Guided tours for groups of children
Children's groups from early childhood education (ECEC ) centers and family daycare, welcome to the Kindergarten Museum for engaging guided tours! The museum is pedagogically designed from the point of view of activities, with a child audience in mind. We offer guided tours on different themes on weekdays between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. Come and play!
On weekday forenoons, we welcome only one group at a time to visit the museum. This way, every group has time and space to get to know the museum without rushing. Group visit starts with engaging guidance, after which the group still has plenty of time to explore the museum on their own and play freely in the museum's numerous playgrounds. There is a possibility also to enjoy your own snacks at the museum cafe while visiting the museum. Below you can see detailed descriptions of the guided tours for groups of children.
Duration of a visit 1.5 hours, and a guided tour portion is about 40 minutes, depending on the tour.
After this, groups still have plenty of time for independent play in the museum's numerous play areas and wandering around the museum
Group size maximum 14 children
As an exception, the guided tour "In the museum with Teddy" is aimed at children under 3 years old, with a maximum of 8 children per group
Price of a visit 30 euros per group
As an exception, the package of three visits costs 100 euros
Children's group guidance’s promotes the basics of National Core Curriculum of Early Childhood Education and Care (Finnish National Agency for Education, 2018) and National Core Curriculum for Pre-primary Education (2014) as well as child's active participation. All guided tours are designed to support transversal competence and areas of learning in accordance with the principles of the national curriculum. In connection with guidance descriptions, we have highlighted the most important convergences with curricula. With a help of pre- and post-tasks related to guidance, different areas of learning and transversal competence can be dealt more widely at ECEC centers. Children grow, develop and learn in interaction with other people and their surroundings. The Kindergarten Museum is one of the learning environments for early childhood education.
The Kindergarten Museum's material package for early childhood education gives tips to process the museum visit with the group before and after the museum visit. The package is aimed at ECEC center groups visiting the Kindergarten Museum. Participating in guided tour do not require the use of the material package, but we recommend it so that children's learning experience deepens and things experienced in the museum are better remembered. Ideas in the material package can also be applied to visits to other museums and in connection with excursions. You can open the working material by clicking here (the material is in Finnish): Kindergarten Museum's material package.
Book a guided visit
Call 050 3077 399
Send an email to ebeneser(at)ebeneser.fi
Bookings can be cancelled free of charge one day before a guided tour. We will charge the price of a guided tour for non-cancelled tours.
Practical instructions for visiting the Kindergarten Museum
If you have a stroller with you, please take it to the separate stroller shed in the yard of the Ebeneser house. For fire safety reasons, we cannot store strollers in the hall.
When you arrive at the Ebeneser house with a group of children, use the buzzer in the hall (3rd floor Kindergarten Museum / Ebeneser Foundation), and we will open the door for you. At right of the door in the hall is a coat rack for outerwear. The guide will meet you on the first floor.
Guided tours are functional and the exhibition is built especially with child audience in mind. You should reserve 1.5 hours for your visit, so that in addition to a guided tour, you still have time to explore the museum on your own and to play in the museum's numerous playgrounds. Please let us know in advance if you have to leave earlier, so we can take this into account.
The guide leads the group in the museum from one space to another and directs the discussion and activities. Adults accompanying the group are expected to participate in the tour and, during free play, also in guiding the play and exploring the museum together with children.
There are many objects in the museum that you can freely touch. Museum objects, which should not be touched, are separated from other objects by demarcation ropes and showcases - please check with the guide if you are unsure about touching an object.
There is possibility to eat ones own snacks in the museum cafe - please let us know in advance, so we can reserve the space for your use after the tour. It is not allowed to eat or drink in museums exhibition area.
Feel free to take photos in the museum and share them! #kindergartenmuseum #lastentarhamuseo
Engaging guided tours for groups of children:
Kindergarten life
What was it like in the old days? What was done in kindergartens back then? What were children's small work tasks like? What games did children like to play? What kind of objects and toys did children have? In the engaging tour, children and adults will experience old-time kindergarten life.
