Plan your meals

Meal planning makes a world of difference. It deserves first place in this list because it’s the main key to success. Meal planning saves you:

• money, because you buy what you need and nothing more (you also cut on food waste);
• time, because you limit grocery shopping trips;
• stress, because don’t have to spend time thinking about what you’ll cook for dinner and you can plan easy meals on busy days.

If you like to improvise, you can still do the meal planning and mix up meals according to your mood.

Cook from scratch

Say goodbye to processed food. Not completely, but aim at cooking most of your meals from scratch. It can be a tough habit to change if you are used otherwise, but you can. Start small and stick to progressive goals: first aim at cooking from scratch 2-3 times a week, and slowly increase your goal. Processed foods are full of preservatives, sugars, and salt. Their main ingredients are often low quality and have lost all their nutrients. Cooking from scratch takes time, but it is a healthy habit and it teaches you to truly appreciate food items, their natural flavours and properties. And it spares you a lot of money, which is the focus of this post.

Keep yourself in check

Grocery shops are designed to make you buy as much as possible. I know because I worked in the sector and I know how much retailers invest in terms of technology and psychological tricks to maximise sales. This is a thousand times more powerful in online shops where assortment is literally designed for you. When you walk around a shop, you need to repeat a mantra in your head: do I need it or do I want it? Meal planning is a great help to stick to the list, but there will be temptations. When you see them, try to avoid succumbing to them without a fight. It’s okay to buy yourself something nice or some extra snacks, as long as they remain a small portion of your shopping trip.

Test different brands

I am not saying you should always go for the cheap thing, but take time to really test brands, including new ones. When I was in school, we went on a trip to a factory. There I found some brands share production factories (they literally sell the same product or with a tiny variation) but the final product on the shelf has a completely different price tag. This is definitely valid for the brands of distribution chains (like Pirkka). Similarly, there are cheaper products that offer a perfectly acceptable level of quality. What I am trying to say is, don’t buy brands out of blind habit. Test, experiment, and take informed decisions.

Buy and cook in batches

You can save money on groceries by buying food and items in batches and exploiting discounts. Remember discounts can be a trap for overbuying: stick to what you need or plan your meals around discounts (I find the Lidl app useful for this). Similarly, you can cook large quantities and freeze portions, another trick to save on time beside money. I regularly freeze pasta sauces, meat or fish stock, fresh pasta like ravioli, meatballs, cutlets, soups, and more.

Research cheap meal recipes

A trick in my sleeve is to check the cost per person for my meals. Several recipe websites mark recipes as cheap / average / expensive, although you always have to localise them. For example vegetables are cheap in Italy, but costly in Finland. There are many YouTubers posting “meals on a budget” content and once in a while I go and note down new recipes.

Reduce meat consumption

Meat is expensive and not environmentally-friendly. I am not asking you to become a vegetarian, but you can reduce your meat intake (find my tips on how here). This will help you save money on groceries, as well as reduce your carbon emissions and take care of your body. Meat consumption is too high in many countries, including Finland. It’s a health hazard and an unsustainable habit. The recommended weekly amount for an adult is 500g. Meal planning will also help you control how much meat you buy. If you commit to learn and try 2 new recipes every week, you will soon build a wealth of vegetarian or fish alternatives.

Cut on alcohol and sugar

Alcohol and sugar are killers for your budget and your health. Here in Finland, they are highly taxed products. Cut on sodas, energy drinks, candies, cookies, and so on. Limit alcohol intake. Your body and wallet will be grateful.

Featured photo by nrd on Unsplash.

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Can you briefly describe what SP is?

Syötävä Puisto is a community and environmental education project open to all residents in the Helsinki capital region (see on the map). The project gives the opportunity for people to grow vegetables and plants outdoors and get acquainted with urban farming. Anyone can get involved in the project. Together we look after the farm, taking care of the planting, watering, weeding, composting, and harvesting. Volunteers run tasks together at a weekly “talkoot” (a communal work session, ed.) every Wednesday afternoon during the summer months.

When did you start this project?

