2010-03-20T06:21:00.000-07:00

Matikkamansen Sirpa Haapaniemi ja Tuija Husu kävivät vierailemassa ja juttelimme mahdollisista matematiikkaan liittyvistä näytösesineistä. Heillä oli ideoita varsinkin geometristen palapelien suhteen. Näistä voitaisiin saada varsin mielenkiintoisia asioita ihmeteltäväksi ja mietittäväksi.

Paloauto

2010-03-11T10:07:00.000-08:00

Mittasimme ovien kokoja, ja jouduimme toteamaan että seinän sisään piilotettu ovi on avattava.
Tampereen aluepelastuslaitoksen Veijo Kaján sai meille lainaksi ihka oikean paloauton!
Kokoa on paloautolla aika lailla, rakennukseen sisälle mahduttaminen vaatii jonkin verran työtä.

Auto tulee esille näkyvälle paikalle, hankala sitä olisi piilottaa :)

Olemme hyvin innoissamme tästä.

Brio, Klein bottles and Dinosaur bones

2010-03-08T10:41:00.000-08:00

What do all of them have in common? None what so ever. Just wanted to update on those three exhibits that are in progress. Brio (Thank you Ms.Kati) very graciously sent us lot of tracks and trains for the 3meter long Finland train table. We painted it this weekend and today its standing on its legs!!! Just a little more painting and gluing the tracks left before trains can make their way all around the country. Dont know about kids but I can't wait to play with it (I mean try it out).

We found some really cool Klein bottles and ofcourse had to get one along with one that is sliced in the middle to show how it really does look like a Mobius strip. This company is in Oakland Ca. When the order went in, the confirmation email came with a note:

"A reasonably intelligent (well, not overtly stupid) person (namely me) will read everything over before filling your order. I won't charge your credit card until I actually box up your Klein Bottles and they're ready to go out the door."

Never recieved such a funny note in an order confirmation email. Once the order got shipped, got another email with another funny yet memorable note saying he just came back from a bike ride to the postoffice mailing the stuff. and in the end of the note was

"I dinged your credit card for USD$xxx. And in case you collect digits, the credit card authorization ticket is xxxxx".

And the literature they included with the Klein bottle was equally funny and special. Thank you Cliff for making the whole deal a fun exercise. We can tell you love your work!!. Haven't seen such a sense of humor in product sales and as promised the Klein bottle is awesome.

Did I mention we are also building a 3.5meter long T-rex wooden puzzle? each piece is light enough for even a 3yr old to hold yet the details Richard put in are amazing. As usual, I got to paint the pieces and the paint we used have a very nice texture.

I wonder if I am giving away all the surprises!!! Nah! there's plenty left:) have a good week everyone

--Sheela

Another successful event at Ideapark

2010-02-27T22:33:00.000-08:00

Yesterday we were at ideapark. We took last time's favorites - Bernoulli blower, trains and Fun flystick. We added the "Chinese Spouting Bowl" and "Theramin" to the list. Richard also set up a Microphone for kids to sing and set up the amplifier such a way the output sounds quite funny. All the exhibits have been a blast and was a good mixture for little ones to adults. Theramin is the only musical instrument in the world that's played by not touching it. It was quite fun watching the children just wave the hands and giggle when its makes sounds.

Most of the visitors succeeded in making the water "jump" with the Chinese Spouting bowl. But we forgot the camera so don't have any pictures to add to the blog:(

Article in Aamulehti and Press Release

2010-02-25T21:54:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was an exciting day for us. Two major things happened yesterday.

First article about the museum came yesterday in Aamlehti - big regional newspaper. It was a big article too. We need to scan it and post it here soon. The news suddenly made the museum a bit more real.

City of Tampere issued a press statement yesterday regarding the Opening of the museum. http://www.tampere.fi/tampereinfo/viestinta/tiedotteet/2010/5nnrhAQO3.html

42 more days to go to the opening. and we will be in Ideapark again tomorrow from 11am - 3pm. Come check us out. We are bringing 3-4 exhibits that can fit into a car to play. One of them is a cool one to make water jump in a bowl!!!

more news soon....

Museum opening date and location and...

2010-02-23T23:55:00.000-08:00

Sorry about not posting since New year. It only means that we have been busy getting everything lined up!. We have the grand opening date for the museum....Pencil it in everyone...

Its April 9 2010 at 10am!!!

Just 44 more days left for the opening and ofcourse so much to do before that. We also have our first team member joining this monday - Richard. He is a wonderful teacher in our local International Playschool. He is a musician, awesome teacher, knows his science, great with kids and very very creative designer and builder and puts kids safety first before anything else. What else can we look for in a team member who will be working on children's exhbiits and be with children every day? He has been volunteering his free time to build a couple of exciting exhibits. Welcome aboard Richard. and a big Thanks to Shawn Rizzo, director of International playschool in Pynnikki to be so understanding and helpful and let us steal one of her longstanding employees.