The tour includes chores of a kindergarten in the old times, such as carrying logs, making laundry with the help of a washing board, and reflection on today's ECEC center life and the children's experiences of it. At the end of the tour, time is left for exploration of the museum and free play in the museum's numerous playgrounds and toys, such as building blocks, sandpits and a playhouse, are used by children.
The tour is designed for groups of children over 3 years old.
You get to see the pre- and post-task tips of the Kindergarten Life tour that convergences with curricula from here (the material is in Finnish).
In the museum with Teddy
What could be more wonderful than sharing the museum experience with your beloved teddy bear or other plush toys! In the tour designed especially for children under 3-years-old, you will experience the past kindergarten life, games and small work tasks while taking care of and playing with your teddy bear.
The tour is designed to support young children's first trips and museum visits from ECEC center. The excitement of the trip and the new environment can be safely overcome when you have your own teddy bear with you.
The tour proceeds according to home play: first teddy bears are introduced to others, we play together with them, look suitable food and finally we cover tired teddy bears for a nap. While teddies sleep, we will explore museum's playgrounds and toys, such as playhouses, teepees, wooden building blocks, large wooden trucks, wooden animals and home play equipment. In the end, we take the teddies that have woken up under our arms and return back to our own ECEC center.
You get to see the pre- and post-task tips of In the Museum with Teddy tour that convergences with curricula from here (the material is in Finnish).
Museum Mouse's toy day
On the tour museum's toys and your toys meet as we explore the history of toys and games. We get to explore and play with toys that grandparents of children may have played with in their childhood. Along the way, we will also hear what kind of toys Museum Mouse's grandmother, Granny Mouse, has played with as a child. The tour includes an advance assignment, and visiting daycares should bring a toy to the tour. We welcome 1-3 grandparents with their own childhood toy and a memory about playing with chosen toy. The tour is especially suitable for groups of children aged 4-7. The tour is be planned together with the Time Travel (Aikamatkalla in Finnish) project.
You get to see the pre- and post-task tips of Museum Mouse's toy day tour that convergences with curricula from here (the material is in Finnish).
Museum Mouse's toy day tour is planned together with the Ebeneser foundation's the Time Travel project. More tips for over generational work from the website of the project www.aikamatkalla.fi/en/
Construction workshop
We welcome groups of children to explore the original Froebel blocks - but would it be possible to build a big house from the blocks so that you can fit inside? The workshop aimed at over 3-year-olds includes guided construction with Froebel blocks indoors and in the courtyard of the Ebeneser house with the giant-sized blocks designed in cooperation with the Kindergarten Museum and artist Alexander Reichstein. The workshop is available from May to October, depending on weather conditions.
You can read and get to know the giant-sized blocks from here and from original Froebel blocks and their possibilities you can get to read from here (both articles are in Finnish).
You get to see the pre- and post-task tips of Construction workshop that convergences with curricula from here (the material is in Finnish).
Independent construction with giant-sized blocks
Are you already familiar with the Kindergarten Museum's giant blocks and would you like to build with them on your own with a group of children? By making an appointment from the Kindergarten Museum, you can come with a group to build with the blocks at the yard of Ebeneser house. The museum staff will welcome you, open the box of giant blocks, show you the construction site, and guide the group to the beginning of construction.
The group can use ready learning materials made by the Kindergarten Museum in collaboration with M.A. Ed. Marianna Viitanen as the basis and inspiration for the construction. The material is divided to suit different age groups.You can download the material in pdf format here: Fröbeliläiset jättipalikat - Toimintatuokioita rakentelijoille (the material is in Finnish).
The possibility of independent construction is available from May to October, subject to weather conditions. The price of independent construction is 20 euros/time.
Christmas in kindergarten
The Kindergarten Museum's atmospheric Christmas tours, with changing themes each year, are organized from the last week of November until Christmas. Tours are available for groups of children of all ages.
Kindergarten life - a package of three visits
We offer groups of children an opportunity to visit the Kindergarten Museum three times. More visits allow more time for children's independent activities, questions and reflection. During the three visits we get familiar with kindergarten life from different perspectives, playing, doing and exploring. Additionally, we get to have extended adventures on the premises of the Kindergarten Museum. Children will do small tasks in their own ECEC center between the visits. It is also possible for groups themselves to influence the content of the visits.