The Finnish Association for Rural Education (Maaseudun Sivistysliitto) established Syötävä Puisto in 2014. The association received a 3-year grant to establish the farm as an educational experiment. After the project finished in 2016, the volunteers decided to keep the farm running as it received such a great response from the local community. The project is now run completely by volunteers.
The Helsinki City Youth Services department has also been supporting the project: the Youth Services team look after the farmhouse and run workshops for children and youth during the summer months. Every summer young people run an eco café run – sadly, this year we canceled the scheme due to the COVID-19 situation. Youth Services are still running several workshops this summer, including a spray-painting workshop and activity club for school kids.

What inspired you to start SP and what are the goals of the project?

Slow Food Helsinki has been partnering with Syötävä Puisto since 2019, mainly helping to look after the farm and raise awareness amongst the international community in Helsinki. We are organising visits in English in June, July and August, introducing the project to international families and people living in Helsinki. During the visit, there’s a brief intro and tour of the farm, then we participate in the weekly talkoot to learn about growing and looking after plants.

Can you share the most rewarding aspects or results so far?

The project has a wonderful community spirit! Everyone gives their time for free and it is rewarding in so many ways. It’s a lovely opportunity to meet people from many different backgrounds, share gardening tips, and learn how to grow plants. You also get to take home fresh veggies at the end of every talkoot!

How is SP good for families and children, any experience to share?

Syötävä Puisto is a great place for families and children to learn about nature and how to grow plants. The kids really love to help at the farm – you can see their joy in connecting with nature. They love to help planting seeds, watering and taking care of seedlings, and picking the veggies when they are ready. I love seeing their faces when they pull out a big carrot – they are so amazed. Of course, they want to rinse and eat it straight away – the best way to eat veggies! The kids also love the chickens, there are usually 8-10 chickens in the chicken house every summer.
I’ve taken my own son along with me to Syötävä Puisto for a few years, I can see it has had a big impact on him. He now grows his own veggies in our small home garden, and helps with cooking, loves to pick things from the garden and cook something fresh and tasty. My son also talks about farming all the time – his latest idea is to invent new ways to grow plants in urban spaces, such as vertical farming.

How can a family or person sign up? Are there costs associated?

We encourage families to join the monthly visits to Syötävä Puisto. The next visit is on Wednesday 19 August from 17:00 to 19:00, there’s an event page on Facebook. It’s also possible to sign-up for the weekly talkoot by sending a message to [email protected]. There’s a Facebook page & Messenger group for regular volunteers.
No cost involved. Some people may like to bring their own gloves and gardening equipment, but we also have plenty of equipment available at the farm. You don’t need to make any commitments, just come to the farm when you have time!

Featured image courtesy of Teemu Hänninen.

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I believe natural remedies can complement traditional Western medicine. With day-to-day discomforts, medication is often an overkill. Here are few of my effective natural remedies.

Disclaimer: if you are pregnant or breastfeeding, check with your doctor first. Some of these remedies might not be appropriate for children. Some natural products can cause allergies so test lightly before heavy use (ex. propolis can’t be used if you are allergic to bees).

Burns and sunburns: aloe vera

Aloe vera is an amazing plant. I always store a bottle of aloe vera gel at home (make sure to buy one with high or total percentage of aloe, this is the one I use). You can also keep the plant itself and cut a leaf whenever you need. Aloe vera gel is a great natural aftersun cream. My favorite use, however, is to heal light fire burns. I apply some gel on the burn right away and keep adding some as soon as it dries up. Results are simply incredible and burns heal extremely fast (this is a good solution for first- or second-degree burns at most).

Digestion: fennel tea

Whenever we struggle with a heavy dinner or overeat, fennel tea is the solution. I don’t love the taste of fennel but nothing does the job like it. It’s also a great remedy to bad breath caused by stomach issues. You can buy fennel tea in hypermarkets or nature shops. You can also find herbal tea blends containing fennel among other ingredients.
A couple of alternatives to facilitate digestion are hot water with lemon juice and this Detox blend by Clipper (I love its flavour).