Luova Tampere has been helping us with networking, marketing plans and branding. A special thanks to Liina Kangas for all the help she is giving us from setting up meetings with all important people around the city to help us find a builder who can build the birthday rooms and gift shop in the museum.

And we are planning for a grand opening weekend. Friday it will be the official opening but on saturday we are planning some fun stuff. We will post more on this as time come closer so please do watch the blog. And we promise to post more often from now on so we can update everyone what exciting things are happening from now till THE DAY:)

Happy holidays

2009-12-27T12:19:00.000-08:00

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

2009-12-15T07:46:00.000-08:00

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!!

---

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

2009-12-09T10:30:00.000-08:00

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

2009-12-03T12:22:00.001-08:00

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...

----

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

2009-12-01T02:34:00.000-08:00

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...

Discovery Museum of Tampere, ihan suomeksi

2009-11-27T13:48:00.000-08:00

Museon valmistelu on kovassa vauhdissa. Laitteiden rakentelu vaatii yllättävän paljon aikaa, koska ensimmäistä prototyyppiä täytyy lähes aina muuttaa. Näin käy varsinkin isompien välineiden kanssa.

Toinen ongelma näiden kanssa on materiaalien hankkiminen. Rautakaupan hyllyjen välissä on tallattu polkua jo jonkin verran. Ja monen vierailun jälkeen on huomannut että jotain jäi tuomatta. Melkein olisi helpompaa jos muuttaisi rautakaupan viereen asumaan!

Olemme liikkeellä rajoitetulla budjetilla, joten isoihin kömmähdyksiin ei ole varaa. Yritämme valita suunnitelmista sellaiset näytteille laitettavat vekottimet jotka voi rakentaa yksinkertaisemmista osista. Ja avuksi rahoitukseen haemme sponsoreita.

Onneksi emme ole aivan yksin liikkeellä. Olemme saaneet rakenteluohjeita ja vinkkejä muilta museoilta. Paikallinen tuki on rakentanut isoja osia laitteista. Kiitokset tästä.

Varsin mielenkiintoista on kuitenkin näitä suunnitella ja rakennella. Toivottavasti nämä ovat yhtä viihdyttäviä museon vierailijoille kuin ne ovat rakentajille :)

picking up pace

2009-11-18T02:36:00.000-08:00

wow! its been more than a month since I blogged!. its amazing how time flies. We had a good and useful trip to California. It was good to visit a couple of museums, one of them is a brand new that started earlier this year in good old Napa valley. Scientopia is started by a local couple as a business providing the local children and visitors a place to take their children to. Their Dino dig was a big hit with Manu. Owners Marcy and Jonathan spent some time with us inspite of their busy schedules and juggling between taking care of kids and running the business to give us some pointers, tips and ideas. Thank you Marcy and Jonathan:)

Back in Tampere, we re-started looking for a location. Ofcourse, the place(s) we really like are the ones we can't afford (isn't it the case always!!). We started discussions with a couple of them and continue our search as well.

We started building exhibits in our garage and others. We tested the bubble exhibit last weekend and it works! The bubble solution might need a bit more tweaking but it works!.

I will try to post more often from now and keep it updated. I hope to work on website soon as well.

-Sheela
ps: we will also start blogging a bit in Finnish too from now

Tampere University of Technology and Us

2009-10-08T08:32:00.000-07:00

For the past few weeks I have been talking to different professors in the Tampere university of Technology. The professors I met so far are all very supportive of the museum and helping in designing/creating exhibits. Starting with Prof. Adam Foster in Physics department we now have professors from atleast 4 different departments who are helping with exhibits and further contacts. Its awesome to work with the brightest minds in coming up with ideas to share information about the research they are currently doing in form of different types of exhibits. I am hoping we continue the trend and build "classical" exhibits and complement them with "latest" research exhibits to spark interest in science.

CEB conference yesterday

2009-09-11T05:30:00.000-07:00

I was at the CEB conference in Helsinki yesterday. Presented my paper titled "Play and Learn" (ofcourse following our tagline) and talks about early age exploration and getting children interested in science fields through exploration and a little about how technology should be used as a tool rather than a way of life (for children ofcourse). I think the paper is going to be published online on their website soon and as proceedings in a couple of months.

Didn't realize I will be the first presenter for the morning session:) The time got shortened 17 minutes with questions at the end of all presentations. I talked for the first 10 minutes about early age exploration and why its important and got little time left to talk about Discovery Museum. I missed most of School age children (middle school and high school) part of the presentation but overall it went good.

And its the first public statement about opening a discovery museum in Tampere. Yay!!!

Playtime everyday

2009-09-04T01:41:00.000-07:00

I was reading an article this morning that was posted a couple of days ago in NYtimes. http://happydays.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/09/02/let-the-children-play-some-more/?th&emc=th . The title of the article is "let the children play (some more). this article is based on US schools ofcourse and talks about how recess and play times have been cut down in most schools to give way to more intense education. The article mentions how more children are getting into depression and having obesity and behavioral disorder problems.

