Time to get the winter clothes and toboggans out and store away the summer stuff. (yes we still have the air-con and summer toys out). Its chilly for sure and the trees have dropped most of their leaves. Its still green grass and colourful though. The sky is crisp when its sunny. It is actually quite nice then.
So here are some ideas for those sunny, lovely days. If someone would like to do a group excursion to something, please say! As it is for now, we are too busy to arrange things but are happy to do so when requested if we can.
This is the best things to do outdoors on lovely days now:
1)
Stromovka park is always at the top of the list for us, simply because its one of the best parks in the world. Its beautiful, you can find climbing trees, there is a bike dirt track, nice road to rollerblade and cycle at, areas to play football, put up a slackline and other things, beautiful ponds, and best of all is the Vozovna playground where you have things for different ages and its really easy to have a baby and toddler (changing table at toilet, and overall kid-friendly.
2)
Prague zoo - is one of the top places for kids in Prague definitely. Most of their info is in english also, and its so big you would have to come several times to see all properly. The playground tower thing is excellent. Monday is the cheap day.
3)
The maze at
Troja castle. This is a beautiful place, if you have time you can walk from Stromovka and take the boat to the other side. Its fun to play hide and seek in the big maze. In the middle is a climbing tree. Its free of charge to go in the gardens.
4)
Toulcův dvůr - This is a farm place that arranges activities for kids. We havent been there but have many friends that reported that this is a really nice place, so this is the next thing we will do when we can.
5) The
climbing play ground at Branik. This is a really fun place with a big play ground, with things from toddlers up to adults actually. The cafe there has an indoor play ground as well and activities for kids.
6) From a couple of sources we have heard that the play ground
Dětské hřiště Točná which is located by a small private airport is really fun, we would like to try that also. See
link for location.
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| Ice skating at Letna with the Prague castle in the background. |
7) Soon there will be "free" (well tax funded)
ice-skating in different parts of Prague. If you dont have ice-skates you will be able to rent there. For a list see
this link.
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| The biggest natural stone arch in Europe in Bohemian Switzerland. |
8) Our favourite activity on nice sunny days when our energy levels are up and all of the family is free is to
skip town. There are so many lovely places to explore outside of Prague, not far away at all. The
Kokorin forest for instance is amazing, as well as
Bohemian Switzerland or
Bohemian paradise. Its stunning in the autumn.
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| Skiing at Bozi Dar |
9) Go to the mountains and go skiing! The ski resorts should open soon, probably in the beginning of december. Or so, we hope, this year being warmer than usual. Some favourite places includes Lipno, Bozi dar and Severak for families.
10)
Botanical gardens. Its so beautiful, even in the late autumn. There is also a tropical green house and often some kind of activity.
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This is the best things to do indoors on those rainy and dark days now:
1)
Go swimming! There are plenty of good swimming places in Prague, both for learning to swim, exercising and just having fun. We tend to practise at our own but happily have company when we just are going for fun swimming. One good place for both learning and playing is
Aqua centrum letnany lagoon. There is a 25 m pool that is about 1 m deep at one end, that we practise in, and there is a warm baby pool, some bubble pools and a big slide that is slow enough that I can go with our 1 year old on. Another good pool is
Sutka, there are a couple of slides and its not so big at the fun area but the exercising pool is huge. There is a learning pool that seems to be open just sometimes and maybe on fridays.
2)
Go climbing! There are many climbing places. Czechs seems to have a thing for that. We enjoy going to
boulder bar that doesnt have high walls where you can just climb without ropes. Its toddler-friendly also. And sometimes we go to
Big Wall, where we can climb with ropes and they have affordable private lessons.
4) Go for walks for fresh air and then
warm up in cosy cafes.
A maze in Tchaiovna is our top choice for that, were we can warm up with the best chai tea in Prague and play board games.
5) On every other wednesday there are
art workshops for kids 1-5 years on Narodni Galerie near Veletrzni Palac. Our kids that are 6 and 8 enjoy it. I guess the age range is set thinking that all kids over 5 would be in school. Sometimes we see other older kids there too! The cafe next to it has a baby play area and really nice pita bread with hummus, so we go sometimes there for that.
6) The Christian library arranges kids story reading and activities. You can see their events
here
8) Shopping centres! Maybe it sounds dull or doesnt appeal but even for those that oppose the consumer culture the shopping centres can indeed be a savior those days when the rain pours and you just have to get out of the house and dont want to spend money on kids activities. In Letnany they have a creative building area for kids which we enjoy, they can easily spend one or two hours there without getting bored. In Cerny most you have one free area for toddlers and big kids and one play area that is staffed and that you can pay for. Also IKEAs play area "Småland" is not so far from the Cerny most shopping center.
9) Book a lego or lego robotics lesson with
Kiddum. We do this every now and again and enjoy it very much.
10) Get artsy at
Draw planet arts school. They have drop in or you can arrange a class or private lessons. We used it for a few months and thought the teachers were very good. Our kids enjoyed it but have other interests now.
Saint Mikuláš
And of course with Christmas times coming up there will be tons of activities for children, so we are counting on doing lots. Like the devil and angel - thing! Yes in Czech republic the angel or devil will tell your kid if he/she has been nice or not. If nice youll get presents if not coal. We will try it this year. So mark 5th september in your calender if you want to try this strange czech tradition. For more info on that see
here.
Worldschooling apartment
Are you not worldschooling in Prague yet? Our worldschooling apartment is available again. Wwe have been fully booked through out this year and the next booking is until 10th jan. We are looking to host a worldschooling family that would like to stay +1 month, preferably longer term!
This apartment is located in the Holesovice which is our favourite area in Prague, well, our base is here also! It is fully equipped, having learned many lessons staying in 100s of airbnbs and temporary places through our many travels, so we know whats missing. We have toys, books, even a hammock and very good wifi. For more info please see
www.familyapartmentprague.com