Inflammation: camomille tea

Camomille holds powerful anti-inflammatory properties. Camomille tea is an alternative to fennel tea to facilitate digestion, but its true power is to help healing from a cold or a flu. Drinking camomille tea is my relaxing and healing ritual when I am sick. I have even used it with my children since they were babies. I used to mix some in my daughter’s formula when she was fighting a cold. I even use camomille for steam inhalation when I or the children have a cold.

Sore throat: propolis

Propolis is a compound made by bees that has known anti-oxidant properties. It’s my go-to remedy for a sore throat. Now, usually propolis products require you to dilute few drops in water or in a spoon of sugar (it’s awfully bitter). Personally, I like to buy bottles with a drop dispenser and “shoot” propolis on the back of my throat. It is disgusting and burns like hell but it’s able of healing my throat in less than 48 hours! A quick search shows how you can buy propolis product in spray format as well.

Muscle tension and headache: arnica

Both my husband and I suffer from regular headaches due to muscle tension in our back. Sleeping on it doesn’t help and in the past the only thing doing the trick was an aspirin. Until we discovered arnica. It’s been proven that applying a high-concentration arnica cream can replace ibuprofen. Arnica is great to relief muscular tension and pain. This is one of the natural solutions we use most often. We apply some arnica gel or cream where the tension is and massage, just before bed. We wake up the morning after and the headache is gone! You can buy arnica cream for example from Amazon (the concentration level matters, I recommend 50%).

These are the regular proven natural remedies our family uses to find relief without using medication. What are yours? Leave me a comment and let me know.

Featured image by congerdesign from Pixabay.

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We really loved the path, as it wasn’t trivial at all. Actually, it has a lot of elevation and it took us longer than usual to reach the end. The path reaches few ponds – I really love to stop and watch the calm waters of a lake or a pond – and a couple of truly scenic panoramic views that will make you feel on top of the world.

Here you can find the map of the area. Kotokierros has a campfire if you feel like roasting a couple of sausages. We tried to light our (first) fire, but miserably failed as the wood was wet from the rain of a couple of days before. The official webpage mentioned a local association provides the wood, but we didn’t see any around. My advice is to bring your firewood and fire starters from home, unless you are MacGyver and can light a fire with two paper clips and a hair under the pouring rain. I should mention Meikonkierros has a campfire (the website says). There are some dry toilets in each of the nature trails.

We all loved the walk. The terrain was a hard one, filled with rocks and roots. Honestly, my favourite kind as it feels more raw. We stopped by the ponds to look at ducks quietly swimming or admiring fireflies dancing all around. The kids insisted on picking the first blueberries – definitely not ready, as a quick tasting revealed. They collected branches to build a small hut while we persisted in our attempts to light a fire – dear next hiker, if. you find 40 used matches in that campfire, it was us.

We had packed our home-baked bread with us. Even though the sausages had to wait for us to go back home to be roasted, we savoured our fresh bread with a spread of hummus, cherry tomatoes, and ate fresh strawberries while drinking up the view of Korsolampi.

We have saved this trail as one of our favourites and will definitely come back to try the Kuikankierros or maybe we’ll be cheeky enough to venture on the longer Meikonkierros. If you love the outdoors and want to enjoy a nice family outing, we cannot by recommend Meiko as a great choice!

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#1. Feta and spinach savory pie

Cost: low. Time: 15 minutes + 30 minutes baking.
This is one of my favorite recipes and my trick to get my children to eat spinach. While the baking part takes time, the preparation is super easy. You can bake this pie hours beforehand and it makes a perfect picnic meal in the summer. I buy the crust frozen (this is the brand I use), don’t forget to take it out a couple of hours before baking.
Ingredients (serves 4): 1 round frozen crust, 1 egg, 1 feta cheese, 600 g frozen leaf spinach, 4 tbs of parmesan cheese (or grated cheese of your liking), salt and pepper.
Directions: boil the spinach (I do it in the microwave – fast and easy). Throw them in a mixer with the feta cheese, the egg, a little salt and pepper. Mix until smooth (kids-proof ). Level the crust in a round baking tray, pour the mix, and top with grated cheese. Bake at 200C for about 30 minutes.