Coming from India, I am familiar with no downtime in school problem. We had one recess i.e. lunch time and once a week PT (physical training). But atleast once the school is done, however much stressful it was, we were free to go out and play (ofcourse once homework is done too..) but these days with so many electronic media all around us, favorite pasttime is not playing games outside but rather watch tv or play video games or chat on internet. Its not just India and US...more and more countries are facing the problem..balancing between the higher demands of education and childrens well being.

In that aspect, Finland seems to be very consistent and insistent on having breaks between classes, give enough downtime for kids to rejuvenate their brains and have more playtime outside (even in the middle of winter). They start school late but catch up with their peers around the world pretty fast. In surveys done with children around the world, Finnish children often come in the top5 in math, science and reading abilities. They attribute this to giving more time for children to be children, uniform core curriculum and high standard of teachers.

When I talk about "play and learn", people here immediately get it. They understand it very well. Recently I was talking to the headmaster of one of the schools in Tampere about the museum and she said they believe and try to get their children especially lower than sixth grade to play and "invent" rather than just teach them theories behind everything. Wow! what else can we ask for:)

--sheela

you know you like a museum when..

2009-09-03T11:46:00.000-07:00

you catch yourself talking about a particular museum to 3 different people in the same day:) Today, in different meetings, I mentioned the Tom Tits Experiment (http://www.tomtit.se/) thrice and how great it is...It does have a great collection of experiments for kids of all ages. And the great thing is they give you a book with all the great experiments with a picture and description not only to guide you through them during the visit but also to take home and remember. I haven't seen any other museum do that and I think that's the coolest thing.

while I talked about Tom Tits thrice, the only other museum I talk about (apart from Discovery Museum of Tampere ofcourse) is The Exploratorium in San Francisco. Lot of science museums around the world including ours used/will use their proven recipes for exhibit building. And they have the most amazing online presence including great resources for teachers.

With such great museums to inspire, I am sure Discovery Museum of Tampere will become childrens favorite place locally..

Inspiration behind starting science museum

2009-08-31T03:50:00.000-07:00

I quit my job in high-tech field to stay home and enjoy (with a little frustration on the side) the motherhood and watch Manu grow. I take it as a huge blessing that we could afford to do that. It so happened Manu always demanded my attention and literally spent every waking moment playing with him. While doing so, without even thinking about it, got into a habit of talking to him about everything we do and some more. It was fascinating to watch Manu get more interested in various things and ask for explanations. With both of us being science junkies we started explaining little science behind everything. Even if he doesn't understand completely, he got into a habit of asking "why" and "how" and although sometimes its difficult to explain in the easiest terms it created more and more curiosity in him which is what we wanted to achieve.

Every parent can probably relate to this story. Earlier this year, we were driving back home after picking him up from his playschool and Manu asks "how did man make so many things? so many tractors, so many different types of cars". well, we weren't exactly prepared for that question I can tell you that. It was a week after he turned 3 and I am sure we mumbled something to him about how civilization grows. After giving it some thought we tried to explain again in much simpler terms how it all started with living in caves and then slowly progressed to where we are today and tried to answer his flurry of questions that came with that one question. I am sure most of the information we told him didn't sink in but I was quite amazed at what all they can ask and how we can sparkle more interest in them by being a bit more prepared.

We visited Childrens Discovery Musem in San Jose (www.cdm.org) quite often last year and Manu always had a blast there. We realized one of the things missing in Tampere is childrens science museum. I started doing background research on them. When we visited Stockholm, we visited science museums and sure enough Manu got very interested in them and keep asking when can we visit them again. He keeps asking if we can do a "science experiment" (when he is not asking to do a art or craft project that is) and we try to find different things that are simple enough for him to do/follow and explain enough to keep his interest going. And it inspires us even more everyday to build a discovery museum in our town where more kids like Manu can come and play (or experiment if they want to call it that) and get interested in science that lives in everything all around us.

Recenly when I told Manu we will be visiting California soon, the first question he asked is " are there science museums in california"? and then "will you take me there...please..."? Obviously memory is short for the kids and he forgot about CDM visits already but just the fact that a 3 yr old asks to go to a science museum is encouraging enough to put in all the effort needed into building an exciting museum in Tampere.

Start of the journey

2009-08-27T04:10:00.000-07:00

We are starting the blog to share our journey from now through the opening of the Discovery Museum next year. Although the process started a while ago, now the concept is slowly transforming into reality.

Last month we visited Stockholm and ofcourse visited the Stockholm science museum and Tom Tits experiments with our 3yr old and watching him darting from one exhibit to another excitedly and trying out everything, asking questions constantly made us excited about getting this museum started in our own town.

Tampere is a very unique city although the atmosphere makes me think of it more of a town than a city. With its two unique lakes and a very rich history and beautiful nature all around, I can't think of a more ideal place to start a Discovery Museum. We want this museum to be a place where children of all ages can come experience hands-on exploration of nature, science and math.

Next blog: Where the inspiration came from to start the museum

--Sheela