jul lov / tom tits experiments

Jul lov in a word is Christmas break. Mon and the boys have been off from work and school and we've gotten to do things together as a family in addition to celebrating Christmas. Two days after Christmas we went to the Gustavsberg swimming pool. Needless to say most public swimming pools in Sweden are indoors. The same people who built the pool in Mariehamn must have built the Gustavsberg pool. It's got the same soul and elements but a lot smaller, including a motion pool, slides, baby pool and a separate lap pool. There is a link here, though there aren't many pictures. https://www2.varmdo.se/Resource.phx/plaza/publica/pop/gustavsbergsbadet/content/index.htx

Yesterday we also went to Tom Tits experiments. Before people get crazy the name came from a French science experiment book. Mon says she thinks he was a real guy. I'd call it a museum but it's not really. Everything is hands on for kids and grown ups to try out. It's got over 600 'experiments' and after spending a day there, we still didn't make it through all of it.

The boys play in a fog curtain with changing images. This was in the 'dark room.'

After the hour car ride I ducked into the restroom and couldn't help but notice the pictures on the bathroom doors. Not your average in the box kid's museum. Let's just say the body and its functions are nothing to be ashamed of in Sweden.

Fore!

In the bubble room kids could make large bubbles with vacuum cleaners, hoola hoops and even raise a wall made of bubbles.

In the machine room Sam sat in this Scania cab which was likely assembled just down the road from the museum. On a separate note Sweden has a large chunk of the European large truck market with Scania and Volvo. The economy is hitting them pretty hard.

Sammy chases virtual fish. We've also seen a virtual ball pit in a mall near town. Looked pretty cool.

Jake shows Sam how to ride these skate boardish bikes.

This chandalier was made up of bones. Don't worry. They were plastic.

Jake tries to get some good hang time. Not sure he ever got the result he wanted.

There was also a 'chemistry' lab. Boys got to do an experiment by putting a baking soda type powder and water in a plastic film case.

In about 10 seconds it builds up enough pressure to hit the ceiling.

Captain carrot. For the vegetarians of course.

Tom Tits is housed in a cool old industrial building that they've gradually filled over time. In the background you can see a balloon kids can lift off in during the warm weather months. There's a large yard around the building that we'll have to explore once the weather warms up.

Standing at the end of the section about the human body. What a neat use of the space. As mentioned before, there isn't a lot shyness about the human body in Sweden. Plastic models are all very anotomically correct and not in a gratuitous way either. Afterall, it is what it is. Sure, there is some little kids giggling but the thought is it's more important to learn than be embarassed. When I mentioned something to Mon about it she asked how else should it be? That is a good question. In a sense I think the section displays a little Swedish genuineness.

At the section on the eyes they had several different types of glasses prescriptions. In all fairness we each got a shot. So, who has the best looking glasses?







One fun exhibit we didn't take pictures of was us being able to test how loud our screams were. We each got to stick our heads in a concrete pipe and yell at the top of our lungs. I'm not sure who in our family won.

I think this thermal image of our family may have to go onto our portrait wall with the other family photos.

The boys also have a series of photos with this pose.

Welcome to Mindhead (can you guess the b movie? - one of our favs) This was an interesting exhibit. Starts with a ball in between two participants. Each puts on a headband with sensors and does his best not to think. Sam won between the boys and I won between Mon and I. Sam was winning when he and I had a faceoff but then his short attention span guaranteed my win. I'm not sure what that implies about being able to turn the mind off. Should I be proud or embarassed?

Back in the 'dark room'. They say Sammy has different color shadows.

This museum knows the milage of a good mirror. And in this triangle shaped mirrored phone booth they got 3x the milage.


There was also a water section where the boys got to do water experiments.


This was a great way to spend the day. If you ever make it to Stockholm and you have kids it's worth your while to go.