#2. Teriyaki salmon, green beans, and baked potatoes

Cost: medium. Time: 15-40 minutes (depends on the side dish).
R doesn’t like fish and finding ways to sell it to her is a challenge. This is why I love this dish as the sweetness of the teriyaki sauce persuades my picky eater. You can experiment with other vegetables on the side, but my suggestion is green beans (I buy them frozen and heat them up on a frying pan with some butter and salt) and baked potatoes.
I peel the salmon fillet and cut it in slices. Then I brown in on all sides on a frying pan with butter. After serving, I top it with a couple tablespoons of teriyaki sauce, which you can find ready made in most shops. Delicious!

#3. Tortillas

Cost: medium. Time: 30 minutes.
I’m sure you can find 10000 fancier recipes for tortillas, but this is our simple, fuss-free version. Here in the picture I have used the “boat-like” tortillas, but I more often use the flat ones.
Ingredients (serves 4): 1 onion, 400 g minced meat, 4 tortillas, few salad leaves, 2 tomatoes, 1 bag of taco spice mix, taco salsa.
Directions: chop the onion and toss it in a frying pan with some oil. Add the meat and cook until brown. Add the spice mix at the end and keep mixing. Chope the tomatoes in cubes. In another frying pan warm up the tortillas one by one. When one it’s warm, toss it on a plate, spread some salsa, a couple of spoons of meat, salad leaves and tomato cubes and wrap it. Et voilà!

#4. Vegetarian noodle stir-fry

Cost: low. Time: 30 minutes.
I looove this dish. It’s not easy to find vegetarian meals that my family appreciate, but this is one. It’s so tasty and the combination of flavours is heavenly. I’m getting hungry just writing about it.
Ingredients (serves 4): your favorite dry noodles, 1 spring onion, 1 carrot, 2 sweet peppers, fresh ginger (about 2 cm), 4 eggs, soy sauce, salt and pepper. You can try different vegetable combinations.
Directions: start by cutting the vegetables while you heat the water for the noodles on the stove. Chop the ginger finely and mix it with the chopped spring onion. Cut the carrot in thin sticks and the pepper in rings – I choose the seedless peppers to speed things up. Heat up a couple of tablespoons of sunflower oil in a pan, toss the ginger+onion first and shortly after the other vegetables. Stir-fry mixing often, remember you don’t want them mushy. Cook the noddles according to the instructions on the box and toss them with the vegetables, adding soy sauce, salt, and pepper to taste. Fry the eggs in a separate pan and serve them on top, like in the picture. Just delicious, I guarantee. Possibly the best among these meals for kids.

#5. Spinach soup and boiled egg

Cost: low. Time: 20 minutes.
This is a classic Finnish dish that takes no effort, is healthy, and my kids inexplicably love (thank you, daycare?).
Ingredients (serves 4): 50 g of butter, 4 tablespoons of flour, 1l of milk, 250g of frozen spinach (chopped, not leaves), 4 eggs, salt and pepper.
Directions: boil the eggs separately (8 minutes in boiling water). In a pot, melt the butter and then whisk it together with the flour. Add the milk and wait until it’s close to boil. Add the spinach, salt, and pepper. Serve it like in the picture (that’s half the fun!).

Will you try any of these meals for kids? Let me know in the comments!

If you liked this post, you may appreciate also:
The easiest recipe for a birthday cake
Going (almost) vegetarian
Where to purchase Italian food supplies in Finland

Featured image by Anelka from Pixabay.

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Grilling

You know summer has started when you begin smelling sausage in the air. Major retailers launch the same campaign around grilling season every year: it’s time to brush off the tools and throw some meat or fish on the grill. When I lived in Italy, my family was always lazy to fire up the grill. We procrastinated all summer, because sunny days were the norm there. By living in Finland I have learned to live and appreciate grilling season to the fullest: I love to lay the table on our terrace and eat freshly grilled cheese, sausages, even fish. If you love nature, you can try grilling on the open fire. Many trails have designated pits for campfires (do not start fires in undesignated areas!). If you want to grill like a pro, fish your lunch yourself from a lake!

Swimming in a lake

Finland is know as “the land of a thousand lakes”. You learn that is an understatement when you find out that there are over 187 000 lakes in the country, amounting to one lake every 26 Finns. Dipping into quiet freshwaters is definitely a summer must-do for us living in Finland. The earliest you dive in, the better: whoever dips last to wait for warmer waters, is a chicken in Finland!

Playing Mölkky

Mölkky is a beloved outdoors game that Finnish families love to play. It suits pretty much all ages and it is easy and fun to play. In the game you are asked to throw a wooden pin and hit the numbered wooden skittles. A good aim wins over quantity in this game. Mölkky has gained worldwide popularity – apparently it’s huge in France! – to the point that tournaments are played and associations founded all over the world.
We certainly love a good game of Mölkky and even though we were not familiar with the game when we move to Finland, we have adopted it as one of our beloved family summer games.

Going on hikes

About 75% of Finnish land is covered in trees. Going on hikes in forests or national parks is part of the Finnish summer experience. If you live in Finland, check out the amazing national parks the country features. You can check out some of the hikes we went on near Espoo (Oittaa, Hannusmetsä, Klassarinkierros), in Repovesi or Valkmusa. If you live elsewhere I cannot advise you directly, except for recommending to enjoy nature when it blooms at its best.

Enjoying sauna

Last but not least, the national pride and most beloved tradition of Finland: sauna. Wait: Finnish sauna. It’s an important distinction to make given how picky and proud my fellow Finns are about it. At the bare minimum, you have to enjoy sauna in your birthday suit and keep the temperature between 80C and 110C. During summertime Finns love to heat up in a (wooden) sauna and then dip into the chilling lake waters.

Don’t these sound as wonderful summer activities? Simplest things are the salt of life. Enjoy summer!

This post is a collaboration with Tactic Games, producer of the game Mölkky. Opinions are mine and sincere. Read more about my work values here.
Featured image by congerdesign from Pixabay.

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Keep a schedule

My husband and I are both juggling remote work. We sit down every few days and split the hours, so that we get at least few hours of full focus every day. On top of that, I determine the kids’ activity schedule the previous night. Similarly, our weekly menu is decided ahead and printed out (also helps reduce shopping trips). I plan in the quiet of the evening so that I don’t have to worry while I execute. Don’t forget to include time for your self-care during the day!

Crafts

First of all, head over to this old post where I list few easy crafts for which you won’t need special materials. Facebook is my best source of ideas (not a Pinterest mom). I warmly recommend TheDadLab group for an infinite string of inspiration. Fellow expat mom Katy shared these cool DIYs, many suitable for smaller children. Here are some ideas that I have tested or plan to:

The website Pencils and Plums offers plenty of free-to-download colouring pages and activities, check it out.

Coronavirus indoors treasure hunt

I am quite proud of this creation of mine. Some nights I hide coronavirus drawings all around the house and mark their location on a map. If the kids find them all the following day, they win a prize. I have also done a version where I write letters behind some of the drawings and the complete message gives away the location of the prize.

How to set it up:
– print the coronavirus sheet, cut the drawings
– draw a map of your house
– hide the virus drawings in various locations and mark them on a map
Pro tip: laminate at least the map so that you can use a whiteboard pen to mark the locations and use it the map more than once.
An alternative version: organise a simple treasure hunt by giving them a list (written or drawn) of objects to find and photograph to win a small prize. Can be done both indoors and outdoors.

Educational play

I am not a fan of screen time, but there are some really cool educational digital resources. Children can experiment with creating music with Chrome Music Lab (check out the music maker!).

“Lego has an app where you can download instructions to any set. If you have enough blocks you can build anything.”

Dagmar, expat mom in Finland

Fellow mom Karen reminded me about Scratch, a MIT tool to teach kids aged 8 to 16 to code. For younger children (5-7 years) head over ScratchJr.

Reading (and audiobooks)

Audible has some free titles for children in several languages. You can also look up podcasts of fairytales (one for Italian speakers) or fairytales on Youtube. If your child speaks Finnish, the app Lukulumo offers free audiobooks during the lockdown (username lukuulumokoti, password 987654321). Don’t forget our local e-library has also several reads and audiobooks available in several languages.

Keep it moving

If you are not in total lockdown, don’t miss to go for a walk every day. We have made a ritual of going outdoors at least 20 minutes after lunch. Another trick, if you have the space and your kids can be unsupervised: I give them a timer and encourage them to bike around the yard for 20 minutes to win a candy. 20 minutes of bliss for you! For Finnish-speaking children, Herotreeni offers a 3 week daily exercise programme for only 12 euros (I’ve seen a demo, superfun)! You want the same in English? No problem: MoovKids offers daily online classes (thanks Giedre for the heads-up).

“There are couple of links to the free lessons from popular gyms in Finland, I found them really useful. For example, Fressi has live streaming with agenda for the day, you can just join it, also Elixia has online courses that doesn’t require membership.

Tulasi, expat mom in Finland

Virtual social life

Children miss their friends. Schedule regular video calls for them to talk with their friends. For multilingual children, this is also a chance to preserve the languages not spoken at home. You can also teach games compatible with play through a screen, for example charades, hangman, or 20 questions.

Housework

Don’t forget small kids see chores like play. During these peculiar times, I am asking my kids to help regularly: emptying the dishwasher, folding laundry, dusting… Results do not have to be perfect, but they can indeed help and these activities keep them busy (and they learn useful skills). Have them help in the kitchen as well, they’ll love it.

Household chores and engaging in as many parents household activities as possible. 

Lisa, expat mom in Finland

Several parents recommended gardening as an option. You can start some seeds also on the windowsill.

Free play

Dear parents, do not forget your own mental health and to allow kids to get bored. Boredom is the mother of creativity, after all. Let’s not go nuts to keep the kids entertained all the time. Alternate activities with free play if age allows. You are doing great!

The post Are You Not Entertained? – Ideas for Quarantined Parents #COVID appeared first on The Elephant Mum.

Part of the issue is that families do not engage in physical activities enough. By this I do not mean solely sports, but more broadly to be active and engage in play and activities than keep your body on the move. Luckily, public organisations like City of Helsinki are trying to change this. Today City of Helsinki launched a campaign called #HelsinkiLiikkuu (=Helsinki moves) in February 2020. According to their surveys, 80% of families do not move together daily. One of the initiatives is to improve visibility of physical activities available in the area. I like to call myself a converted lazy. I was empress of couch potatoes, but my intention to educate my children set me to change my habits for the better. Surprise, surprise, my own health and mood benefited greatly, and our family bond grew stronger.

Not everyone is aware that there is plenty of free or cheap sport activities for the whole family available in the capital area. Here are some ideas for your children to have fun on the move.

#1. Go on a hike

Hiking is one of our favorite family activities since ever. It fits all ages and never gets dull. We are blessed to live in a country where nature is always at reach. Beside casual walks, there are several nature trails in Helsinki (and Espoo, Vantaa) with different lengths, sceneries, and difficulty levels. Some have public grills or campfire pits for you to grill a couple of sausages. If you want to have a preview of some hikes, our recommendations near Helsinki are Oittaa, Hannusmetsä, and Klassarinkierros.

#2. Swim boredom away

Swimming is a cheap hobby in the capital area. Children under 7 enter for free or for around 3 euros. Adults’ entrance fee is usually around 5 euros. There are several swimming halls available, and most have spaces and facilities for children. Moreover, City of Helsinki organises cheap swimming courses for children.

#3. Play sports together

City of Helsinki offers several opportunities for children or the whole family to engage in sports. From exercise sessions for toddlers to family ball games, there’s plenty to do for free or a low fee. Several activities are available also through Easy Sport. The Adult Education Institute routinely offers cheap sport classes for the whole family – why not trying Afro Dance with your little ones?

#4. Explore city playgrounds

I realise how many playgrounds there are in Finland whenever I go on holiday and finding one involves Google Maps and long walks. Playgrounds are sprinkled all over Helsinki and its surrounding area. They are a safe and simple place for children to let some steam off, climb, and socialise. A special mention goes to the three Angry Birds playgrounds in Espoo. When bad weather hits, you can visit family houses: indoors free-of-charge facilities where small ones can play with toys and other children, while parents enjoy coffee and conversation.

#5. Visit a museum

Not all museums and cultural sites are children-friendly, but many are in Finland. Don’t look indoors only! There are outdoors options like Suomenlinna, Seurasaari or the Botanical Garden to spend a day out and learn something new. Helsinki City Museum is free and entirely child-centered (it’s our favorite place to lose a hour when we visit the city center); Kiasma regularly organises workshops for children; the Natural History Museum and the Korkeasaari Zoo are other popular choices.
Culture in Finland is affordable. You can invest in a Museum Card, which gives you access year round to most sites. Alternatively, many museums regularly allow visitors in for free.

#6. Ski among trees

Cross-country skiing is an exciting activity to try with kids. Children as young as 4 can learn and younger kids might be towed on a sledge. Paloheinä is a popular winter center in Helsinki and if you don’t own skiis, you can rent them. If you are like myself when I moved here and know nothing of winter sports, you’ll be pleased to learn that Paloheinä has courses for small children with or without an adult to introduce you to this new hobby.

#7. Treasure hunt with geocaching

Geocaching is a world-known free hobby and I’m pleased to announce it’s popular in Finland too. Treasure hunting provides a perfect excuse to drag kids of all ages out and about. Frankly, it’s fantastic for adults too! We’ve been recently sucked into it, it fits all ages and provides motivation and rewards to go on long walks.

#8. Climb on your bikes

You don’t have to wait for summer to hop on your bike. As long as there is no ice, cycling is rewarding. Don’t underestimate small children: last summer my 4 and 6 year olds would bike 8 km. Helsinki has over 1200 km of bicycle paths, all over town and through forests. There are several recommended bicycle routes for you to try. Or you can build your own with the help of the Journey Planner.

#9. Dust off your ice-skates

Now that you live here, you need to make your peace with winter sports because even if you hide, they’ll find you. You probably have come across the ice-skating ring near the main railway station. As you can see, it’s quite cheap. There are several outdoor skating rings across Helsinki, free-of-charge and open to the public. Oulunkylä hosts an indoor skating ring.

#10. Care for nature

Helsinki offers residents chances to have an active role in caring for its nature. The initiative “Good Things Grow in Helsinki” calls for volunteers to shape the green areas and clean parks. It’s an hands-on educational opportunity for the whole family.
Another option is to rent a garden allotment for your family to grow vegetables. The open farm Haltiala allows visitors to pick flowers and peapods for free. And of course you’re free to pick berries, wild herbs and mushrooms in forests any time.

There is plenty of opportunities for your family to spend quality time together without hurting the wallet. To learn more about the campaign, like the Facebook page, follow the Instagram or Twitter feed, and keep an eye on the webpage. Join me and post on social media how you keep your family on the move with the hashtag #HelsinkiLiikkuu.

Featured image by The Slow Photography.

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It’s clear that the responsibility to create the conditions for girls to thrive starts at home and within the family. Challenging gender stereotypes is hard work and my husband and I regularly revisit and debate what we do and say. However, the alternative is unacceptable. I demand the same opportunities for my children regardless of who they are.

I thought it would be interesting to share how we apply concretely these good principles in our day-to-day life. Today I will start with this concept:

children are not there to entertain or please adults.

What has this to do with gender equality, you say. One of women’s obstacles to reach equality is themselves. Women grow up to believe their function and purpose is to serve others. We slip easily in the role of carer for children or the elderly, we struggle to practice self-care because at some level we feel we do not deserve it, and there’s a shared feeling that if we do not procreate – by choice or nature – we are not worthy as women.

There’s nothing wrong with the act of serving, as long as you’re given the choice. As long as it doesn’t become who you are without your consent. Being able to create life is a privilege and a superpower, as long as society doesn’t decide it is the sole purpose of your existence. Even the popular pro-feminism advocacy slogan “think of your daughters/sisters/mothers” is a way to limit women and their worthiness of rights or equality to the role they play for others. When women start questioning the things they do or say or be or are asked to do with this lens, the result is always shocking.

While this phenomenon is more prevalent and overwhelming for women, men are not immune to gender stereotypes either. Boys and men are expected to be strong, invulnerable, immune from feelings, virile, and provide for their family.

I do not want gender stereotypes to become an invisible prison for my kids. How do I apply the concepts mentioned above concretely? Here are some tips.

• I respect a bad mood. Sometime when I pick R up from school, she’s in a mood. She might be grumpy and grunt she doesn’t want to talk. My natural reaction (what my parents used to do with me) would be to complain or ask her to be more nice even if she hasn’t been properly impolite. But I catch myself and I react by validating her feelings. “Don’t worry, let’s walk in silence, it’s okay to feel grumpy or tired”. I do not demand that she’s good company or smiling all the time. Girls can be mad. Girls can be grumpy. [food for thought: funny how it’s socially acceptable for girls to be sad, but not mad]
• I defend their personal space. You know when strangers want to touch a small child or relatives demand a kiss before leaving? Not on my watch. I defend my children’s right of controlling their body and personal space. If someone takes offence, it’s their problem. My children are not there to please anyone. Taking control of affection gestures is also an opportunity to teach what consent means. There’s nothing bad asking a child for a kiss, but we have to respect their refusal. I confess this is the most difficult one for me, because I love to play and tickle or kiss them. My husband routinely lectures me on boundaries :P.
• Your body, your choice. Since tender age we have left our children freedom on how they dress, style or have their hair cut. After making sure they are dressed properly for the weather, we leave them the final word on what they wear or on what hairstyle they prefer.
• “This is not what a good girl/boy does” is a sentence you’ll never hear me say. Ban it.
• Growing awareness. Whenever I spot situations or examples of children or women expected to be pleasant for others’ enjoyment, I highlight them. I want my children to grow to identify these situations and know there is an alternative to people’s expectations.

I want my children to grow and feel empowered. I want them to be proud of every aspect of their identity and not burdened by any. These are some of the concrete ways I pursue this. In the future, I will share more.

Do you fight gender roles in your home and how? Any tips? Share them down in the comments.

The post Raising World Changers – Episode 1 appeared first on The Elephant Mum.

Yesterday we explored a new nature trail nearby, the Klassarinkierros in Nuuksio National Park. We loaded the car full of people – us, the three kids (ages 4, 6 ,12), and my in-laws currently visiting – and travelled towards the park. Klassarinkierros is a 4 km trail going on a circle. At the very start there’s a small parking area called Valklampi, but yesterday we were surprised to see that that and the long road were packed with cars – many people had our very same plan! To reach the trail you need a car, as no bus reaches this deep in. Its location within the park and more information can be found here.

The trail was fairly easy, except for a short section where we had to climb smooth rocks covered by a layer of ice. The small children were confident and fast. The path was marked very clearly (not all are!) so they could lead the group. U’s phone battery ran out right away so she was forced to enjoy nature, thank you Universe :D.

I’m not a fan of swamps and open spaces, so I appreciated that the path went deep into the forest. For a good part we walked near a stream and the pond Kurjolampi. I like when we walk near water – although I was running a betting pool on E falling into – he didn’t, shockingly.

We were lucky enough to spot a beautifully painted sunset sky. It was a relaxing and wonderful walk, and we’d love to do it again in the summer. Maybe we will lit a firecamp in the firepit available on the path and roast a couple of sausages.

If you are a fan of family hikes, check out these posts:
Our walk at Repovesi National Park (Kouvola)
Walking the Hannusmetsä Nature Trail (Espoo)
The Nature Trail at Oittaa (Espoo)

The post Walking the Klassarinkierros Trail with Children appeared first on The Elephant Mum.